Public Health Data Analytics Student Job in Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job)

Vacancy No. SOS-12985524-26-KMF Department Food Safety and Inspection Service
Salary $0.00 to $0.00 Grade 00 to 00
Perm/Temp Temporary FT/PT Part-time
Open Date 6/17/2026 Close Date 6/24/2026
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job)


Public Health Data Analytics Student

Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Office of Public Health Science

Summary

Make an impact while you learn. The Semester of Service Program offers students a volunteer project-based opportunity to support real Federal missions, gaining hands-on experience and career-ready skills. Students must be enrolled at least half-time in an accredited trade school, technical/vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution.

With this project, you'll use data analytics and machine learning to advance food safety.

This job is open to

Students

Current students enrolled in an accredited high school, college or graduate institution.

Clarification from the agency

Students who are enrolled not less than half-time in an accredited trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution.

Duties

  • Extract the detailed virulence factors (VF) profiles from the available strains (potentially along with antimicrobial and heavy-metal resistance genes) in the NIH-National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Pathogen Detection (PD) system.
  • Collect the corresponding metadata, including serotype, source, date of isolation, geography, etc. and link the metadata to the VF profiles.
  • Conduct VF trend analyses describing how virulence profiles vary across source, time, and geography.
  • Identify specific VFs, or groups of VFs, that are more highly associated with more severe human health outcomes.
  • Provide evidence-based information to support regulatory decisions on the use of VF data for improving public health.
  • Leverage publicly available data from the NCBI-PD Isolate Browser, coupled with advanced data analytics and machine learning to complete the noted aims of the study and gain a very valuable set of skills to aid in their future career efforts.
  • Provide a report and give a presentation to agency senior officials.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

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.

Qualifications

Applicants will be considered based on their knowledge, skills or abilities related to project needs.

  • Specifically, applicants should have experience working with data handling. and analyses, including proficiency in statistical coding languages such as Python.
  • Applicants with experience using AI tools and machine learning approaches on large, complex databases are preferred, but not required.

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 information

Student volunteers must complete all required safety training, background checks, and comply with agency security protocols.

Participation must be with the permission of the institution at which the volunteer intern is enrolled.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

This is an unpaid volunteer experience. Student volunteers are not considered Federal employees for any purpose other than injury compensation and laws related to the Federal Tort Claims Act, and service is not creditable for leave accrual or other employee benefits.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Applicants are encouraged to address their education, experience, and motivation for applying for this opportunity with the Department of Agriculture on their resume.

Experience is defined as paid, unpaid, volunteer or other experiences as it demonstrates the knowledge, skills or abilities related to project needs in this announcement.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:

1. Your resume (two or fewer pages) showing:

  • Your work experience to include start and end dates.
  • Education information, such as the name of your school and dates of attendance.
  • Any knowledge, skills or abilities you've gained through education that relate to the project.
2. Proof of current enrollment not less than half-time in a trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

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.

Agency contact information

Kilinda Franklin
Phone
301-837-8766
Email
Kilinda.Franklin@usda.gov
Address
Food Safety and Inspection Service
1400 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20250
US

Next steps

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. Your application will be evaluated by the Human Resources Office to determine your eligibility for the position.

After the evaluation is complete, you will receive another notification regarding the status of your application.

Food Safety and Inspection Service

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Salmonella is a serious public health threat, causing nearly 1.3 million infections each year. While most Salmonella cause a mild illness, some are highly virulent, leading to severe illness, hospitalizations and death. Salmonella has accumulated important virulence factors (VFs) that allow them to colonize food animals, survive in harsh environments, and invade human cells. A key challenge is identifying which Salmonella is the most virulent, so we can focus our resources on those most likely to cause severe illnesses, thereby improving public health outcomes. FSIS and FDA test for Salmonella in multiple foods and use whole genome sequencing (WGS) for identification. Data are available for approximately 1million Salmonella isolates in the NIH-National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Pathogen Detection (PD) Isolate Brower database. Recently, a set of 70 Salmonella virulence genes were added to the NCBI-PD system and all submitted Salmonella isolates are screened for these genes upon submission. As of March 1, 2026, there are over 800,000 isolates with Salmonella VF data included in the PD, including samples from humans, animals, food, and environmental sources.

Agency contact information

Kilinda Franklin
Phone
301-837-8766
Email
Kilinda.Franklin@usda.gov
Address
Food Safety and Inspection Service
1400 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20250
US

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Learn more about what it's like to work at Food Safety and Inspection Service, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/about-fsis


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