Careers and Culture
Fuel your passion for innovation and public service by working with a leading tech organization that routinely pushes the limits of lifesaving possibility. For 30 years, Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) has been a pioneer in the innovation of early warning technologies, exercise scenario design, advanced analytics, and risk reduction science and research. Headquartered in Hawai‘i, PDC is regarded as a global leader in risk reduction and resilience-enhancing tools—a reputation built on the dedication and expertise of our team from across disaster management, technology, academic, and scientific disciplines. The Center’s products and services support the most demanding government customers, international, regional, and nongovernmental organizations worldwide in reducing risk and building safer, more resilient communities. As an applied science and research center managed by the University of Hawai‘i, we are always experimenting with new technologies, including applications for artificial intelligence in hazard alerting, monitoring, and predictive risk analytics. Our products benefit public users, government, humanitarian, and private sector decision makers. To learn about job opportunities with PDC, visit the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai‘i site at www.rcuh.com or through our LinkedIn postings.
Internships
PDC provides mentored internship opportunities to self-motivated students who take pride in their work, have a passion for learning, and a commitment to problem-solving. Our internships allow individuals to apply learned skills and theory to real-world problems.
If you are interested in applying for an internship with PDC, please review the programs below to see if there is a good match. You should also examine the criteria for a direct internship before submitting your resume with the link below.
Quick Facts:
More than
Full-time employees
Rated among the top
High-tech companies in Hawai‘i
Over
%
PDC staff recruited through internships
Programs Available
Akamai Workforce Initiative
Offered to college students in Hawaii. Applications accepted in November. Please check the site for details.
https://akamaihawaii.org/interning/
University of Hawai‘i Student Employment & Cooperative Education (SECE)
Available only to college students within the UH system. PDC posts internship position descriptions to this site.
https://sece.its.hawaii.edu/sece/login
CareerLink – UH Maui College Cooperative (Co-Op) Education program
Available only to UH-MC students. Please check the site for details.
http://maui.hawaii.edu/careerlink/
Ke Alahele Program
Offered through Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) internship program
http://www.medb.org/programs/education-to-workforce/ke-alahele-education-fund/
Direct Internships
Direct internships with PDC are also available on an as-needed basis. Please inquire per the guidelines below.
Internship Criteria
- All internships are based on the island of Maui in Hawaii. PDC does not support internships outside of Maui.
- All internship programs are paid internships. However, we do not offer relocation or housing support.
- Technical internships are for summer undergraduate and graduate students. Communications internships are offered year-round.
- U.S. Citizenship is not required, however:
- Candidates MUST have permission to work in the U.S. for the duration of internship; and
- PDC does NOT sponsor visas for international students.
- Long-term internships (for graduate students) may be as long as 6 months. Candidates must submit a resume as part of the submission. Areas of interest for internship may also be submitted.
- For PDC’s direct internship program, the applicant must submit a resume. Area(s) of interest for internship may also be submitted. Internship is contingent upon need and availability.
Skills We Need
Over the years, interns have made valuable contributions to PDC projects and activities with such skills as:
Computer or GIS skills and literacy
- Computer programming (C++, Java, Jscript, …)
- Scripting (PHP, Python, Shell, …)
- Web/App development (HTML, CSS, JSON, …)
- AI experience and/or interest
- GIS (data processing, visualization, …)
- Imagery and/or Image analysis
- Physical sciences and/or modeling
- Data analysis and/or statistics
Communications or design skills and literacy
- Public relations, communications, content development experience
- Web UX / UI design principles
- Graphic design using latest Adobe products
- Video editing
- Marketing copy development
- Social media content management
Follow Us
Sending aloha and a big mahalo (thank you) to our long-time partners at the Philippines Office of Civil Defense (OCD)! The team was excited to be back in Manila recently to upgrade PhilAWARE and provide advanced administration training. We also commend OCD for its continued commitment to leveraging the latest technology and data to strengthen early warning, preparedness, and resilience across the region.
PhilAWARE serves as a mission-critical tool within OCD's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for hazard early warning and decision support. These enhancements and training efforts reflect our ongoing collaboration with OCD and help ensure continued access to real-time situational awareness, advanced analytics, hazard information and alerts, and actionable risk insights. Together, these capabilities support informed decision-making, resource prioritization, and coordinated disaster planning and response when it matters most.
PhilAWARE is part of PDC’s advanced DisasterAWARE ecosystem and a custom version created for the Philippines. Learn more!
• DisasterAWARE: www.pdc.org/disasteraware/
• PhilAWARE in action: www.pdc.org/empowering-readiness-before-impact-m7-8-mindanao-earthquake-response-case-study/
#SaferWorld #EarlyWarningforAll #Philippines #Manila #PhilAWARE #DisasterAWARE #EarlyWarning #Preparedness #Hazard #DisasterPrepareness
Civil Defense PH
Nolo remains a Category 2 hurricane and is currently located about 145 miles south of South Point Hawaii. Forecasts indicate that Nolo is expected to remain south of the Big Island of Hawaii today before turning westward and moving away from the island. Tropical storm conditions are occurring on the Big Island, especially in areas of steep terrain, and hurricane conditions are possible in those areas today. Heavy rain is expected to expand across the Big Island and eastern Maui through the weekend.
Significant, life-threatening flooding and mudslides are possible, especially in areas of steep terrain across the eastern and southern portions of the Big Island and Maui. Lesser rainfall totals are expected across the rest of Hawaii. Large and damaging waves are likely along portions of the Big Island's coastline this weekend.
Continue to monitor DisasterAWARE for updates as Hurricane Nolo progresses.
Disaster managers and humanitarian assistance professionals can request access to DisasterAWARE Pro (disasteraware.pdc.org).
The public can download our free Disaster Alert mobile app for updates and hazard alerts.
#disasteralert #earlywarningforall #saferworld #hawaii #BigIsland #Maui #Molokai #Lanai #Oahu #Kauai #hurricanenolo #hurricane
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency
Maui County Emergency Management Agency
County of Kaua'i
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency
Honolulu Department of Emergency Management
Hawaii Army National Guard
Hawaii Red Cross
As Hawai‘i continues to recover from the recent impacts of Hurricanes Lala and Lowell, Hurricane Nolo is moving toward the Big Island of Hawai‘i as a Category 2 Hurricane. PDC continues to offer disaster managers the latest impact analysis and key information about the status of critical infrastructure and recovery across Hawai‘i through its DisasterAWARE Pro platform
The public can access all the latest updates on our free Disaster Alert mobile app and is encouraged to check the 6-hour updates from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center available on the app as uncertainty remains about the track and impacts of Nolo.
#HurricaneNolo #disasteraware #DisasterAlert #Hawaii #maui #bigisland #EarlyWarningForAll
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency
Maui County Emergency Management Agency
County of Kaua'i
Honolulu Department of Emergency Management@
Hawaii Army National Guard
Hawaii Red Cross
The spirit of collaboration and partnership was evident throughout this exceptional workshop sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance and hosted by the Government of Lao PDR.
We are grateful to have been invited to participate in the event and to advance the National Disaster Preparedness Baseline Assessment in partnership with our friends and colleagues in Laos.
We look forward to the continued collaboration and to sharing the final results of our analysis!
#DisasterPreparedness #SaferWorld #laos #LaoPDR #NDPBA #SaferWorld
Hurricane Nolo is currently located about 220 miles south of South Point Hawaii. Forecasts indicate that Nolo is expected to remain south of the Big Island through Saturday before turning westward and moving away from the island. Tropical storm conditions are expected to begin on the Big Island Friday night with hurricane conditions possible on Saturday, particularly in areas of steep terrain. Heavy rain increases in both coverage and intensity on Friday and will continue across the Big Island and Maui through the weekend.
Life-threatening, catastrophic flooding and mudslides are possible, especially in areas of steep terrain across the eastern and southern portions of the Big Island and Maui. Across the remainder of Hawaii, lesser rainfall totals are expected, with isolated flooding possible. Large and damaging waves are likely along portions of the Big Island's coastline into the weekend.
Continue to monitor DisasterAWARE for updates as Hurricane Nolo progresses.
Disaster managers and humanitarian assistance professionals can request access to DisasterAWARE Pro (disasteraware.pdc.org).
The public can download our free Disaster Alert mobile app for updates and hazard alerts.
#disasteralert #earlywarningforall #saferworld #hawaii #BigIsland #Maui #Molokai #Lanai #Oahu #Kauai #hurricanenolo #hurricane
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency
Maui County Emergency Management Agency
County of Kaua'i
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency
Honolulu Department of Emergency Management
Hawaii Army National Guard
Hawaii Red Cross
A powerful Nor’easter will impact the Eastern United States this weekend. A strong coastal low over western Atlantic will continue to intensify by late week and will bring strong onshore flow across the Mid-Atlantic northward into the New England by the weekend. Rain will become heavier and more persistent by late Friday into early Saturday. Several days of rainfall could produce locally high rainfall totals, particularly across southern New England and eastern Massachusetts. Impacts will include wind gusts will be in excess of 45 mph, moderate to major coastal flooding, high surf, rip currents, and beach erosion.
Monitor DisasterAWARE Pro and the Disaster Alert app for updates and alerts!
>>> Are you a Disaster Manager? Access DisasterAWARE Pro at DisasterAWARE.pdc.org—including live cameras, animated forecasts, advanced analytics and more!
>>> Download the free Disaster Alert app, available on Google Play and the iOS App Store (Search "Disaster Alert" in the app stores)
#SaferWorld #EarlyWarningforAll #DisasterAWARE #Nor’easter #Weather #Flood #Wind #NewYork #NewJersey #RhodeIsland #Maryland #Delaware #CapeCod #Connecticut #Massachusets #Maine
American Red Cross
The National Guard
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
Team Rubicon
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)
New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services
NYC Emergency Management
New Jersey Office of Emergency Management
Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency
Tropical Storm Nolo is currently located about 285 miles south of South Point Hawaii. Forecasts indicate that Nolo is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Thursday night as it moves northward to north-northeastward, potentially making its closest approach to the Big Island of Hawaii as a major hurricane on Saturday. A Hurricane Watch remains in effect for the Big Island.
Heavy rain and flooding will impact the Big Island by Thursday and Friday and will likely to continue across the Big Island and Maui through the weekend. Life-threatening, catastrophic flooding and mudslides are possible, especially in areas of steep terrain across the Big Island and Maui. Across the remainder of Hawaii, lesser rainfall totals are expected, with isolated flooding possible. Large and damaging waves are possible along portions of the Big Island's coastline into the weekend.
Continue to monitor DisasterAWARE for updates as Tropical Storm Nolo progresses.
Disaster managers and humanitarian assistance professionals can request access to DisasterAWARE Pro (disasteraware.pdc.org).
The public can download our free Disaster Alert mobile app for updates and hazard alerts.
#disasteralert #earlywarningforall #saferworld #hawaii #BigIsland #Maui #Molokai #Lanai #Oahu #Kauai #tropicalstormnolo #hurricane #Nolo
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency
Maui County Emergency Management Agency
County of Kaua'i
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency
Honolulu Department of Emergency Management
Hawaii Army National Guard
Hawaii Red Cross
Tropical Depression Fifteen-E is currently located about 320 miles south-southeast of South Point Hawaii. Forecasts indicate that the system is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm later today and a hurricane on Thursday as it turns northward, potentially making its closest approach to the Big Island of Hawaii on Saturday. The risk of wind and wave impacts is increasing for the Hawaiian Islands, and a Hurricane Watch may be required for the Big Island later today. A Flood Watch has been issued for the entire State of Hawaii until Saturday afternoon.
Heavy rain and flooding will likely impact the Big Island on Thursday and Friday. Heavy rain is likely to continue across the Big Island and Maui through the weekend. Life-threatening, catastrophic flooding and mudslides are possible, especially in areas of steep terrain across the Big Island and Maui. Across the remainder of Hawaii, lesser rainfall totals are expected, with isolated flooding possible.
Continue to monitor DisasterAWARE for updates as the storm progresses.
Disaster managers and humanitarian assistance professionals can request access to DisasterAWARE Pro (disasteraware.pdc.org).
The public can download our free Disaster Alert mobile app for updates and hazard alerts.
#disasteralert #earlywarningforall #saferworld #hawaii #BigIsland #Maui #Molokai #Lanai #Oahu #Kauai
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency
Maui County Emergency Management Agency
County of Kaua'i
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency
Honolulu Department of Emergency Management
Hawaii Army National Guard
Hawaii Red Cross
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