Multiple Positions Available for Global Mining Watch

Full-time, fixed-term for 1 year (can be extended to another year)

We are looking for 3 Research Associates/Postdoctoral Fellows (RAs) to work on a multidisciplinary research project on ‘Global Mining Watch’, bringing together expertise in remote sensing, computer vision, GIS, ecology, and social science. The aim of the project is to perform remote sensing, geo-spatial and socio-environmental analysis of global mining footprints, supporting social impact and risk assessment of mining sites around the world. The project will utilise cutting-edge computer vision and deep-learning approaches, GIS analysis of global data and new approaches to web-based mapping and visualisation of socio-ecological environmental challenges. The project under the ‘Global Mining Watch’ umbrella will be funded from multiple funding bodies, including Google Research Scholar Award, Ford Foundation, and joint initiative between Monash University Indonesia and the University of Queensland.

Three RAs will be employed on the project focusing on different disciplinary areas: Computer vision, GIS and remote sensing analyses using Python/R/Javascript and GIS analysis. As an RA on this project, you will work under the supervision of Dr. Risqi Saputra and Dr. Alex Lechner. The position is based at Monash University Indonesia, a research intensive university, ranked #57 in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022.

You will have excellent communication skills in English, both in verbal and in writing. Specific requirements for particular position will be described as follows:

Developing deep-learning and computer vision algorithms for mapping the global distribution of mining operations using multi-spectral earth observation data.

Responsibilities:

• Perform data engineering and wrangling from scatter resources (e.g., Sentinel Satellite imagery, Google Maps platform, etc.)
• Develop, train, test, and evaluate 1) semantic segmentation algorithms and 2) elevation surface models (RGB to Depth) from a large scale satellite images
• Lead and/or contribute to writing report, conference paper, and/or journal articles in English
• Actively collaborate with experts and partners from diverse disciplines
• Leading and acting as point of contact for small group of RAs

Essential Selection Criteria:

• Experienced Master degree or PhD in Computer Science/Data Science/Computer Vision/Artificial Intelligence or equivalent
• Substantial experience working on computer vision project, with proven ability in writing Python code and developing Machine Learning system
• Track record of academic publications in English

Desirable Selection Criteria:

• Track record on working with large-scale machine learning and computer vision problem
• Experience on developing semantic segmentation algorithms and/or depth estimation from RGB/Structure-from-Motion
• Experience or interest in the application of computer vision to remote sensing

Developing scripts for automating the geospatial analysis of global-scale mining and existing spatial data to characterise social and environmental impacts of resource extraction.

Responsibilities:

• Analysing large global scale GIS datasets
• Automate GIS analyses using one or more scripting language such as Python/R/Javascript
• Develop geoprocessing methods to describe spatial indicators and proxies of a range of social and environmental issues related to mining
• Develop visualisation and statistical methods for analysing spatial datasets
• Contribute to writing report, conference paper, and/or journal articles in English
• Actively collaborate with experts and partners from diverse disciplines
• Leading and acting as point of contact for small group of RAs

Essential Selection Criteria:

• Master degree or PhD in Computer Science/Geospatial analysis/Geography/ Environmental Science or equivalent with a substantial GIS component
• Substantial experience working with GIS and proven ability in scripting geospatial analysis
• Experience in geospatial analysis of social and/or environmental issues
• Skills in report writing and/or academic publication in English

Desirable Selection Criteria:

• Remote sensing analysis
• Experience in Google Earth Engine (in particularly), High Performance Computing and/or Cloud computing
• Skills in web-mapping and visualisation
• Experience in ArcGIS and/or remote sensing software
• Background or interest in ecology or environmental sciences

Providing GIS support including remote sensing, mapping, digitising and environmental geospatial analyses using ArcGIS.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct geoprocessing analysis of spatial indicators and proxies of a range of social and environmental issues related to mining
• Image interpretation, digitising and classification of true-colour high resolution imagery
• Visualise and analyse spatial datasets
• Contribute to writing report, conference paper, and/or journal articles in English
• Actively collaborate with experts and partners from diverse disciplines

Essential Selection Criteria:

• Bachelor or Master degrees in Geospatial analysis/Geography/ Environmental Science or equivalent with a substantial GIS component
• Substantial experience working with geospatial analysis of social and/or environmental issues
• Experience in visualising and mapping environmental datasets
• Skills in report writing and/or academic publication

Desirable Selection Criteria:

• Remote sensing analysis
• Experience in Google Earth Engine
• Skills in web-mapping and visualisation
• Experience in ArcGIS and/or remote sensing software
• Background or interest in ecology or environmental sciences

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RA will have a competitive salary, basic social security insurance, funds for travel (attending conferences), and access to Monash University Indonesia facilities. Applicants must have an existing right to work in Indonesia (i.e. Indonesian citizen or in possession of a valid work visa).

If you are interested, please send your application to both risqi.saputra@monash.edu and alex.lechner@monash.edu with the following:

• Cover letter outlining your motivation
• Response to the selection criteria
• CV and other supporting documents

The application remains open until the position is filled. Nevertheless, please apply as soon as possible if you are interested.