Natural Resources Assistant Biscayne National Park

Start/End Dates: May 20, 2024 – August 12, 2024

Compensation: $720 per week

Application Due: January 21, 2024

Mosaics in Science seeks to engage ethnically and racially diverse young professionals in natural resource careers. 

Direct Hire Authority Resource Assistant (rigorous internship)

U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident (“green-card-holder”).

Enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or PhD degree program, and graduate after completion of the internships with a Bachelors (BA/BS). Master’s (MA/MS), or PhD degree from an accredited institution of higher education. Note: persons enrolled in a certificate program do not qualify for DHA positions

Relevant experience in natural resources, science, technology, or engineering.

Selected applicants must be at least 18 years of age, meet the qualifications for the position, and be able to pass a federal background check.

* No personal vehicle is required for this position. Must have a valid driver’s license in order to drive a government vehicle.

Position Description: 

This internship within the Natural Resource Management (NRM) Division will support the Fish and Wildlife Inventory & Monitoring Program. Although the intern will gain exposure to a variety of NRM tasks, the main duties will be: 1) sea turtle nest monitoring, and 2) recreational fishing creel surveys. Sea turtle monitoring includes walking long stretches of beach to identify turtle activity, protect nests from predators by installing mesh screens, monitoring the nests during incubation, and excavating nests after they hatch to collect clutch size and success data. Recreational fishing surveys will involve interviewing park visitors who are fishing in the park to ask

them some questions about their fishing experience and to count and measure their landings. In order to maximize interactions with the fishing public, this internship will require working on weekends. Additional opportunities that the intern may participate in include invasive species control, water quality monitoring, marine debris removals, and outreach/education activities.

The intern will work with the mentor to develop and execute an independent project stemming from the creel survey data. Examples of projects could include a long-term analysis of catch-per-unit-effort for a particular species over time, an assessment of frequency of occurrence of violations for different species, or an analysis of how fishing

success (as in number of fish landed) influences survey participants’ determination of satisfaction as reported to the intern. The mentor will work with the intern to select a topic and develop a plan for how the data will be analyzed.

.

Responsibilities:

Complete recreational creel surveys at least 3 days per week, including high-traffic weekends. All collected data will be added to the park’s creel survey database, which goes back to 1976!

Sea turtle monitoring data will be collected and entered into the park’s sea turtle database.

Written summary of their independent project, which will include objectives, methods used, results (including graphs and/or tables, as appropriate), photos (as appropriate) and a discussion.

At the end of the internship, the intern will be required to give a presentation summarizing the internship and the findings from their independent project. Park staff and stakeholders will be invited to attend, and it is reasonable to expect that park employees from multiple divisions, volunteers, and other interns will be in attendance.

Qualifications:

Hardy for South-Florida summer fieldwork (i.e., able to tolerate working outdoors in extreme heat and humidity, can comfortably ride on boats without getting sea sick);

Bilingual (English and Spanish) to ensure maximum ability to communicate with visitors to the park in a county that is more than 50% Latino;

Friendly and sociable so as to be able to comfortably approach park visitors and engage them in conversations during creel surveys.

Direct Hire Authority (DHA)
Direct Hire Authority (DHA) at the successful conclusion of their internship. DHA status enables an agency to hire, after public notice is given, any qualified applicant. A DHA expedites hiring by eliminating competitive rating and ranking, veterans’ preference, and “rule of three” procedures. For more information, please click HERE.

EEO Statement

Environment for the Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and 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.