Senior Faculty Specialist in Digital Agriculture Systems

About the role

The Senior Faculty Specialist will lead the Digital Agriculture Systems Hub (DASH) deployment team within the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland. The role combines field operations, sensor technology testing, and team management to advance precision agriculture research in the Mid‑Atlantic region.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee day‑to‑day field and workshop operations for DASH, including deployment of tractor‑mounted sensor systems for cover‑crop mapping and variable‑rate nitrogen recommendations.
• Coordinate a regional deployment partnership with Willard, Growmark, and The Nature Conservancy, and lead sensor testing, calibration, and data acquisition training.
• Supervise technicians and undergraduate interns, manage budgets, purchasing, equipment maintenance, and travel logistics.
• Develop calibration protocols using hyperspectral imagery and execute satellite calibration with ground‑truth data.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in GIS, remote sensing, applied data science, or a related field.
• Proven ability to manage research projects and personnel in a multi‑stakeholder environment.
• Hands‑on experience troubleshooting electronics on agricultural machinery and working with standard agricultural practices.
• Physical ability to perform field work involving lifting up to 50 lb and manual labor.

Required skills

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – ESRI, QGIS
• Remote sensing and hyperspectral imagery analysis
• Operation of drones, handheld and tractor‑mounted cameras
• Experience with RGB, LiDAR, and sonar sensors for biomass mapping
• Metalworking, welding, and custom equipment fabrication
• Azure cloud platform knowledge