Earth, Ocean & Climate Science Researcher (Task Author)

Turn computational work from your own earth, ocean, or climate science research into paid evaluation tasks for AI models. Open to research-track Bachelor's students, Master's and PhD students, postdocs, and recent graduates. AfterQuery is building a network of researchers to author and validate research-grade scientific-computing tasks for AI models. A strong task is a real piece of computational work from your own research, something you've actually run and debugged: a geophysical inversion, an ocean or atmosphere model, a data-assimilation step, or a remote-sensing analysis you implemented and validated. Each task has a main problem, a few connected subproblems, a Python reference solution, and tests that check the result. The difficulty should come from the science itself, not from withheld information. We're looking for researchers in: geophysics and seismology; geodynamics; hydrology; physical oceanography and coastal dynamics; atmospheric physics and climate dynamics; numerical weather prediction and data assimilation; and geochemistry and remote sensing. Requirements

Education: A Bachelor's student on a research track or with research experience (such as an REU, a thesis, or an RA or lab role), a Master's or PhD student, a postdoc, or a recent graduate in geophysics, oceanography, atmospheric science, geology, hydrology, or a closely related field. Technical: Hands-on experience writing your own code, preferably Python, to model or analyze earth, ocean, or atmospheric systems. Familiarity with Python or machine learning alone isn't enough. Work authorization: Must be able to work as an independent contractor without visa sponsorship. Students on F-1 visas (including OPT/CPT) are not eligible.

Contract and pay Flexible, independent-contractor work: $200 per approved task, about 2 hours each, with no cap on how many tasks you take on. Tasks go through review, and you may also review other experts' tasks against a short rubric. All accepted experts undergo standard background and identity verification.

Responsibilities

• Design and author original research-grade evaluation tasks based on your own computational work
• Specify the metrics a strong solution should be judged by, without publishing the exact passing thresholds
• Revise tasks based on structured review feedback until they're approved
• Optionally review and calibrate tasks submitted by other experts in your domain

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's student on a research track or with research experience, Master's or PhD student, postdoc, or recent graduate in geophysics, oceanography, atmospheric science, geology, hydrology, or a closely related field
• Has written their own code, preferably in Python, to model or analyze earth, ocean, or atmospheric systems
• Able to turn your own computational research into a well-specified task with a reference solution and tests
• Able to work independently and manage your own time. This is flexible, task-based work with no fixed weekly schedule

Preferred qualifications

• Research experience in data assimilation, ocean or atmosphere modeling, or seismic inversion
• Public code, a thesis, or papers that show your computational work
• Prior experience in data annotation, data labeling, or AI/ML evaluation work

Why apply

• Work on your own schedule: task-based, not a fixed hourly commitment
• Contribute directly to how AI models are evaluated on real, expert-level scientific work
• Paid, flexible work: $200 per approved task (about 2 hours each), no cap on how many you take on

Where you can work

This role is 100% remote: you can work from any country except Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Burundi, Bolivia, Brazil, Belarus, DR Congo, Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Gibraltar, Haiti, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Cambodia, Comoros, North Korea, South Korea, Libya, Monaco, Myanmar, Macau, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Palestine, Paraguay, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Chad, Turkmenistan, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.