HHS Geospatial Analysis Fellowship

Organization
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Reference Code
HHS-OASH-OCCHE-2023-0026
How to Apply

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A complete application consists of:
  • An application
  • A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
  • One educational or professional recommendation. Your application will be considered incomplete, and will not be reviewed until one recommendation is submitted.

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

Application Deadline
4/3/2023 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

HHS Office and LocationA fellowship is available within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) located in Washington, D.C.  This appointment will be located at the HHS Humphrey Building. Selection of a remote fellow (within the United States and its territories) is negotiable for exceptionally qualified applicants. 

About HHS and OASH

The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.

OASH oversees the Department’s key public health offices and programs, a number of Presidential and Secretarial advisory committees, 10 regional health offices across the nation, and the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

About HHS Office of Climate Change and Health Equity

The Office of Climate Change and Health Equity addresses the impact of climate change on the health of the American people. Exercising powers of convening, coordination and collaboration, the Office serves as a department-wide hub for climate change and health policy, programming, and analysis, in pursuit of environmental justice and equitable health outcomes. The Office also facilitates the use of regulatory and statutory powers of the Department of Health and Human Services to address matters affecting disadvantaged communities and people on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The Office works alongside community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia, business, industry, along with, state, tribal, local, and territorial governments, to define and implement strategies, conduct strategic outreach and communications, and train and empower community residents.

Research Project: 

What experience and skills will you gain?

The geospatial analyst will collaborate with a multidisciplinary data and analytics team to assist with data collection, integration, analysis, and display.  This could potentially include projects to help identify communities at highest risk of climate-related health impacts, to assess the health implications of forecasted weather and weather extremes, and to evaluate the benefits of interventions related to climate mitigation and adaptation for community health.  In addition to supporting geospatial analyses, the analyst will collaborate with the OCCEH team to visualize and communicate the results of the analyses.

Learning ObjectivesThe fellow will be integrated into the OCCHE staff and will have an opportunity to learn from the translation of data and analytic products into decision support tools and public-facing informational resources.

Analytical research activities

  • Identify and collect data on social determinants of health, health impacts and weather/climate hazards from different sources to assemble a comprehensive geospatial database on climate and health.
  • Create geospatial tools to visualize and analyze climate-related health concerns for areas across the United States.
  • Produce area-based statistics to support routine publication of the OCCHE Climate and Health Outlook.
  • Create data-driven, web-based communications (blogs, story maps) on a range of climate and health issues.

Mentor(s)The mentor for this opportunity is John Balbus (ocche@hhs.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: March - April 2023. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment LengthThe appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of HHS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of ParticipationThe appointment is full-time.

Participant StipendThe participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. 

Citizenship RequirementsThis opportunity is available to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR).

ORISE InformationThis program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and HHS. Participants do not become employees of HHS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

The successful applicant(s) will be required to comply with Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H) requirements of the hosting facility, including but not limited to, COVID-19 requirements (e.g. facial covering, physical distancing, testing, vaccination).

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email HHSrpp@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's degree in one of the relevant fields (Computer Science, Data Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Epidemiology, Public Health, Statistics, Social Sciences, Biostatistics), or be currently pursuing the degree with completion by June 30, 2023. Degree must have been received within the past five years. 

Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

  • Demonstrated education and/or experience in applying statistical methods in analyzing data and ability to manipulate data;
  • Demonstrated education and/or experience using geospatial methods, analyses and programming;
  • Prior experience of statistical modeling of linked health and climate data to assess health risk.
  • Expertise with statistical software (e.g. R, SAS) and geospatial software (e.g. ArcGIS) is necessary.
  • Prior experience in creating web-based data visualization tools will be preferred.
  • Knowledge about creating webpages will be preferred.
  • Strong written and oral communication skills.
Eligibility Requirements
  • Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
  • Degree: Master's Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 6/30/2023 11:59:00 PM.
  • Overall GPA: 2.00
  • Discipline(s):
    • Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (2 )
    • Earth and Geosciences (1 )
    • Environmental and Marine Sciences (1 )
    • Life Health and Medical Sciences (2 )
    • Mathematics and Statistics (3 )
    • Social and Behavioral Sciences (29 )
  • Age: Must be 18 years of age
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