Job Summary

The Department of Technology Services in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) at the University of Michigan seeks a Museum Data & Technology Assistant (Temp) to join our Museum Support team. LSA Technology Services provides critical infrastructure, data management, and technical support to the College’s world-class research museums.

This position will work directly with museum data systems to help clean, manage, and audit biological collection data. The initial focus of this position will support LSA’s Research Museum Collection Managers by preparing and processing complex datasets for integration into the Specify database platform.

Responsibilities*

40% Data Auditing 

• Utilize the Specify database application and spreadsheet tools to review, audit, clean, and format incoming and existing museum specimen records.

• Perform quality control checks on legacy data to resolve formatting inconsistencies, taxonomy conflicts, or missing metadata within Specify.

30% Data Manipulation and Scripting

• Write and utilize Python scripts (with a heavy emphasis on data-cleaning libraries like Pandas) to parse, filter, and normalize large-scale datasets.

• Handle and manipulate structured XML files to transform biological data for system ingestion.

• Help automate routine data-cleaning workflows to increase the throughput of digitized museum collections.

20% Specify Application Support

• Review and respond to collection staff requests for Specify database support.

• Assist Collection Managers in mapping biological dataset schemas to match internal museum data standards.

10% Collaboration and Communication

• Communicate technical data processes and progress updates clearly to both technical teammates within LSA-TS and non-technical museum staff/curators.

• Document data-cleaning scripts and workflow steps for future student workers or collection staff.

Required Qualifications*

• Must be a currently enrolled University of Michigan student.

• Academic background or demonstrated interest/experience working with biological data (e.g., coursework or lab experience in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Museum Studies, Bioinformatics, or a related field).

• Foundational proficiency with Python (specifically utilizing Pandas or similar data manipulation libraries) and basic familiarity with XML.

• Intermediate skills with spreadsheet applications (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets) for data tracking and sorting.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to collaborate effectively across a hybrid work environment.

Desired Qualifications*

• Prior experience or familiarity with the Specify museum software platform (Specify 6 or Specify 7) is highly encouraged, but not required.

• Experience handling relational data, databases, or complex data-cleaning projects.