Restoration and Education Intern

Start date: June 2 (some flexibility) End date: Aug. 15 (some flexibility) 

Application Deadline: March 14

Time commitment: 10 weeks, 30-35 hours per week (330 hours total)

The Restoration and Education Intern will support the South Slough Reserve’s Science and Education Programs. The intern will be based out of the Estuarine and Coastal Science Lab on the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology campus (University of Oregon’s marine station). The intern will spend approximately half of their time helping with restoration implementation and monitoring. The intern will work closely with the Reserve Science and stewardship staff to understand effectiveness of wetland restoration by comparing characteristics of a recently restored wetland site to a less disturbed reference wetland. The intern will work closely with the Reserve science staff to collect vegetation, hydrology, stream habitat, stream temperature, surface elevation, soil carbon, soil accretion, and vertical elevation data at restoration and reference wetland sites within the estuary. They will also assist in maintaining ongoing restoration efforts within the newly restored wetland by building beaver dam analogs, removing invasive species, servicing wildlife cameras and other monitoring equipment, and other related activities in the wetlands and forested uplands in the restoration watershed.  

The other half of the intern’s time will be spent assisting with the Reserve’s education team to deliver summer science camps and other education and outreach programs. The Reserve offers day camps for children ages 5-18, generally every other week throughout the summer. The intern will assist education staff and other interns with the planning and delivery of these camps. They may identify or create lessons themselves or opt to support and lead activities designed or demonstrated by Reserve educators. 

From this internship, the student will gain experience in field, laboratory, and professional office settings. The intern will gain knowledge of a variety of field equipment and techniques related to wetland monitoring and restoration including groundwater level instruments, Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS, leveling elevation surveys, wildlife camera traps, and temperature and humidity loggers. The intern will also gain experience in databases, data management, post-processing of GPS data, and creation of visual summaries. The intern will build a greater understanding of estuaries and coastal ecosystems and recognize the value of these places. The intern will develop valuable skills in science communication for diverse audiences and learn best practices for connecting with different ages of children, leading lessons, and maintaining a safe and welcoming environment. The intern will have opportunities to participate in other Reserve science projects as well as education and outreach programs as time permits. "Please note that the availability of this internship position is contingent upon funding availability and may be affected by current financial conditions."   

Desired Qualifications:

• Ability to drive to and from site locations using agency 4WD work trucks.
• Comfort/ability to drive children in 12-passenger agency vans.
• Experience hiking in wetland and forest habitats through rough, uneven terrain while carrying heavy and awkward equipment.
• Comfortable multiple hours in the field collecting scientific data.
• Basic unerstanding of how to enter data into an Access database and QA/QC data after it has been entered.
• Confort level with downloading (or learning how to) & post-process data from data-collection instruments. 
• Willingness to learn how to set up and attend to static GPS occupations.
• Confortable using GPS to navigate to locations.
• Expereince with maintaining a safe and appropriate science camp environment for children. 
• Willingness to attend  camp planning meetings and take responsibility for camp tasks each day.
• Willingness to learn and share the Reserve’s priorities, mission and work to education audiences. 
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in groups.
• Willingness to work with other science and education staff and interns as time permits.
• Ability topPresent summer experiences to Reserve staff at end of internship.