Intern Level V

The Public Health Institute (PHI) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health, well-being, and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. As one of the largest and most comprehensive public health organizations in the nation, we are at the forefront of research and innovations to improve the efficacy of public health statewide, nationally, and internationally.

PHI was distinguished as one of the top 50 "Best Non-Profit Organizations to Work For" by the Non-Profit Times in a national search.

SUMMARY:

About Tracking California

Tracking California, a program of the Public Health Institute in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health, mobilizes data for public health action. We track and analyze data on sickle cell disease, environmental health, and related health outcomes to protect California communities. Our core values are scientific integrity, transparency, sustainability, equity, and partnership. We are committed to building an inclusive team that reflects the populations we support, and we actively seek applications from individuals from marginalized or underrepresented communities.

About the Internship

This internship project focuses on researching available data, including outreach to data stewards, to create a more complete, standardized inventory of California's agricultural land use data to support ongoing surveillance of pesticide use near sensitive populations. The intern would lead efforts to enhance Tracking California's Pesticide Linkage Service by collating relevant geospatial datasets and helping produce agricultural pesticide application estimates at a fine geographic scale. This work directly supports Tracking California's mission to understand environmental exposures and protect vulnerable communities.

Under the supervision and mentorship of a research scientist, the intern will gain direct experience in geospatial data management and public health surveillance methodology. They will have the opportunity to connect with Tracking California staff and attend program meetings, including the Tracking Implementation Advisory Group (TIAG) meeting with partners from community-based organizations, government, and academic institutions. They will also build or strengthen skills in geospatial data management, GIS software, and reproducible data documentation practices.

This is a temporary, full-time position with a work schedule of 40 hours per week. The internship is expected to last up to 89 days, starting in June and ending in August 2026. The position is primarily remote with an option to attend in-person meetings if the intern is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. Applicants who are available to work during core business hours for the Pacific Time zone are preferred.

Full pay range for this position: $22.08 to $30.51 per hour. The typical hiring range for this position is from $22.08 (minimum) to $26.29 (midpoint) per hour. The starting wage is determined using a variety of factors, such as the candidate's knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as internal equity consideration and budget availability.

Employment Type: Full Time

Measurable Goals and Outcomes:

• Produce an inventory and evaluation of available agricultural land use datasets across California, including an assessment of completeness, accuracy, and feasibility for exposure assessments at the sub-county or field level scale.
• Present project findings and the final data inventory to Tracking California staff and colleagues at the end of the internship period.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

• Attend Tracking California Staff Meetings
• Become familiar with Pesticide Use Reports datasets and associated tools for California and the role these datasets have for environmental health tracking work and impact
• Collect, link, and manage multi-source geospatial datasets
• Perform outreach to data stewards (e.g. California County Agriculture or GIS Departments) to identify and access relevant datasets
• Extract or create metadata, document key variables and methodologies, and standardize datasets across counties and years
• Evaluate and analyze datasets for completeness, accuracy and feasibility to link to related data
• Present completed work to Tracking California and PHI colleagues at the end of the internship
• Perform other essential duties as assigned

NON-ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following (as time permits):

• Produce interactive mapping application showing available datasets by county
• Produce analysis linking Pesticide Use Report data to geospatial datasets

QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in the first year of a graduate degree program or in the summer after the first year

Other Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing or analyzing spatial datasets
• Experience working with GIS software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS, R)
• GIS coursework and/or related independent project using geospatial data
• Ability to communicate and document data structures and methodologies
• Experience with R or Python for data management and analysis is a plus
• Interest in environmental health research and environmental exposure data

The Public Health Institute is committed to a policy that provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and to make all employment decisions so as to further this principle of equal employment opportunity. To this end, the PHI will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are offered employment and employees are treated during employment without regard to these characteristics.

For further information regarding Equal Employment Opportunity, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser: http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf

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We're so pleased the Public Health Institute is an organization you would like to work with. Do you have questions about this opportunity? If so, email our recruitment team at Recruitment@phi.org.

Additional information about PHI's benefits and compensation offerings can be found here.

The Public Health Institute is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Recruitment Team at least 48 hours in advance at Recruitment@phi.org.