
Hiring Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Join our team and take part in a variety of our projects

Open Positions
GIS & Drone Research
K-12 Outreach
Social Media, Marketing & Science Communication
The Citizen Science GIS research group in the UCF Department of Sociology and the UCF College of Sciences Geospatial Technologies Cluster offers three new opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in creative, interdisciplinary work with a strong community outreach and research component.

GIS & Drone Research Assistant

Working with UCF faculty, graduate students, and post-doc scholars, the Undergraduate and Graduate Research Assistant will be trained for working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and drones, e.g. DJI Phantom, Mavic, Parrot, and collecting drone imagery throughout local sites in Orange County, FL to support our collaboration with Orange County Utilities. Local fieldwork and in-person travel is required.
Then, students will use GIS software (ArcGIS and Drone2Map to process and georeference drone imagery to prepare for supervised classification). The students will also be taught to use ArcGIS Online and Google Earth Engine to share drone imagery and related digital GIS data. Students will also work with the project team to train community partners in data collection efforts.
The work supports our Orange County Utilities project until May 15, 2022.
Desired Qualifications: We encourage applications from all students and all majors, whether or not they have experience with GIS and drones. Students will have strong organizational and communication skills, and be able to work a minimum of 10-15 hours per week during the fall and spring semester. We are particularly interested in students that have experience with or interest in:
GIS and/or data management
Drone operations and imagery analysis
FAA Part 107 drone pilot license would be a plus; if not, the student will be required to secure this certification to engage with the research team, paid for by the grant
In-person fieldwork, teamwork, or volunteering
K-12 Education & Outreach Assistant

Working with UCF faculty, graduate students, and post-doc scholars, the Undergraduate and Graduate Research Assistant will contribute education ideas, lesson planning, and activities for sharing social studies, environmental science, geography and place-based lessons with K-12 classrooms across Florida through our Maps, Apps and Drones Tour and our developing GeoBus set to launch this academic year.
Student assistants will learn how to use National Geographic resources and ArcGIS Online and Google Earth Engine in support of K-12 education activities. Student assistants will also work with the project team to train teachers and informal educators in the use of our learning tools to support their classrooms.
The work supports our NSF grant K-12 outreach and broader impacts.
Desired Qualifications: We encourage applications from all students and all majors, whether or not they have experience with K-12 education, GIS and drones. Students will have strong organizational and communication skills, patience, an engaging and positive personality, and experience with or a desire to work with children. Students must be able to work a minimum of 10-15 hours per week during the fall and spring semester. We are particularly interested in students that have experience with or interest in:
K-12 education, informal education, science communication, GIS, social studies, social sciences, environmental studies
In-person engagement with team and K-12 partners
Learn more about our K-12 education work at:

Social Media, Marketing, & Science Communication Research Assistant

Working with UCF faculty, graduate students, and post-doc scholars, the Undergraduate and Graduate Research Assistant will support our social media and science communication efforts across multiple projects that aim to use maps, apps and drones to connect science and society.
Students will work across multiple Citizen Science GIS projects to share our science and effectively engage diverse audiences with our work.
The work supports our grant K-12 outreach and broader impacts.
Desired Qualifications: We encourage applications from all students and all majors. Students will have strong organizational and communication skills, patience, an engaging and positive personality, experience with multiple social media platforms and with audience engagement.
Students must be able to work a minimum of 10-15 hours per week during the fall and spring semester. We are particularly interested in students that have experience with or interest in:
Digital media, marketing, communications, science communication, and related fields
In-person engagement with team and partners
Learn more about our core projects at our home page:
How to Apply
Please send a 1-page cover letter explaining your fit for and interest in the position along with a resume or CV to Dr. Timothy Hawthorne at timothy.hawthorne@ucf.edu. We will contact shortlisted applicants for an interview with the team the following week.