The Office of Sustainability seeks to transform MIT into a powerful model—that generates just, equitable, scalable, and applicable solutions for responding to the unprecedented challenges of a changing planet. To achieve our mission, we seek to advance a collaborative process that engages and elevates a diverse set of voices to foster operational excellence, education, research, and innovation on our campus.  We are looking for a team member who can lead projects that produce actionable data insights and develop tools to help MIT advance its commitment to climate and sustainability.  

This position will report to the Director of the Office of Sustainability and work collaboratively with the members of the Office of Sustainability team, as well as stakeholders from a mix of administrative and academic units across the Institute.  Our teammates describe our culture as caring, innovative, and impactful.  We share a common desire to solve problems, address environmental issues and injustices.  

Position Overview:

The Data Engineer is responsible for updating and building the data architecture needed to track and report out on all campus sustainability activities, prioritizing the climate mitigation and resiliency, waste and food goals outlined in Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade. More specifically, this position will initially be responsible for formalizing the data acquisition and analytical structure, policies and procedures.  This individual will curate and organize data from multiple sources and upload for access on the Sustainability Data Pool, a first of its kind centralized data repository available to all members of the MIT community.  The time periods and units of measurement of the data will be topic and data dependent.  

Principle Duties and Responsibilities:

Data Management 

• Learn about historic and existing MIT and Office of Sustainability processes for obtaining and managing data e.g. IST data warehouse; refine processes where needed and develop new protocols that help to ensure efficient and robust data sourcing, ingestion and management within the office.

• Partner with Office of Sustainability project managers and student researchers to identify core data gaps, needs to sufficiently achieve a reasonable level of data set completeness, and external offices/sources for seeking the data

• Coordinate a data curation and management process in alignment with and leveraging IS&T campus data management practices, strategies, and software.

• Collaborate with and provide support to Office of Sustainability project management team members in the process of seeking and obtaining data from the source office, vendor, etc.

• Implement and complete processes to ingest data and integrate data into the central campus sustainability data repository known as the MIT Sustainability Data Pool.

• Collaborate with data providers to ensure that the data ingestion and processing of data maintains quality, controls and integrity as expected by the sharing office (i.e. seek input on any duplications of lines or other anomalies).

• Effectively organize, clean, integrate and prepare large, varied datasets, architect specialized database and computing environments, and communicate results.

• Ensure quality and integrity of data across campus sustainability topic areas [e.g. energy, water, materials, food, transportation, waste etc.].

• When a data topic is deemed a priority by the Director, collaborate with staff/students to model data to enhance data quality, impute missing values, detect anomalies, identify important relationships, and/or generate predictions and forecasts

• Determine when statistical learning techniques (machine learning) can be applied and where they would add value. Execute these techniques and clearly communicate limitations to stakeholders.

• Generate automated reports and communications necessary for city compliance, stakeholder transparency, operational performance, and decision-making. Reports include, but are not limited to supporting MIT’s greenhouse gas inventory, transportation trends, and waste management.

• Prepares materials and communicates analytical findings in the appropriate mediums and level of detail for MIT leadership, department management, institutional partners, the MIT community, and the broader public. Communications may include, but are not limited to, an annual sustainability performance report, web-based dashboards, charts or infographics. 

• Other duties as required.

Requirements:  

• Bachelor’s degree from 4-year College or University in Computer Science/Engineering/ /Business/Math/Policy or related field is required. Master’s degree preferred

• A minimum of 7 years related work experience

• Demonstrated knowledge of traditional relational databases (SQL), big data technologies (Hadoop, Spark), and computer programming experience (e.g. experience with APIs).

• At least 5 years of experience with an open-source data science programming language (i.e. R, python) 

• At least 3 years of experience with data visualization software such as Tableau.

• Demonstrated experience collaborating with others to obtain, ingest, organize and clean data sets to enable analysis

• Strong data visualization skills  

• Demonstrated evidence as a team player.

• Demonstrated commitment to the values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within the climate and sustainability field

• Interest in and or demonstrated impact working on and integrating racial, economic, and climate justice initiatives

• Demonstrated self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds and serving the needs of diverse populations.

Preferred:

• Big data experience (Spark, hive, Hadoop) a plus

• Experience working with Energy and/or Sustainability Metrics preferred 

• Ability to collaborate and work effectively with others and function well as part of a team

• Experience working in higher education a plus

All applications must go through MIT Central HR.

Reports to: Director of Sustainability, Julie Newman
Hours: Full time, 40 hours
Schedule: Hybrid office/remote
Salary Grade: 10

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MITOS Student Sustainability Researchers

There is currently one position for spring semester and five positions for summer available for MIT students.

General Job description:

Join a dynamic, collaborative office that is developing MIT’s next generation vision of campus sustainability. Read below for descriptions of each position and an overview of the details and qualifications.

Details (for all positions):

• Hours: Part-Time: 8-10 hours/week -- Sept to May; Full Time: 35-40 hours/week --June 6 to August 12

• Pay Range: $17-$20/hour

• Open to: Upper-level undergraduate and graduate students: Current MIT students only.

Qualifications (for all positions):

• Strong interest in sustainability issues as they relate to urban and/or campus sustainability as well as a desire to impact the future of MIT and sustainability in higher education and beyond

• Support for MIT’s commitment to the values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within the climate and sustainability field

• Ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures/backgrounds and serve the needs of diverse populations

• Excellent written, visual and oral communication skills, including presentation of complex data

• Strong quantitative data collection, management, and analysis, including proficiency in Excel

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision

• Self-motivation and an eagerness to learn

• Demonstrated coursework in energy, materials, land, water, food systems, and/or building-related topics within the Departments of Architecture, Urban Studies and Planning, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or similar

• Experience working on and integrating racial, economic, and climate justice initiatives

To apply:

Send a resume and cover letter to mitosjobs@mit.edu with the name of the position in the subject line.

See below for any current openings and descriptions of each position and associated qualifications.

Scope 3 GHG Researcher - Spring Semester only

MIT’s bold Fast Forward climate action plan commits the Institute to track and report greenhouse gasses (GHGs) generated from activities including Institute-sponsored travel, waste and consumption of purchased goods and capital construction. These building block steps will be key for enabling the MIT campus and community to mitigate its contributions of Scope 3 GHGs over the coming years.

The MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) is activating the campus as a test bed to gather a preliminary picture of MIT’s Scope 3 GHG emissions. Scope 3 (using the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol for Corporate Value Chain as guidance) includes emissions from travel, waste, commuting, food, purchased goods, capital construction and other categories that are not yet captured in MIT’s GHG inventory which measures scope 1 (direct) and 2 (indirect emissions from purchased electricity).     

MITOS seeks a student researcher who will help build out MIT’s Scope 3 data platform by teaming with MIT research scientists, data engineering and analysis staff, and project managers using real data on MIT operations to drive MIT GHG emissions reductions.  Potential projects for the student to complete by the end of the semester could include:

• Finish the phase 1 build-out of the public-facing MIT Travel Impact Dashboard

• Develop public-facing dashboard for reporting GHG impacts from campus waste and capital goods

• Develop public-facing dashboard for reporting GHG impacts from campus food (pending data availability)

• Develop public-facing dashboard for reporting GHG impacts from purchased goods (pending data availability)

The position provides an opportunity to build a student’s skills in a variety of technical and non-technical areas, including research, project management, writing, data organization, and data visualization. Key tasks will include:

• Conduct research on methods and benchmarks for quantifying Scope 3 impacts

• Develop Python programming routines for data intake, management, analysis and reporting needs

• Develop public-facing dashboard that communicates campus Scope 3 footprint

• Document processes

Qualifications

• Self-motivation and an eagerness to learn;

• Intermediate to advanced experience developing in Python and Tableau

• Willingness to learn and enhance skillsets for real-world applications

• Experience with data analysis and synthesis of findings into visualizations

• Strong communication skills and comfort working with diverse stakeholders;

• Interest in improving campus sustainability;

• Willingness to take ownership of work;

• Ability to work independently to problem-solve analytics tasks

Carbon Market Student Researcher 

MIT’s Office of Sustainability (MITOS) is currently seeking a Carbon Market Student Researcher to contribute to MIT’s net-zero campus emissions planning as called for by Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade.  MIT’s climate action plan calls for achieving net-zero emissions by 2026 as a milestone towards the elimination of all direct greenhouse gas emissions on campus by 2050. This student researcher will contribute research, analysis, and reporting to assist MITOS in assessing the role, viability, and opportunities for participating in market-based carbon credit offset products as one potential component of MIT’s net-zero strategy. 

Specifically, we seek a student to team with us in developing several essential planning deliverables: 

• Literature review and summary – research, review, and summarize the latest literature on both the pros and cons of current carbon market approaches and products, including identification and summary of potential future research opportunities to improve current practices in measurement, verification, carbon accounting, etc.

• Carbon credit market scan and assessment – research, review, and summarize the current market participants, projects, and product offerings in the voluntary carbon credit market to help assess potential opportunities for MIT.

• Carbon market sector review and analysis – Review and summarize the different carbon credit sector and project types with a goal of identifying the highest impact sectors for potential prioritization.

• Project evaluation criteria – Research, assemble, review, and revise best practice project evaluation criteria for assessing, ranking, and short-listing potential carbon credit projects for MIT to consider.

Qualifications for this position

• Strong interest and related experience in applied practice in climate action planning, carbon markets, project evaluation, literature review, research, or other related areas.

The student will work as part of a team, directly with the MITOS project manager supporting net-zero planning. This is a hybrid position, with a requirement to work on campus at the Office of Sustainability office a minimum of one day a week for inter-office collaboration.

This is an hourly paid position for an undergraduate or graduate MIT student to support these efforts. This student will work 35-40 hours/week at $17-$20/hour (depending on skills and experience) during summer 2023 (Monday June 6 to August 12, 2023).
 

Climate Change Data Analyst

MIT’s bold climate action plan called Fast Forward MIT commits the Institute to track and report greenhouse gasses (GHGs) generated from activities including Institute-sponsored travel, waste, consumption of purchased goods, commuting and capital construction.  Fast Forward MIT also commits MIT’s Schools, Departments, Labs and Centers to develop their own localized climate action plans that can take actions to reduce emissions impacts from sectors such as waste, purchased goods and travel. 

The MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) is activating the campus as a test bed to gather a preliminary picture of MIT’s Scope 3 GHG emissions. Scope 3 (using the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol for Corporate Value Chain as guidance) includes emissions from travel, waste, commuting, food, purchased goods, capital construction and other categories that are not yet captured in MIT’s GHG inventory which measures scope 1 (direct) and 2 (indirect emissions from purchased electricity).

MITOS seeks a student researcher who will help to continue to build out MIT’s Scope 3 data platform by teaming with other student researchers, MIT research scientists, data engineering and analysis staff, and project managers using real data from MIT operations in order to drive MIT GHG emissions reductions. The data organized and analyzed through this summer research position will provide the building blocks for climate action over the coming years.

Potential projects for the student to complete by the end of the summer could include data analysis at both campus and individual department scales, including:

• Update emissions impact calculations for GHG impacts from campus waste, capital goods (i.e. embodied carbon in building materials) and purchased goods.

• Develop public-facing dashboard for reporting GHG impacts from these updated emissions categories.

• Develop public-facing dashboard for reporting campus food GHG impacts.

The position provides an opportunity to build a student’s skills in a variety of technical and non-technical areas, including research, project management, writing, data organization, and data visualization. Key tasks will include:

• Conduct research on methods and benchmarks for quantifying Scope 3 impacts

• Develop Python programming routines for data intake, management, analysis and reporting needs

• Develop public-facing dashboard that communicates campus Scope 3 footprint

• Document processes

Qualifications for this position

• Self-motivation and an eagerness to learn;

• Intermediate to advanced experience developing in Python and Tableau

• Willingness to learn and enhance skillsets for real-world applications

• Experience with data analysis and synthesis of findings into visualizations

• Strong communication skills and comfort working with diverse stakeholders;

• Interest in improving campus sustainability;

• Willingness to take ownership of work;

• Ability to work independently to problem-solve analytics tasks

This is an hourly paid position for an undergraduate or graduate MIT student to support these efforts. This student will work 35-40 hours/week at $17-$20/hour (depending on skills and experience) during summer 2023 (Monday June 6 to August 12, 2023), with the potential to continue this position part-time during the academic year. 
 

Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Planning Researcher

 
MIT’s Office of Sustainability (MITOS) is currently seeking a Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Planning Student to contribute to MIT’s resiliency roadmap and to department-level climate action planning called for by Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade. Since 2016, MIT has engaged MIT research scientists, faculty, staff, students and the City of Cambridge in understanding and modeling anticipated impacts to the campus from a changing climate (i.e. flood and heat hazards). In order to guide prioritized and strategic adaptation, MIT needs to consolidate these scientific and planning priorities into synthesized resiliency + adaptation plans at the campus and department/School scales.

Specifically, we seek a student to team with us in developing two essential planning deliverables: 

1. MIT Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Roadmap – Building on planning analysis and documents prepared during the 2022-2023 academic year, this “roadmap” would synthesize key strategies, standards and implementation guidance for enabling resilience of MIT’s community, buildings and ecosystem in the face of a changing climate.

2. Department-level Climate Change Assessment Templates - Aligned and down-scaled from the “Roadmap”, these templates would support department-level implementation of climate change vulnerability assessments and priority action plans.  The method and templates will build upon the work of the MIT Climate Resiliency Committee and use existing resources like the MIT Climate Resiliency Dashboard. 

 
The student will work as part of a team, directly with the MITOS Project Manager supporting department-level planning and the Assistant Director leading resiliency efforts at the campus scale. 

Qualifications for this position

• Strong interest in applied practice in climate action planning and planning career path

This is an hourly paid position for an undergraduate or graduate MIT student to support these efforts. This student will work 35-40 hours/week at $17-$20/hour (depending on skills and experience) during summer 2023 (Monday June 6 to August 12, 2023), with the potential to continue this position part-time during the academic year. 
 

Design Out Waste Student Researcher

The Design Out Waste Student Researcher will work with the MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) and partner offices to support MIT’s Waste Impact Goal to reduce MIT’s trash by 30% by 2030, with a special focus on designing out waste from operations and procurement activities, expanding food waste collection systems, eliminating MIT’s use and reliance on single-use products, and operationalizing reuse strategies. 

This Researcher will be directly involved in waste system planning and operations of pilot activities in select locations that 1) design out waste and contamination from MIT trash, recycling, and food waste streams; 2) inform the design of food waste collection systems for MIT dorms; and 3) provide communication and education content. 

Building upon MIT’s materials management initiative, current pilot activities, and peer University efforts, this Researcher will collaborate with Waste Watchers, the Office of Recycling and Materials Management, and dorm leadership to pilot, help test, and refine actionable strategies and tools, including a new reuse marketing initiative, MIT’s reuse marketplace, Rheaply, and the new Waste Strategies toolkit. 

Key outcomes will be: 

• Leadership and coordination of campus-based pilot tests

• Synthesis and communication of key data-driven findings and lessons learned that can inform campus-wide scale-ability of waste reduction strategies

• Identification of opportunities for improved design and implementation of campus waste management approaches 

• Documenting outcomes in briefs or policy documents

Duties will include:

• Planning for the implementation of an expanded dormitory food waste collection system

• Taking part in designing and implementing strategies to design out waste from specific campus pilot locations, including dorms and public campus spaces.

• Advise on education and communications strategies for pilot test location(s)

• Facilitate a data-driven approach to monitor and evaluate pilot test performance.

• Create synthesized presentations of findings and guidance for the MIT community.

• Providing support for waste data processing, design, and assessment 

Environmental Justice Researcher

MIT’s climate action plan, Fast Forward, recognizes that the climate crisis will not be solved without a focus on justice and equity. At the Office of Sustainability, we are seeking to sharpen and expand our work integrating a justice lens into our climate and sustainability efforts. This work includes developing a deeper understanding of local environmental justice issues; identifying partnership opportunities on campus, in the community, and beyond; development of scalable projects that combine sustainability and justice goals (i.e. food justice); and creating a roadmap to address the imperative of climate justice. MITOS seeks a student researcher to work closely with MITOS staff and partners on these efforts. Potential projects include: 

• Creating a network map of environmental justice research, education, and partnership opportunities on the MIT campus;

• Building a directory of local organizations and initiatives working toward environmental justice in the areas of education, action, and advocacy;

• Identifying opportunities to embed the goals of environmental justice into campus sustainability projects;

• Mapping environmental justice issues impacting local communities related to energy, transportation, waste, food systems, environmental health, etc.;

• Identifying opportunities to align with federal climate and environmental justice strategies and funding at the local/regional level (i.e. Justice40 Initiative, Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act);

• Developing/implementing food justice projects on campus that aim to increase access to local and culturally relevant food;

• Developing website content, presentations, visualizations, written reports, articles, and/or other outreach materials;

• Having support and space to reflect and explore topics of interest and new ideas.

This is an hourly paid position for an undergraduate or graduate MIT student to support these efforts. This student will work 35-40 hours/week at $17-$20/hour (depending on skills and experience) during summer 2023 (Monday June 6 to August 12, 2023).