Internship with the Oregon Health Authority–Drinking Water Services

Internship Job Title: Wildfire and Water Quality Analyst

Application Window: March 18, 2022 — Open until filled

Duration and Schedule: This is a limited-term paid position from April 2022 to August 31, 2022. Both start date and weekly schedule are flexible.

Internship Host Organization: Oregon Health Authority–Drinking Water Services (OHA–DWS) works to reduce the incidence and risk of waterborne disease and exposure of the public to hazardous substances potentially present in drinking water supplies.

Position Description: The Wildfire and Water Quality Analyst will aid in OHA–DWS’s efforts to enhance understanding of wildfire impacts on drinking water systems, will analyze volatile organic compounds (VOC) analytical data and will improve emergency response by summarizing impacts from the September 2020
wildfires in Oregon. The Wildfire and Water Quality Analyst is responsible for supporting and advancing the OHA–DWS Wildfire VOC study and will work with members of the OHA–DWS team, Oregon State University (OSU) faculty and staff and operators of Oregon public water systems to analyze, synthesize and communicate meaningful study findings in both ESRI StoryMap and/or a technical report.

Location: Most of this work may be conducted remotely but will require full access to the needed operating systems and technology.

Compensation: Dependent on qualifications, education and experience. This position is not eligible for standard employee benefits.

​Position Responsibilities:
• Write a report and develop an accompanying ESRI StoryMap summarizing VOC results and OSU Water Utility Survey data collected from public water systems after the September 2020 wildfires.

• Verify, organize and analyze VOC monitoring results and survey data to identify trends and correlations.
           o Determine whether benzene or other VOCs are good indicators for the identification of VOC contamination in a distribution system where a water system lost pressure as a result of wildfire that burned into an urban area.

• The report and ESRI StoryMap may include the following:
        • Table of impacted drinking water systems that includes selected general system information from known facts, information from Data Online, and information from survey results, such as pipe size, depth, damage,
etc.
       • A paragraph or two for each public water system giving facts, results, statistics, etc.
       • Synthesis of lessons learned and best management practices.

Requested Education and Skills:
• Education: High school graduate. Currently working on a Bachelor of Science or Master of Science degree in a natural resource field such as GIS mapping, engineering, geography or a related field.

• Experience:
o Basic knowledge of technical report writing, data management and analysis, and mapping techniques and methods.
o Working knowledge of ArcGIS and ESRI StoryMap.
o Functional knowledge of ArcDesktop or ArcPro, ArcGIS Online, MS Office (Word, Excel, and Access).
o Ability to prepare technical reports and documents.
o Ability to work on projects with limited supervision, work well with other people and communicate well both orally and in writing is fundamental to this position.

Note: Knowledge of chemical compounds, contamination standards or public water system operation is not necessary.

Application Instructions:
Interested applicants should send an email with “Wildfire and Water Quality Analyst” in the subject line. Email a resume and a brief cover letter expressing your interest to Casey Lyon at [email protected]. Incomplete submissions will not be considered. Position will remain open until filled.