Geospatial Research Assistant, Summer 2026

AidData at William & Mary has an opening for a paid undergraduate research assistant position.

You will join a team in AidData's Research and Evaluation Unit working on a project that uses advanced deep learning algorithms to classify rainwater harvesting systems (demi-lunes) in sub-Saharan Africa. The project's goal is to identify demi-lune structures and create high-quality maps for environmental analysis, with applications for climate-sensitive agriculture and biodiversity conservation.

You'll have the opportunity to learn data preparation and geospatial analysis, and impact evaluation, while gaining hands-on experience in accessing data and applying evaluation methodologies for real-world research.

This position will cover the entire summer semester. This is a paid position with an hourly rate from $12.00 to $15.00, depending on skills and experience. This position will be expected to work up to 40 hours per week during the summer.

Primary Responsibilities

• Collect ground reference data through open-access geospatial datasets
• Clean and preprocess raw data using GIS software

Required Qualifications

• The ideal candidate should have completed GIS and programming courses at William & Mary
• Knowledge of GIS software, including QGIS and Google Earth Pro