Employer Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Job Description, Responsibilities and Required Qualifications or Skills The Office of Applied Science within the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is hiring a Wildlife Research Analyst to join the Snapshot Wisconsin Decision Support Research Program. This program uses the 100+ million trail camera photos collected by the Snapshot Wisconsin program to conduct applied research and develop annual products that support wildlife decision making. The position will support applied research and development of population metrics from Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera data to inform management of deer, turkeys, and other Wisconsin wildlife species. This person will process and analyze Snapshot Wisconsin detection data working towards finalizing years of data. This person is expected to write custom SQL queries, write and annotate R code, fill data requests, and implement automated processing of research products whenever possible. This person will be responsible for conducting data-based research projects, running statistical analyses and models, and assessing model results. The position will be based out of Madison, WI. 40% Processing, documenting and finalizing trail camera detection data• Pull and process Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera data from an Oracle database and using custom SQL queries and R functions• Fill data requests that come in from volunteers, students, researchers, and DNR employees• Contribute to user acceptance testing of Oracle database changes that fix bugs or add features• Contribute to custom R packages for data analysis, especially adding documentation and new functions• Assess data quality and identify inconsistencies in data that require further assessment• Identify and implement solutions to finalize annual Snapshot Wisconsin datasets 30% Statistical analysis and model development• Assess patterns in data to separate noise (e.g., sampling issues, classification differences, detection differences) from abundance trends• Analyze trail camera data using a range of statistics and models that include covariates • Analyze trail camera data using models that include covariates and assess model fit and predictions• Visualize statistics and model predictions spatially and temporally 20% Automation development for annual wildlife research products• Critique existing workflows to identify steps that could be improved with automation• Develop and implement new procedures that increase automation and reduce manual processing• Fully document processes to improve usability annually and for similar applications 10% Other duties as assigned QualificationsIn addition to the required qualifications below, the selected candidate must be eligible to drive a state vehicle and meet the following criteria:Have a valid driver’s licenseBe at least 18 years of ageHave a minimum of two years licensed driving experienceHave not had three (3) or more moving violations and/or at-fault accidents in the past two (2) yearsHave no OWI/DUI violations within the past year Required qualifications: Demonstrated proficiency with pulling and querying data from relational databases (e.g., SQL)Demonstrated proficiency with data cleaning, data wrangling and documentation using R or similar (e.g., tidyverse, RMarkdown)Demonstrated proficiency with data analysis coding languages (e.g., R and Python)Demonstrated proficiency in statistical analysis and modeling of big data (e.g., generalized additive mixed models)Demonstrated proficiency with automation developmentDemonstrated proficiency in research data collaborations Preferred Qualifications: Master’s degree or higher in data science, statistics, quantitative ecology, biology or a related fieldExperience developing R packagesExperience with PythonExperience with version control in GitHub, or similarExperience with computer programming and machine learningExperience with trail camera research projects and trail camera data Job Field: Wildlife Job Type: Seasonal, Temporary, Internship Location Detail: Madison, WI Salary: $27.68/hour Job Benefits: Salary InformationThis position pays $27.68 per hour and is in the Research Analyst Senior classification in pay schedule and range 08-03. Compensation will be set in accordance with the State Compensation Plan. Job DetailsThis is a Limited Term Employment (LTE) position and will not automatically lead to permanent state employment or be entitled to the same benefits as permanent employees. More about LTE positions:1) Offer a great opportunity to gain experience and learn about careers at the WI Department of Natural Resources.2) Provide opportunities for individuals to enhance their resumes with skills learned on the job. 3) May accommodate flexibility for part-time or full-time work hours and seasonal schedules. Work schedules are dependent on business needs. 4) Allow individuals to hold multiple LTE appointments concurrently. If both LTE positions are at the same agency, the positions must be bona fide different positions. Each individual LTE position allows for maximum of 1039 hours in a twelve-month period. Application Deadline: Fri, 11/14/2025 - 12:00pm Link to Full Job Posting: https://wj.wi.gov/18824
