About the Role:  

We are looking for a passionate data scientist to join the Forest Ecosystems engineering team. We are on a mission to map, measure, and monitor the world’s forests using high resolution satellite imagery. Our team works with multi-sensor earth observations data, developing workflows that integrate measurements from Planet’s unique constellation with public data sources, including multispectral, LiDAR, and SAR data. We are developing object detection models to identify and count individual trees in high resolution imagery. This work will span spatial and organismal scales, counting both recently planted saplings and mature standing trees from sites around the world. You will contribute by developing consistent, scalable, and science-based instance segmentation methods using sub-meter satellite imagery. As a member of this team, you will have the opportunity to work with an experienced team of scientists and engineers, experiment with deploying your models at scale, and iterate with feedback from users and stakeholders. We are a small and growing team, with a highly collaborative culture, distributed remotely across USA and Canada. 

Impact You’ll Own:

• Develop novel methods to count and delineate trees in satellite imagery
• Collaborate with the team to iteratively build and test our suite of forest-related data products with end users, who are often focused on conservation and restoration
• Implement models as efficient python code that can be deployed at scale
• Document and organize your work to be transparent and repeatable  
• Write external documentation, white papers and occasionally research papers

What You Bring:

• PhD in forest ecology, environmental science, forestry or related
• Solid understanding of machine learning or image analysis
• Research or professional experience deriving tree attributes from sensor data
• Fluency with geospatial technologies in python (e.g. GDAL, rasterio, shapely, etc)
• Proficiency with Python in a Linux environment
• Experience with version control and Git
• Excellent technical communication and documentation skills

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience training and deploying deep learning models
• Experience with cloud compute and storage

Benefits While Working at Planet:

• Comprehensive Health Plan
• Wellness program and onsite massages in specific offices
• Flexible Time Off
• Recognition Programs
• Commuter Benefits
• Learning and Tuition Reimbursement
• Parental Leave
• Offsites and Happy Hours
• Volunteering Benefits

#LI-REMOTE