Agricultural Water Data Intern

Program/Department Overview

The Agriculture, Water and Food Focus Area is working to protect food, water and shelter in a changing climate and reduce climate impacts. We must lower climate emissions from agriculture, make food production more resilient, protect water resources and reduce flood risk to ensure that people, economies and ecosystems thrive as they face more extreme weather.

The Climate Resilient Water Systems (CRWS) workstream is dedicated to developing water management and policy solutions that balance water supply and demand and increase the resilience of water system. EDF’s Water Strategy is designed to help agricultural communities adapt and become more resilient to climate change, with a 2030 goal to help over 40 million people in the Western U.S. and at least two regions in India and China benefit from sustainable groundwater management.

Overall Function

The intern will support an exploratory analysis of consumptive water use associated with beef production systems using OpenET and related datasets. The intern will conduct a focused literature review, develop familiarity with satellite-based evapotranspiration (ET) data via the OpenET platform, and complete preliminary, high-level analyses of consumptive water use and forage and feed production relevant to beef supply chains. They will create exploratory maps, charts, or tables based on patterns found in the analyses. The intern will also develop a short set of recommendations outlining next steps for deeper analysis or future research.

This internship is designed as a learning-focused, applied research experience and will contribute to scoping future research, pilot studies, and collaboration around agricultural water use in water-limited regions. The intern will report to the Manager, Climate Resilient Water Systems and work closely with other CRWS team members.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct a targeted literature review on water use associated with beef and livestock production.
• Review and summarize existing methodologies for linking ET, irrigated forage production, and livestock supply chains.
• Access, process, and interpret OpenET data for selected forage or feed crops (e.g., alfalfa, pasture, silage, feed grains) in one or more pilot regions.
• Perform exploratory spatial and temporal analyses of consumptive water use relevant to beef production.
• Integrate OpenET outputs with complementary datasets (e.g., crop type, land use, agricultural statistics) as appropriate for a preliminary analysis.
• Identify and document key assumptions, data limitations, and uncertainties associated with satellite-derived ET in livestock-related contexts.
• Develop concise technical summaries, figures, and maps to communicate findings to project staff and partners.
• Participate in advancing EDF’s organizational effectiveness and culture goals, so people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included and empowered to address environmental and organizational challenges in ways that align with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled or recent graduate of a graduate degree or PhD program in hydrology, environmental science, agricultural science, geography, remote sensing, or a related field.
• Graduate-level coursework or research experience in water resources, agriculture, or geospatial analysis.
• Working knowledge of GIS and data analysis tools (e.g., QGIS/ArcGIS, Python, R, or similar).
• Experience with evapotranspiration or satellite-based remote sensing datasets.
• Familiarity with irrigated agriculture, forage systems, or livestock production.
• Interest in applied research that informs agricultural water management and sustainability.
• Experience synthesizing technical findings for mixed technical and policy audiences.
• Strong analytical writing and communication skills.
• Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across all cultures and backgrounds.
• Demonstrate initiative and problem solving skills.

Location

U.S. Remote with option to be hybrid out of any EDF office in Austin, TX, Boston, MA, Boulder, CO,New York, NY,Raleigh, NC,Washington, DC, orSan Francisco, CA. Intern supervisor is in Oregon and many team members are in California, Oregon, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado

Term

Summer 2026

Hours

Full-time (35 hr/week)

Compensation

This internship would involve compensation for work paid at a rate competitive with leading non-profits at $20-24/hr.

Application Materials

Interested applicants should attach their cover letter and resume to the EDF application.