Research Archivist Intern

Position:  Research Archivist Intern

Type: Full-time internship position lasting 8 weeks

Location: Houston, TX

Required: U.S. citizenship is required

Are you looking for a full-time internship and a fantastic opportunity to work on some meaningful projects?  You'll be at the forefront of organizing and preparing valuable data for public access, contributing directly to the advancement of research and knowledge in the field.  The variety of tasks, from cleaning and consolidating data to assisting with software development, ensures that your work will be diverse and engaging. Plus, the opportunity to interact with NASA researchers and support their data requests adds a dynamic element to your role. 

It's a great chance to learn and grow in a fast-paced, innovative environment. 

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The purpose of this position is to support the Human Research Program's Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) project. This position is non-supervisory, and the successful candidate will be able to confer with the other Archivists currently supporting the LSDA regarding how best to achieve the responsibilities and goals outlined below.

The candidate will be responsible for cleaning, transforming and consolidating previously collected data from flight analog projects to prepare these data for open access on the LSDA public website. This will include ensuring that the data will be structured in a way that does not expose any privacy-protected information. In addition to their primary duties, the successful candidate may also be required to add or update experiment records associated with these data for the public LSDA website. The data must be curated in a format that enables reuse in the future. Successful candidates must have an education or experience in the biological or data science disciplines to be able to perform the functions of this position. The deliverable for this project will be in the form a report and/or presentation outlining recommendations.

Other duties also include fulfilling data requests from intra-and extramural investigators requesting curated data for secondary use. Responding to these requests will require understanding the intent and scope of requests, working with teammates to shepherd the requests through the approval process, and extracting data from the archive to create custom datasets. A knowledge of privacy laws and polices is desirable.

The LSDA includes a large information technology component, the successful candidate may also assist in developing software requirements for the LSDA data management applications.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

REQUIRED: 

• Enrolled in a Master of Science or data science degree with emphasis on life or biological sciences discipline.

DESIRED:

• Experience with life sciences or medical records management or data cataloging
• Experience working with relational databases or digital repositories
• Knowledge of regulatory and legislative requirements related to PHI, PII and data privacy laws

REQUIRED SKILLS/TRAINING 

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with project managers, project leads, customers, and with contract colleagues is essential.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams)
• Reliable and dependable work habits and the dedication to get the job done.
• Ability to attain and maintain respect and confidence of the customer and contract personnel.
• Proficient in the use of the internet
• Ability to take direction and work independently, creatively, and efficiently
• Highly developed organizational skills and attention to detail
• Skilled at organizing and facilitating problem-solving discussions

DESIRED: 

• Knowledge of FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles
• Skilled in transforming datasets to Tidy format
• Experience using R/RStudio or Python

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Responsible for compliance with Safety, Health, and Environmental plan; must be committed to a high standard of safety and be willing and able to comply with all safety laws and all of the Company's safety policies and rules and must be willing to report safety violations and potential safety violations to appropriate supervisory or management personnel
• Responsible for compliance with the Quality Assurance Plan, policies, and procedures
• Must maintain regular and acceptable attendance level as determined by the Company
• Responsible for completing all assigned training
• Clean, organize and consolidate flight analog data for open access on the public LSDA website (removed)
• Assist with ad hoc reporting on the status of their tasks
• Support development of presentations for poster sessions, publications, and NASA reports
• Respond to customer's data inquiries and concerns, addressing issues promptly
• Maintain confidentiality of all protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) to which access has been granted
• Provide weekly status reports of work activities to project lead
• Participation in software requirements definition and user interface/database testing
• Other duties as assigned

*Rates listed are not a guarantee of salary/rate.  Rate offered at time of hire will depend on many factors including education, experience, interview results and skill level