Start/End Dates: May 12, 2024 - August 2, 2024
Compensation: $600 per week + housing
Application Due: February 6, 2024
Fish and Feathers Internship Program seeks to engage ethnically and racially diverse young professionals in natural resource careers.
You must be (additional requirement):
* Applicants must have a valid driver's license and a good driving record.
*Personal vehicle is recommended but not required for this position.
Position Description:
Fish and Feathers is a program funded by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered by Environment for the Americas. Our goal is to provide our national park partners with talented interns who are eager to learn and to engage with local communities. The intern will focus on supporting, implementing, and leading community outreach programs that focus on fishing and birding activities. The overall goal is to increase diverse community engagement with NPS partners during the program and in years to come.
Responsibilities:
Qualifications:
Major studies relevant to this position:
Successful candidates will have a background and/or coursework in the following areas or a strong interest in the outdoors with experience fishing and/or birdwatching.
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About this Site:
Most of the work the intern will be doing will be at the Sunset Beach Education Center (SBEC) unit of the park and additionally at the Fort Clatsop (FC) unit (where park headquarters are located).
Goal 1: Natural Resources Field Work (70%)
(60%) Aquatic invasives: Train in fish & amphibian identification, research survey and eradication methods of removing invasive fish. Perform survey(s) of pond (3.8 acres) to determine the extent of the infestation. Implement eradication procedures for invasive carp. Assist Park partners and NR crew in invasive species control efforts. Perform kayak surveys along the Lewis and Clark River removing non-native plant species.
(10%) Other Projects:
Bioacoustics: Maintain two bioacoustics recorders at the park designed to collect migratory bird data at SBEC and FC (2 hours every 2-3 weeks).
Water Quality Monitoring: Lead other interns or park volunteers to conduct bimonthly water quality monitoring protocols at 4 water bodies in the park. This includes collecting data on the following parameters: pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, alkalinity, and conductivity and entering the data into a database. Assist visiting Network staff to complete their water quality protocol (1 8-hour day every other month).
Goal 2: Environmental Education and Engagement with Local Community (20%)
Work with local high school biology class to learn fish identification methods in the high school’s hatchery. The intern will develop a presentation for the students on the different methods of fish removal. The intern will then plan fishing activities at the pond leading students to use gillnets and other methods to remove the invasive carp from the pond.
Goal 3: Training and Professional Development (10%)
The intern will gain training in the following:
• Integrated Pest Management training provided in collaboration with local Cooperative Weed Management Area where regional agency IPM experts and park partners teach field staff the foundations of IPM, non-native plant identification, and safe fieldwork techniques. This will provide the intern with the opportunity to directly from and collaborate with IPM regulatory experts.
• Fish & amphibian identification will be learned through independent study, access to park’s research library, and connecting with local experts. The intern may have the opportunity to join the local biology class to learn more hands-on identification methods such as snorkeling surveys at the high school hatchery.
• Plant identification training will be provided by NR Program Manager and Resources Lead and practiced weekly throughout the summer during “Botany Lab”, weekly 1-hour sessions focused on botany basics and practicing using various dichotomous keys.
• Interdivisional kayak rescue training provided by local contractor. Required for all staff working on guided kayak programs and/or working on kayaks.
At the completion of the internship, the intern will present the results in a “brown bag” presentation to park staff and provide an accomplishment report of their survey and eradication efforts to the park NR manager.
Interns in this program will receive 480 hours towards Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority. See below on information about:
Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority (PLC)
The Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority is a special hiring authority available to qualifying interns. The intern must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, inclusive, or a veteran up to age 35 and complete 640 hours of work on an appropriate conservation project to be eligible for this hiring authority. Upon successful completion of the PLC project(s), the intern is eligible for two years to be hired non-competitively into a federal seasonal, term, or permanent position. The applicant must apply to a PLC-eligible position advertised on USAJobs.gov and selected off a non-competitive certificate of eligibility. For more information, see DOI Personnel Bulletins 11-02 , 12-13, and 17-03.
EEO Statement
Environment for the Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employmentand prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.
This job is closed.