We are looking for student interns from colleges and universities to assist with multiple projects examining global change impacts to ecosystems in Acadia National Park and the surrounding region. Our internship goal is to provide on-the-ground experiences with research and monitoring efforts focused on global change stressors through mentored work to further interns’ growth as professionals. (Recent graduates, check out our Ecology Technician positions.)
Acadia’s spruce-fir forest, rocky intertidal zone, and diverse bird communities face pressures from a warming climate, changing water chemistry, invasive species, and other global and local forces. Researchers at Schoodic Institute are taking advantage of our unique multi-system setting to explore effects of a changing climate across, and between, these dynamic systems.
We take an integrated approach to science. Education and communication are woven into our research and monitoring; our internships reflect this holistic approach to science. Interns develop and practice skills in field research, field identification and scientific research design, in creating authentic learning actions through citizen science, and in communicating science to varied audiences. Interns are paired with a mentor based on intern interests and current work of the mentor. While the work is integrated, interns are expected to focus on one of three core areas–science communication, science education, or science research and monitoring. Examples of core area work include:
Research and Monitoring:
- Establish, sample, and analyze data from forest plots in the diverse mixture of warm-adapted temperate and cold-adapted boreal tree species that typify the Acadian forest of coastal Maine.
- Hone bird identification and research skills while conducting point count and transect surveys, in the forests and along the coast.
- Design, sample, and analyze data from studies of our changing intertidal zone biota–for example: more crabs, fewer crabs, different crabs? Who is eating what, when?
Science Communication: Plan and create multimedia content based on the work of field staff for digital and print publications and social media. This is a flexible opportunity that can be tailored to specific interests and desired skills.
Science Education: Plan and implement citizen science projects that strengthen Schoodic’s research, benefit park management, and authentically engage park visitors and the local community.
Internship Details: Interns will spend much time working in the field, in all weather conditions, hiking through rough terrain, and carrying heavy backpacks. Co-workers in the outdoors include mosquitoes, black flies, occasional ticks, and dense brush. Interns will also spend time in labs, classrooms (indoor and outdoor), libraries, and archives.
Funding: Interns must work with their appropriate academic internship coordinator to secure funding. We do not support unpaid internships. Interns will work 40-hour weeks, generally Monday-Friday. Internship duration is 8-12 weeks. Co-ed housing through the internship is provided on the Schoodic Institute campus, within Acadia National Park at the tip of the Schoodic peninsula. Note: The nearest city, Ellsworth, ME, is 45 minutes from the Institute.
Qualified applicants need to be able to work in challenging outdoor conditions, learn on the go, work in small teams, and efficiently collect field data. Education interns also need to be able to work with learners of various ages. Qualified applicants must have a valid driver’s license.
How to apply: Send a resume, unofficial transcripts, cover letter, and contact information for two references to search@schoodicinstitute.org by February 28, 2021. Contact Hannah Webber, hwebber@schoodicinstitute.org with questions about science research projects; Catherine Schmitt, cschmitt@schoodicinstitute.org with questions about science communication projects; and Sarah Hooper, shooper@schoodicinstitute.org with questions about science education projects.