Hyperspectral Scanning Assistant

Join the Missouri Botanical Garden’s new initiative to Revolutionize Species Identification. This transformative initiative will digitize the Garden’s extensive herbarium collection, while using these data to create artificial intelligence models to automatically identify plant species. This initiative will make critical data and tools available to scientists, conservationists, and policymakers around the globe, thereby helping address the biodiversity crisis.

Summary: This is a multi-year position dependent on restricted funding and project duration that will take and database hyperspectral scans of specimens in the Herbarium at the Missouri Botanical Garden. With nearly 8 million specimens of preserved plants, the MBG Herbarium is one of the largest and most active research collections in the world and serves as a core resource for the Garden’s Science and Conservation Division. The successful candidate for this position will join a dedicated team of scientists and support staff in the Herbarium to produce high-quality specimen data to serve urgent global needs in research, conservation, land management, and policymaking. In addition, staff hired in this position will participate in a curatorial mentorship program, attending workshops held by other Garden staff on botanical taxonomy, nomenclature, specimen curation, and collection management to develop their Herbarium skills and knowledge. This role requires excellent attention to detail, time management, interpersonal skills, a thoughtful and collaborative approach to problem solving, and a deep passion for plants. Initial core duties include pulling specimens, taking hyperspectral scans and associated metadata, data quality assurance (QA), and specimen filing. As part of the curatorial mentorship program, duties will expand to include: becoming familiar with the taxonomic literature of one or more target plant families, updating scientific names on specimens according to recent taxonomic treatments, identifying specimens, and improving the accuracy of the physical collection and its associated digital records.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Pulls, takes hyperspectral scans, ensures data quality, and refiles specimens in coordination with other Herbarium and research staff to ensure timely completion of grant deliverables with minimum interruption to other Herbarium activities.
• Saves hyperspectral scans to a Missouri Botanical Garden server.
• Engages in careful and efficient quality control checks to ensure the highest standards in hyperspectral data quality.
• Works with Hyperspectral Scanning Supervisor and Curator of Biodiversity Data to develop and test workflows to optimize scanning efficiency and improve data quality.
• Attends curatorial mentorship workshops, lectures, and other events to grow capacity in taxonomy and Herbarium curation.
• Files specimens, updates scientific names, reads taxonomic literature, and identifies plant collections in one or more target families (developed over time as part of the curatorial mentorship program).
• Ensures that all applicable safety standards are followed to reduce hazards.
• Reports all accidents, injuries and near-miss accidents immediately.
• Follows and adheres to established policies and procedures, including but not limited to Employee Handbook, Garden Safety Guidelines and Department Policies.
• Behaves and communicates in a manner that promotes and fosters a culture of teamwork and cooperation, within our division and throughout the Garden, with co-workers, supervisors/managers, volunteers, visitors and employees.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This position does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Competencies:

Communication – Listens to others and asks questions for clarification; Writes clearly and presents information accurately; Speaks professionally and responds well to questions; Supports positive visitor relations.
Collaboration – Demonstrates teamwork and promotes respect in the workplace; Engages in problem solving and group initiatives; Cooperates in implementing procedures and process improvements; Strives for positive visitor experiences.
Accountability – Demonstrates commitment to responsibilities and adaptable to changes; Effectively prioritizes, troubleshoots and takes appropriate actions; Follows policies and procedures, meets deadlines, quality, and safety standards; Strives to proactively, address visitor and internal colleagues’ concerns.
Problem Solving – Identifies and resolves problems; Includes supervisor before taking action as necessary; Recommends solutions, demonstrates creativity and resourcefulness; Exhibits sound and accurate judgment in decision making process; Includes appropriate people in making decisions.
Stewardship – Promotes and adheres to sustainability, safety and s