Research Assistant & GIS Analyst (Urban Ecology)

About the role

The Faculty of Forestry’s Urban Ecology and Sustainability Lab at UBC is seeking a Research Assistant and GIS Analyst to support cutting‑edge urban ecology research. Working closely with Principal Investigator Dr. Melissa McHale, you will apply GIS and remote‑sensing techniques to acquire, process, and analyse spatial data.

Key responsibilities

• Acquire, process, and integrate spatial and remote‑sensing datasets using GIS software.
• Conduct routine spatial analysis, data visualisation, mapping, and reporting.
• Develop and apply custom GIS tools for dataset creation, updates, and course material production.
• Integrate spatial data with field‑collected information and maintain data inventories.
• Document GIS workflows, processing methods, and metadata for reproducibility.
• Provide training and technical assistance to team members, faculty, staff, and students.
• Collaborate with teaching teams to support coursework and lab activities.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Required profile

• Technical support experience for a research lab focused on urban ecology.
• Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students.
• Attention to detail in data quality control and documentation.

Required skills

• Proficiency with GIS software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS).
• Remote sensing techniques and data processing.
• Spatial data acquisition, integration, and management.
• Spatial analysis, visualisation, and mapping.
• Custom GIS tool development.
• Data inventory organisation and metadata documentation.

What we offer

• Competitive hourly compensation ranging from $27.24 to $29.82 CAD.
• Opportunity to work in a diverse, inclusive academic environment.
• Experience supporting interdisciplinary urban ecology research.