Data Scientist

Data Scientist at Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service · Department of Agriculture. Grade: 00-00. Applications close 2026-11-16.

Summary

The Semester of Service Program offers students a volunteer project-based opportunity to support real Federal missions, gaining hands-on experience and valuable career-ready skills. Students must be enrolled not less than half-time in an accredited trade school, technical or vocational institute, college, or other accredited educational institution. This project will support the Plant Germplasm Quarantine Program.

Duties

• Assist in the documentation of importation of plant germplasm and varieties including stakeholder information, testing data, digital photography, stakeholder communication, and final output into a database or LIMS system, as well as other data input programs such as spreadsheets.
• Provide a final presentation or report will include summarized data in visual style formats, highlighting observations and patterns observed.
• Organize the data on germplasm import, testing, and release
• Test different data visualization methods and apply them
• Develop a final report/poster representing the data

Qualifications

Applicants will be considered based on their knowledge, skills or abilities related to project needs. Specifically, applicants should: Completed at least two years of college coursework

Education

To qualify, you must be enrolled not less than half-time in an accredited trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution. You also must be in good academic standing as defined by your institution. Attach a copy of your transcripts to your application package for verification.

Additional requirements

To participate in this Program, you must:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S National studying in the U.S. or abroad.
• International students on valid visas may participate if they meet applicable immigration, visa, and agency authorities.
• Be enrolled not less than half-time in an accredited trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution.
• Be in good academic standing as defined by your institution.
• Commit to volunteering 8 - 20 hours per week for a minimum of 90 days.
• Complete all required onboarding documentation assigned by the Federal agency and your academic institution.
• Agree to volunteer.
• This position is unpaid.
• No compensation, stipends, or hiring preference will be granted from this work.
• You may use this volunteer experience to qualify for future jobs you choose to apply for.
• Agree to understanding volunteers are not Federal employees.
• Participation must be with the permission of the institution at which the student is enrolled.

How to apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration.

To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application. Follow the prompts to select your résumé and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process. You will be taken to the online application which you must complete to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://www.usajobs.gov/), all your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.