One Day, One Internship » conservation

EarthShare

Willy Franzen — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:21:25 +0000

I remember selling wrapping paper at my Dad’s office to support my elementary school. I’m sure his employees felt pressured to buy from me so I could win some stupid prize. What a terrible way to raise funds for a school or non-profit—it’s such an intrusion. But what if there was a great way to give money to great causes while at work that wasn’t quite so pushy? There is, and it’s called EarthShare. They’re a Bethesda, MD based non-profit that helps other environmental conservation focused non-profits raise money. They do this by giving employees (at any company that participates) the choice to have funds automatically deducted from their paychecks and donated to either specific member charities or a general EarthShare fund that is distributed amongst all of EarthShare’s member charities.

Do Your Share

In my opinion fundraising is a huge distraction for all non-profits (except maybe for EarthShare). Their number one priority should be focusing on achieving their mission, not getting more money to support their mission. EarthShare takes some of the fundraising burden off of their member charities through their payroll integration. Being an EarthShare member organization has some pretty serious benefits, which is why they have extremely strict eligibility criteria. If you’re interested in working at a non-profit that is focused on taking an innovative approach to fundraising and supporting other organizations that protect our environment, then you need to check out EarthShare’s internships on Idealist. Right now they’re looking for an unpaid Environmental Non-Profit Outreach Intern. It looks like a pretty cool opportunity, so check it out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you donate through EarthShare?

ARKive

Willy Franzen — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:44:30 +0000

I’m up in Michigan for my annual Father’s Day fly fishing trip. The town that I stay in is called Grayling, which is named after a fish. Unfortunately, it’s a fish that I’ll never catch here, because it’s extinct—at least the Michigan population is. Back in the 1800s the entire state of Michigan was logged, and apparently the value of the wood harvested from Michigan during the Gold Rush was $1 billion greater than the gold found in California during the same time. That had some serious environmental consequences, and one of those was the extinction of the Michigan Grayling. The introduction of trout to many of Michigan’s rivers didn’t help either, as they outcompeted the grayling for food. Luckily, we still have populations of grayling in Montana, Alaska, and much of Canada. They’re not completely lost, but there are plenty of species that we’ll never get to see. ARKive is changing it. Not only are they fighting to prevent many species from going extinct, but they’re also documenting the world’s most endangered species so even if they are extirpated, they’ll never be completely lost. ARKive is an initiative of Wildscreen, a UK based organization with an American arm located in Washington, DC.

Get on the ARKive

Beyond having an extremely clever name, ARKive also has an insanely cool website. You can access all kinds of information and media related to species on the brink. For instance, you can take a look at the Kirtland’s Warbler, a bird species that also happens to be native to the Grayling, MI area. You can see everything from pictures to a list of threats to the species. It’s an amazing educational tool that will not only preserve species historically even if they don’t make it, but will also help build support to fight the root causes behind species extinction. ARKive has put together a fascinating resource, and you should really spend some time checking it out. If you really like what you see, you may want to start thinking about an internship with ARKive. Right now they’re looking for an unpaid Environmental Education and Outreach Intern. The position is posted on Idealist, and the description tells you how to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite endangered species?

Student Conservation Association

Willy Franzen — Sun, 02 May 2010 15:30:53 +0000

In yesterday’s post on Civic Works, I told you all about my first summer job doing manual labor. If I had known that I’d be writing about the Student Conservation Association today, I probably would have saved the story, as they’re an organization that puts students to work protecting and restoring “national parks, marine sanctuaries, cultural landmarks and community green spaces in all 50 states.” They’re based in Charlestown, NH with regional offices in Oakland, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, DC. The SCA offers an endless variety of conservation opportunities for students, and they’ve been doing it since 1955 when a Vassar College student named Elizabeth Cushman wrote about the idea in her senior thesis. Now the SCA takes on 4,000 interns and volunteers every year, and they combine for “more than two million hours of conservation service per year.”

Conservation Is Key

As a fly fisherman, I know how important conservation is. Luckily our rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans have an army of passionate people who are always working to protect the places where they can practice their favorite sport. But what about the places that don’t have so many devoted conservationists? That’s where the SCA steps in. From cultural landmarks to grizzly bear habitat, if conservation will help, you can bet that the SCA has students working there. If you think that sounds like a fun way to spend some time, then check out The SCA’s Serve page. You have the option to take on one of their thousands of internships, serve on a Conservation Corps, or look at positions in the SCA office. There are way too many options for me to outline them all, but the SCA site is pretty decent, so you should be able to find what you’re looking for. The internships aren’t “paid,” but they are “expense paid.” That means that they cover housing, round trip travel, and provide a living stipend. It’s as good as paid in my book.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What conservation project is most important to you?

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:28:58 +0000

You know somebody is rich when they have a foundation named after them. You know somebody is really rich when their kids have their own foundations. That was the case with Andrew W. Mellon. In 1940 his daughter Ailsa Mellon Bruce established The Avalon Foundation, and in 1941 his son Paul Mellon established The Old Dominion Foundation. In 1969, with the combined value of the foundations at $220 million, the children decided to merge their foundations in honor of their father. That seems to have been a good decision considering that The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which is based in New York City, has assets totaling $6.5 billion in 2007. In case you don’t know who Andrew Mellon was, you can read his story here. The short of it was that he was held in the same esteem as men like Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie, Morgan, and Frick, but he differed in that “he excelled in four fields of endeavor: as a businessman and banker; as a politician and statesman; as an art collector; and as a philanthropist.”

Granting Your Wish

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a grant making organization, which means that most of what they do is giving money away. They typically do this in five core areas: Higher Education and Scholarship, Scholarly Communications and Information Technology, Museums and Art Conservation, Performing Arts, and Conservation and the Environment. You can find all of the details of each of these specific programs here. Grants are made to both organizations at the forefront of their fields and new upstarts that are showing promise. The Foundation’s philosophy “is to build, strengthen and sustain institutions and their core capacities, rather than be a source for narrowly defined projects,” so they don’t seem to nitpick about how their money is spent. If you’d like to have an internship giving money away (even if it’s not exactly like what Ed McMahon used to do), then you should check out The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Internships page on Idealist. Right now they’re looking for a Paid Intern to join them for the summer. It looks like a great opportunity for a current college student, and you can find application instructions in the job posting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you had a Foundation, what would it give to?

Institute for Environmental Awareness

Willy Franzen — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:17:03 +0000

I don’t know about where you are, but here in Chicago it’s pretty clear that spring is on its way. We’re going to break 50 degrees this week, and the geese are already back and looking for places to nest. I may be in a huge city, but I’m not completely out of touch with nature. However, I’ve always wanted to spend more time closer to nature. The Institute for Environmental Awareness is a Massachusetts based organization that offers that kind of experience. Their mission is “to promote and support programs and services that encourage living and learning in harmony with the Earth and all Life,” and they do this through a number of earth-based, outdoor education programs. You may have noticed that I couldn’t find a suitable logo for them. That’s because their website looks like it’s from the mid 90s, and I wasn’t going to subject you to yellow text with a black drop shadow over a photo of a tree. An ugly website may be a bad indicator for a marketing firm or a web startup, but not for a nature based organization.

Be Environmentally Aware

The Institute for Environmental Awareness runs three programs: Earthlands (“operates an off-grid program and retreat center”), the Earthlands Land Trust, and University of the Wild (“earth-based education programs that empower people to become leaders in growing new and sustainable cultures”). There’s not much more information about the Institute on their website; however, their internship descriptions tell you a lot about what they do. Right now they’re looking for Summer Interns for Earthlands. These people will work on Program Coordination, Facilities Maintenance, Educational Program Assistance, and Community Involvement. They’ll also live on-site in a shared cabin and get fed, although there isn’t any stipend or payment. You’ll be able to live in harmony with nature and get away from it all. It sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity, so if you’re interested, reach out to Michael Iacona, Earthlands Office Manager, at office@earthlands.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Can you tell that spring is coming?

Appalachian Mountain Club

Willy Franzen — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:25:14 +0000

I don’t know if you’ve ever spent anytime on the Appalachian Trail, but if you haven’t, you should. The trail stretches from Georgia to Maine, while the range of mountains touches as far south as Alabama and as far north as Newfoundland. It’s 1,500 miles of natural beauty that is prime territory for naturalists and adventurers. Back in 1876 there was a club called the Appalachian Mountain Club started in Boston for people who enjoyed the range. Now the club consists of more than 12 chapters and 100,000 members—it’s the “nation’s oldest outdoor recreation and conservation organization.” They’re still based in Boston, and they’ve developed into a non-profit that promotes “the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region.”

Outdoor Enthusiasts Wanted

The work that the Appalachian Mountain Club varies greatly. They fight for conservation, educate people on safe outdoors practices, maintain trails, and put on more than 8,000 trips a year. It’s a great organization that spans many different interest groups—it’s not just the hikers or the birdwatchers or the fisherman. It’s for everybody who loves being outdoors in the Appalachians. The scope of their work is really impressive, and if you want to be a part of it, you should check out the AMC’s Internships page. They have a ton of opportunities that include Massachusetts based internships in Publishing, Membership, Magazine, Major Excursions Adventure Travel, Outdoor Leadership, Volunteer Relations, Youth Opportunities Program, Editorial, Web Development, Development, and Education; New Hampshire based internships in Interpretive Naturalism, Research, Trails, and Volunteer Coordination; and a New Jersey based internship in Education. The internships are typically unpaid, but there may be a small stipend available. The application instructions vary, so check out the AMC Internships page for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you spent any time in the Appalachians?

Academy of Natural Sciences

Willy Franzen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:59:01 +0000

For most of us museums are just places to go to visit for a day and to learn something new. We rarely think about what is going on behind the scenes, but we should. At many major museums there is also a significant research function. A perfect examples is the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, which sounds like a research institution, but it also runs a museum. In fact, The Academy is the “oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World” according to Wikipedia. The Academy has been at the forefront of biological and earth sciences since its inception, and it continues to promote public education in those areas. Just to give you an idea of the scale on which they operate, their collections include more than 17 million specimens. That’s crazy!

Internships for Naturalists

One thing that is severely lacking on the Academy of Natural Sciences website is a solid About page. I had to head to Wikipedia to get a full idea of what they do, so if you’re interested, be sure to do a little extra research. The Academy has a great history, and its place in Philly reminds us about how Philadelphia used to be America’s most influential city. It’s amazing to think that The Academy is now approaching its 200th anniversary, and if you want to be able to celebrate it with them, you’ll want to get your foot in the door with an internship. Their Internships page shows a few positions including Botany Department Intern, Environmental Biogeochemistry Intern, and Undergraduate Research Fellow, while The Academy’s Idealist page shows Museum Public Programming Intern, Museum School Programs Intern, Museum Communications Intern, Explorers Camp Intern, Outside-In Children’s Museum Intern, Live Animal Center Animal Care Intern, Dinosaur Education Intern (my favorite), and Museum Marketing Intern. I’m not sure why there’s no overlap between the two, and it seems that there is a mix of paid and unpaid positions. The application instructions vary by internship, so look at the specific postings for more info.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited The Academy?

California Conservation Corps

Willy Franzen — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:44:35 +0000

After my Freshman year of college, I decided that I wanted a summer job that would allow me to work outside. I ended up doing maintenance at a fish and game club. It was like a great experience—even if I only worked 20 hours per week. If you want to work outside and are looking for something a little more intense than 20 hours per week, then you need to check out the California Conservation Corps. It’s a government run program that “matches up California’s young people and its natural resources.” Every year the CCC hires 3,300 corpsmembers and pays them minimum wage to take on projects like working on backcountry trails, aiding salmon restoration, promoting watershed stewardship, and providing emergency response services. The CCC has been around since 1976, and since then they’ve employed more than 100,000 young men and women with 98% saying that they “would recommend the CCC to a family member or friend.”

Get Paid to Enjoy the Outdoors

The California Conservation Corps provides a wide range of work opportunities for people between the ages of 18 and 25. These aren’t permanent entry level jobs, but they’re a great internship alternative or a great way to get some real work experience after you graduate. The CCC has a great website that is filled with all kinds of information about their programs. You can see what a day in the life is like or read over their FAQ. There are work locations with the Corps all across California, and there is also a wide variety of project types. The CCC site gets a bit confusing when you start looking for employment opportunities, but you can find Staff Openings here and Corpmembers opportunities here. Additionally, it looks like some of the CCC programs do their own hiring, so, for instance, you can find information on applying to the Backcountry program here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Had you heard of the California Convervation Corps before?

Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Willy Franzen — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:00:59 +0000

When I hear the words “pine barrens,” I either think of the area in New Jersey called the Pine Barrens or the band, which was also called The Pine Barrens, that played at my 7th grade class’ end of the year party. Until today, though, I didn’t really know what pine barrens were beyond a big forest of pine trees. There’s a lot more to them than that, and, luckily, Wikipedia is able to help out. Its definition of pine barrens is “plant communities that occur on dry, acidic, infertile soils dominated by grasses, forbs, low shrubs, and small to medium sized pines; most extensive barrens occur in large areas of sandy glacial deposits, including outwash plains, lakebeds, and outwash terraces along rivers.” These areas aren’t typically found in populated areas, which makes it surprising that Long Island has its own Pine Barrens (see the Wikipedia article for all of the specifics). That’s why the Long Island Pine Barrens Society exists—to protect an ecosystem that is constantly under pressure from development. They’re based in Riverhead, NY, and their focus as a non-profit is on education and advocacy.

Barren Isn’t Always a Bad Thing

Beyond preserving open space in the Long Island Pine Barrens, the Long Island Pine Barrens Society also works to preserve drinking water. These two ideals fit together because the Pine Barrens is essential to recharging the ground water that Long Island relies on for drinking. There’s a lot more to learn about the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, and the best way to do that is to check out their website. They have tons of information on their history and the work that they do along with more general organizational information. That includes information on their internships. They don’t really provide specifics on what kind of internships they have, but they do invite you to learn more by sending questions or applications (cover letter and résumé) to info@pinebarrens.org. You should note that Long Island Pine Barrens Society requires their interns to be over 21 years old. I’m not sure why.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited pine barrens?

Second Nature

Willy Franzen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:19:29 +0000

When I was in college, campus sustainability was just starting to become a common buzzword. I guess it makes sense that higher education institutions would be at the forefront of such a movement—you know, since they deal with students protesting by camping in tree tops all the time. Second Nature is a Boston based non-profit organization that is continuing this movement (no not the camping out in tree tops). They initiate and support “high-leverage national initiatives and programs aimed at re-orienting the higher education sector toward more sustainable outcomes.” It’s a smart idea, because they’re targeting the places where their ideas are most likely to catch on. If they can succeed by pushing sustainability forward on college campuses, then there’s a good chance that the sustainability movement can go a lot farther.

It’s Your Second Nature

Second Nature has been around for more than 15 years, and since then they’ve worked with “more than 500 colleges and universities to help make the principles of sustainability fundamental to every aspect of higher education.” I guess how Second Nature defines sustainability is important to know too. They believe that the key to achieving sustainability is avoiding four situations:

systematic increases in concentrations of substances from the earth’s crust e.g. fossil fuels, heavy metals); systematic increases in concentrations of substances produced by society (e.g. CFCs, DDT); systematic degradation by physical means (e.g. deforestation, overfishing); and when social systems are subject to conditions that systematically undermine people’s capacity to meet their basic needs (e.g. oppressive conditions, non-living wages)

When you really break these four situations down, you realize how much effort must go into sustainability initiatives. If it sounds like something that you want to be a part of, then you should check out Second Nature’s Internships page where they offer Paid Sustainability in Higher Education Internships. You can apply by sending a “resume, cover letter, and the names/contact information of two faculty members who can act as references to internships@secondnature.org.” The application deadline is January 1, 2010.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your Second Nature?

Wildlife Conservation Society

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:49:57 +0000

I’m a nut about wildlife. I don’t watch Animal Planet all day or anything, but I get ridiculously excited when I see a new species in the wild. My hope is to one day run into a mountain lion in the wild, at least as long as I’m not being hunted. As fanatical as I am about wildlife, I bet I don’t even come close to the people at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a New York City based non-profit. They were founded in 1895 with a “clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe.” Their first major success was aiding the recovery of American Bison, and now they’re working to “protect many of the world’s iconic creatures here and abroad, including gorillas in the Congo, tigers in India, polar bears in the Arctic, and ocean giants in our world’s amazing seascapes.” Beyond doing that, they also run 5 parks in New York City—the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.

Internships in the Wild

According to Wildlife Conservation Society’s About page, they’re committed to protecting 25% of the world’s biodiversity. I’m not sure where that number came from, how it’s measured, or what exactly it means, but it sounds like an ambitious goal for a passionate organization. The way that pursues this goal is by focusing on 4 key issues: “climate change; natural resource exploitation; the connection between wildlife health and human health; and the sustainable development of human livelihoods.” With so much on their plate, Wildlife Conservation Society has a lot of internship opportunities. You can find all of the information on their Jobs page, where they separate opportunities into New York City Full Time, New York City Seasonal, Opportunities in the Field, and Interns and Volunteers. The Internships section will give you a quick overview of their Internship program, but most of the information can be found by using the WCS job search function. There you’ll find positions like Animal Intern, Development Intern, Human Resources Intern, and Information Technology Intern. There’s no mention whether the positions are paid or unpaid, but they do list them as Non-Exempt, which should mean that they are paid. You can apply for any of the positions online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to any of Wildlife Conservation Society’s parks?

American Rivers

Willy Franzen — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:52:32 +0000

I love rivers (mostly because they’re where I usually go fly fishing). They’re the lifeblood of our society, and even though we’ve figured out ways to move water on our own, they’re still a huge part of our infrastructure. There’s no question as to why most major cities sit on the banks of a large river. The problem with that is that it means that many of our greatest rivers have been subjected to significant abuse. Dams, pollution, irrigation, and overconsumption have left many of our rivers in pretty sad states. American Rivers is a Washington, DC based non-profit that hopes to fix this. They describe themselves as “the leading conservation organization standing up for healthy rivers so communities can thrive.”

Go with the Flow

American Rivers focuses on five program—Rivers and Global Warming, River Restoration, River Protection, Clean Water, and Water Supply. These are extremely important issues that are sometimes ignored by other environmentalists. For instance, many environmentalists advocate hydroelectric dams, yet they fail to realize the damage that these dams can do to our watersheds. I’ve also noticed that even the most environmentally conscious cities (cough, Ithaca) destroy their rivers by bounding them with concrete and allowing trash like shopping carts and mattresses to litter their riverbeds. Many of our rivers are healthier than they were 10 years ago, but there’s still plenty of work to be done to ensure that future generations have healthy rivers. Here’s a video from American Rivers that outlines the issues better than I can:

If American Rivers looks like somewhere that you might want to intern, you can check out their Jobs page here. They don’t have any specific internships posted, but they say that they are looking for “applicants with a commitment to the environment that are energetic, creative, and enthusiastic about river conservation.” The positions are unpaid, and you can find out more about how to apply on the Jobs page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite river?

Seed Savers Exchange

Willy Franzen — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:06:25 +0000

You’ve probably heard the term “heirloom,” in reference to fruits or vegetables. For the longest time I had no idea what it meant, but eventually I asked someone and the gist of the definition is “any garden plant that has a history of being passed down within a family, just like pieces of heirloom jewelry or furniture.” More often than not the plants are passed down in the form of seeds. Heirloom breeds of plants are important not only for sentimental reasons, but also because they provide genetic diversity. By maintaining old breeds of plants with their unique resistance to disease and pests, we are able to ensure the security of our food supply. Seed Savers Exchange is a Decorah, IA based non-profit that “saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations.”

Seeding a New Career

Seed Savers Exchange maintains “more than 25,000 endangered vegetable varieties,” which makes them “biggest non-governmental seed bank in the United States.” They’re more focused on working with smaller farmers and gardeners, which makes sense because those are typically the people most interested in heirloom varieties. In a lot of ways, the seeds that Seed Savers Exchange provides resemble art. The genetic diversity thing is important, but the history of the seeds and the varieties of flavors of the plants that grow from them is just as important. If you’re intrigued by what Seed Savers Exchange does, you should check out their Idealist page. Right now they have a position posted for a paid Horticulture Intern. It sounds like a pretty cool gig, so check out the full description and apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to matt@seedsavers.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you do any gardening?

Oceana

Willy Franzen — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:56:40 +0000

I love our oceans—everything about them. I love swimming in them, eating the food that they provide, fishing in them, watching sunsets over them, and all of the other wonderful things that they offer. However, our oceans are both blessed and cursed by the same thing—they seem infinite. That’s what makes them so great, but it’s also what has led us to abusing them nearly to the point of no return. A little pollution will disappear in the vastness of an ocean. Overfishing doesn’t matter because there are always more fish. Scraping up the bottom isn’t a big deal because we can’t see the bottom. I wish that oceans were that resilient, but they’re not. Oceana is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth.” They recognize the value of their oceans, and they’re doing something to protect them.

Dive in to an Internship at Oceana

From what I can tell, most of what Oceana does is based on advocacy and creating awareness. They do this through a number of campaigns including Stop Climate Change, Stop Dirty Fishing, Stop Destructive Trawling, Stop Seafood Contamination, Cut the Bait, Save Seat Turtles, Safeguard Sharks, Dive Into Ocean Conservation, Surf Into Ocean Conservation, Stop Cruise Ship Pollution, Advocating for Ocean Change, and Protect Prey. This approach makes sense because our everyday choices impact the future of the ocean, and until we understand that, we’re not going to take a collective action for positive change. Here’s what Oceana has to say about their campaigns:

To achieve real benefits for the oceans, Oceana conducts focused, strategic campaigns. Each campaign has a specific timeframe and objective that will make a significant difference to the oceans. Each campaign combines scientific, legal, policy and advocacy approaches to reach its goal. Saving the oceans may take decades, but in each of our campaigns we aim to accomplish an important milestone in that effort within two to five years.

If you love the oceans as much as I do, you might want to consider Internships at Oceana. Current opportunities include Marketing/Communications Intern, Dirty Fishing Campaign Intern, Seafood Mercury Pollution Campaign Intern, Campaign to Stop Destructive Fishing Intern, Climate Change Intern, NAO Communications Intern, Fisheries Science Intern, Law Clerks-Externs, Science/Protected Species Intern, and Outreach Intern. All appear to be unpaid, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to resumes@oceana.org with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you love about the oceans?

Green Seal

Willy Franzen — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:35:06 +0000

Whether or not we’re really going through a green revolution is up for debate, but I can assure you that Marketing departments across the world are taking advantage of the public’s appetite for “green” products. Unfortunately, “green” doesn’t really mean anything. To you it might mean one thing, and to me it might mean another. We assume that something that is labeled or advertised as green will be better for the environment, but how do we really know? That’s where Green Seal comes in. They are Washington, DC based “independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and service.” They do this by certifying products that meet their Green Seal standards. By having an independent third party set standards, consumers can actually make informed choices about the products they buy (as long as they’re Green Seal certified, of course).

Are You Green Seal Certified?

There’s a lot that goes into the certification process, and there are plenty of other organizations and businesses that work in the green certification field. The reason that Green Seal is different is that their “standard-setting process is open, collaborative, fair, and completely transparent.” There are no trade secrets. That means that even the most environmentally conscious customers will be able to know if Green Seal meets their personal standards. If Green Seal meets your personal standards, you may want to think about an internship with them. They have an Internships page on their website, but there aren’t any specific positions listed. However, they do invite you to call and inquire about their unpaid internships, which I strongly recommend that you do. I’d imagine that the internships will be science heavy because of the nature of what Green Seal does. Additionally, Green Seal does have an Accounting Internship posted on Idealist that might interest you, even if it doesn’t have much to do with the field of green certification.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you try to buy certified products? Which certifications?

The School for Field Studies

Willy Franzen — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:50:19 +0000

We all know it; studying abroad can be a total joke. I know plenty of kids who partied in a different country for a semester and managed to get college credit for it. Fortunately, there are plenty of study abroad programs that focus more on the “study” than the “abroad.” One of those is The School for Field Studies. Now, you may be skeptical when you see their list of locations sounds more like your top 5 vacation destinations (Costa Rica, Turks & Caicos, Kenya, Mexico, and Australia), but look at all of their student accomplishments. The School for Field Studies is “the nation’s oldest and largest environmental study abroad program,” and it combines “hands-on environmental studies with scientific research to develop sustainable solutions to critical environmental problems.”

Intern in the Field

While some students are drinking their way across Spain, The School for Field Studies’ students are getting works like Wood density predicts plant damage and vegetative recovery rates caused by cyclone disturbance in tropical rainforest tree species in North Queensland, Australia or Efficacy of a starch-iodide swab technique to detect the illegal use of bleach in a Spiny Lobster published. Those topics may seem way out of left field to you, but I’ll bet that you’ll be happy they did that research when you’re on vacation and order for lobster for dinner. Or would you rather eat a lobster that was poisoned with bleach? Exactly. The School for Field Studies sounds like a really cool institution, which is why you might want to consider an internship with them. If you’re attracted to their cool locations, you’re in luck. They continuously accept applications for post-graduate internships at their Center for Rainforest Studies – Australia, Center for Sustainable Development Studies – Costa Rica, Center for Wildlife Management Studies – Kenya, Center for Coastal Studies – Mexico, and Center for Marine Resource Studies – Turks & Caicos, B.W.I. Additionally, SFS has summer opportunities at their Salem, MA headquarters for a Marketing Intern and a Prospect Research Intern. How you should apply depends on the internship, so check out the specific descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you study abroad?

National Park Service

Willy Franzen — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:45:13 +0000

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays—not only because it signifies the start of summer, but also because I love small town patriotism. My hometown always has a fantastic parade that is often accompanied by a fighter jet fly over. Now, today’s employer may not immediately make you think of Memorial Day like last year’s did (it was Weber-Stephen, the manufacturer of my favorite charcoal grills), but you’ll realize pretty quickly why the National Park Service is a great choice for today. Not only are some of the parks that they manage great places to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, but they’re also responsible for quite a few memorials including The Marine Corps War Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, and The World War II Memorial. Memorial Day is really about our fallen heroes, and the National Park Service is constantly working to honor them by maintaining and managing our memorials.

Celebrate Memorial Day Any Time of the Year

If you love Memorial Day as much as I do, then an internship with the National Park Service might be something worth thinking about. Whether you love the outdoors and want to be at Yosemite, love history and want to be at Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, or love our country and want to be at one of the memorials, you’ll have plenty of options. The NPS is constantly working to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” So, how do you land an internship with them? You can start at the NPS Internships page. It does give you some helpful information, but the gist of it is that you need to contact individual National Parks about internships. That actually sounds kind of fun. You can decide which parks sound most interesting to you and then inquire about internships. NPS typically hires full-time people in the following areas: Administration, Health and Safety, Archeology, History, Architecture, Human Resources, Biological Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Community Planning, Maintenance and Facility Management, Concessions, Natural Resources, Contracting, Park Police, Cultural Resources, Park Ranger (Protection), Engineering, Park Ranger (Interpretation), Financial Management, Park Site Interpretation, Firefighting, Physical Sciences, and Fire Management. Those might be areas in which they’ll have internships too. Also, I’m pretty sure that the NPS pays their interns!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

NPS.gov
http://www.nps.gov/personnel/permanent.htm“>Internships at the National Park Service
About the National Park Service
History of the National Park Service

What’s your favorite National Park/

National Geographic

Willy Franzen — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:08:44 +0000

If you’ve made it all the way to college without ever watching or reading some sort of National Geographic material, there has to be something wrong with you. Despite their dot com web address, National Geographic is actually “one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world” according to Wikipedia. Their main focuses “include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history.” You probably know them best for their yellow-bordered magazine covers and fantastic documentaries. The organization is more formally known as the National Geographic Society, and they are headquartered in Washington, DC. They’ve been around since 1888, and they continue to be a powerhouse when it comes to publishing educational content about the natural world.

Study Your National Geography

If you were the kind of kid who asked for a subscription to National Geographic for your birthday or sat glued to their documentaries instead of doing your homework, then an internship is obviously worth consideration. Even if you’re not a total nature nerd, their internships are worth looking at – they appear to provide some pretty cool work experiences. Over the past week National Geographic has posted 3 new internship opportunities (with multiple openings) in Academic School Publishing Operations, Photographic Licensing, and Academic, Traveler Research. I’m assuming that these internships are located in DC, and they appear to be unpaid. You can apply online, so get to it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you subscribe to National Geographic?

National Parks Conservation Association

Willy Franzen — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:11:58 +0000

Having grown up in Connecticut and now living in Illinois, I’ve lived in areas that don’t have too many National Parks. Luckily, I’ve had the chance to see Yellowstone and Grand Teton. They are unbelievable. Our National Parks here in the US are one of the best things that the government has done – they’re a big part of what makes this country so special. Unfortunately, the same government that gave us those parks doesn’t always seem to have their best interest in mind. That’s why National Parks Conservation Association exists. They are a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC that is focused on “working on key initiatives to restore America’s national parks by the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016.” If you’ve never visited a National Park, you should. You can use this locator provided by the National Park Service to find the park closest to you.

These Internships Are a Walk in the Park

If you love the outdoors as much as I do (or dig historic sites, which many National Parks are), and you want an internship that is going to put you to work protecting what you love, then the NPCA may be the place for you. They have a great website that is filled with information about what they’re doing to protect our National Parks. The best way to get a quick introduction to the organization is probably to check out their video, which does a nice job of presenting their story. Put simply, the NPCA is all about making our National Parks’ 100th birthday a real reason to celebrate. 2016 is still far enough away that a lot of meaningful work can be done before then, which is why you should check out internships with the NPCA. Right now there’s only one internship listed, but they seem to have a pretty strong internship program in general. Right now they’re looking for a Web/Communications Intern in Washington, DC. You can apply online, and the internship may or may not be paid (duh!). NPCA does offer paid internships, but not all of them are paid, as I understand it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite National Park?

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

Willy Franzen — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:17:16 +0000

I’ve already recounted my whale watch story in our post on internships at the Whale Center of New England, but I will say again that I think whales are absolutely amazing creatures. To see them in the wild is an experience that I think everyone should be able to have. And one of the reasons that we continue to be able to see whales in the wild is Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.They’re based in Plymouth, MA, and they are “the global voice for the protection of whales, dolphins, and their environment.” Their internship coordinator e-mailed me to tell me about the organization and its internships, and because they sound so great, I’m sharing them with you. I also figured that if you were anything like the kids I grew up with, a good number of you wanted to be Marine Biologists at some point. For those of you who still have a strong interest in Marine Biology, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society offers amazing opportunities year round.

A Fintastic Internship Opportunity

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society is an international organization and their North American office is their newest addition. With the relatively new office comes some seriously cool internship opportunities. It’s hard to say what a typical internship looks like because Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society’s projects change so much from year to year and season to season, but interns typically work on Education and Outreach, Research, and Conservation. Intern tasks range from “assisting in hosting international travel groups” to “cataloguing individually identifiable humpback whales” and from conducting “research for written and oral comments submitted to federal agencies” to “Preparing a report of the previous season’s whale sightings with historical analysis, risk issues and the impact of cumulative developmental threats.” The internships are unpaid, and housing can be provided at a cost. The internships are open to a wide range of students; however, the requirements vary from most of the internships that you may see (such as: Ability to work on sea going vessels for long hours that may require physical labor), so this probably isn’t for you if seasickness is an issue. There are some specific questions that you need to answer for the application at the bottom of Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society’s Internships page, and you can e-mail the answers along with a cover letter and resume to sue.rocca@wdcs.org.

There’s also an internship in Scotland with the UK branch of Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, so check that out if you’re interested in interning abroad.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever seen a whale or dolphin in the wild?

NOAA

Willy Franzen — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:23:50 +0000

Happy Groundhog Day! Unfortunately, it looks like we’re headed for 6 more weeks of winter according to Punxsutawney Phil. That really aggravates me, so I think that I’m done trusting the rodent for my weather prediction. Last year we recommended working for the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club on One Day One Job, but this year we want to lead you towards a career where you’ll actually be able to predict the weather. That’s why we want you to take a look at internships with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is a government agency “that enriches life through science,” which makes them almost the exact opposite of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. NOAA’s responsibilities range from “daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce.” In fact, “NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product.”

From the Bottom of the Sea to the Surface of the Sun

NOAA has a great video that does a nice job of telling their story, so we thought we’d spare you some reading and embed it below. (If you’re reading via e-mail or RSS, you might need to click through to view the video).

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So what about internships with NOAA? You can find all kinds of information about working at NOAA on their Careers page. Unfortunately their Recruitment Events Calendar hasn’t been updated lately, but you can still check out their Career Fields and What NOAA Has to Offer pages. What you’re really looking for though – NOAA’s internships, you can find on their Student Opportunities page. This links to Internships (Graduate, Undergraduate, and High School), Special Opportunities, and Educational Partnerships. There’s also a separate site for NOAA’s Minority Faculty and Student Intern Research Program that you might want to check out. There are all kinds of opportunities to get started on a career in Earth Sciences with NOAA, so you’ll need to peruse all of their offerings to find a good fit for you. NOAA’s internships and other programs are too varied to generalize about here, so you’ll need to use the links that I just mentioned to get more details about what kind of internships are offered, where they’re located, whether or not they’re paid, and how you can apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think Punxsutawney Phil was right?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Willy Franzen — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:01:49 +0000

Although I got to work at a private fishing club during one summer in college and spent two summers interning at Orvis, I still wish that I could have done something like interning with Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks. Being a lover of the outdoors, I can’t imagine many things better than spending a summer in Big Sky Country. In case you’re not familiar with what Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is, they’re Montana’s state agency charged with managing conservation of many of the state’s natural resources. Obviously, much of what they do is centered around managing fishing and hunting regulations, but they also have a huge responsibility of managing all of state parks (and there’s a whole lot to manage in a state like Montana).

The Last Best Internships

To get more specific, here are some of the projects that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks are focusing on tackling this year:

Continue working to get the grizzly bear and wolf delisted so that management reverts back to the state; boost efforts to address the issue of brucellosis transmission by elk and bison; improve public access for hunting, fishing, and other recreation through the Habitat Montana, Block Management, Access Montana Initiative, and other programs; and enhance our system of state parks and fishing access sites, especially in and near Montana’s growing urban areas.

That’s just a taste of what FWP is working on, and you can get a better idea of what they do by looking at what kind of internships they’re offering this summer. You can find general information about their internships here, and then you can check out specific openings with Montana FWP to see if there are internships that interest you. There are 22 internships listed, they’re located all across the state, and most are paid. Internship options include a Warden Trainee Program, Park Management, Natural Resources, Interpretative Technician, Webmaster Assistant, Construction Technician, Fisheries Technician, Fish Culture Technician, Big Hole River, Mountain Lakes, Fisheries, Recreation Management & Angling Education, Visitation, Parks, Parks Interpretive, Madison River Survey Coordinator, FAS Weed Management, Park Ranger Generalist, Loon Ranger, Wildlife Research, and Sate Parks Enterprise Marketing. You can apply for all of these internships directly from the listings on the FWP site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to Montana?

The Wilderness Society

Willy Franzen — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:58:13 +0000

For me the wilderness is central to life itself – I can’t be happy without time spent outdoors. That doesn’t mean that I’m not enjoying life in downtown Chicago, but I plan on spending lots of time in the woods and rivers of Wisconsin and Michigan once Spring starts to show its face. My philosophy is shared by the people at The Wilderness Society. Their About page says that “It is our calling and our passion to protect America’s wilderness, not as a relic of our nation’s past, but as a thriving ecological community that is central to life itself.” I couldn’t agree more. They’re a non-profit organization that provides “scientific, economic, legal and policy guidance to land managers, communities, local conservation groups and state and federal decision-makers” to “ensure the best management of our lands – national forests, parks and refuges, as well as public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.” I’ve seen one of my favorite places in the world (a Northern Michigan tract of wilderness and quality fishing areas) put at risk by poor land management policies that would have allowed natural gas drilling in an extremely sensitive area, so I know how firsthand how vital The Wilderness Society’s work is.

Intern for the Wilderness

If you feel the same way about the wilderness as I do, then an internship with The Wilderness Society might be something worth considering. Their website does a great job of telling their story, so you should be able to get a much clearer picture o who they are and what they about by spending a little time browsing it. They even have a cool section where you can tell them what you’ve been doing to help. I’m not sure what they do with those stories, but it’s nice to see that they’re putting user-generated content to work for them. Their Jobs page lists internships as well, and they look really exciting. Internship opportunities with The Wilderness Society are all based in Washington, DC and they’re offered in Communications, National Landscape Conservation, Public Policy, and with their Mid-Atlantic Regional Program. The internships appear to be unpaid, and you can apply for these internships by visiting the descriptions that I’ve just linked to and sending your cover letter and resume to the e-mail address at the end of the posting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you enjoy the wilderness as much as I do?

Sea Turtle Restoration Project

Willy Franzen — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:03:04 +0000

One of the cooler fly fishing moments that I’ve had was sea turtle related. I was in Costa Rica fishing for sailfish when we trolled past a couple of sea turtles. Immediately a dorado (aka mahi mahi aka dolphin fish) came out from below the sea turtles (they love hanging out under debris… or turtles) and started chasing the hookless plugs that we had let out behind the boat. We teased the fish in to the boat, I cast my fly to it, hooked it, and caught it after an amazing battle. It was a perfect example of how ecosystems work with the fish using turtles as cover to ambush prey. Unfortunately, our experience with sea turtles from the previous year’s trip wasn’t so heartwarming, as another boat from our party came across a turtle that had been tangled in commercial fishing long lines (nothing like what sport fishermen use). Luckily they were able to get the turtle in the boat and cut it free from the tangle of lines, but it was a reminder of how many risks sea turtles are facing out in the wild (see below for a picture of the turtle as it was being rescued). The Sea Turtle Restoration Project is a non-profit organization that is trying to protect sea turtles from these threats of pollution, coastal development, commercial fishing long lines, and shrimping nets.

Who Doesn’t Love Sea Turtles?

As I’ve seen firsthand, sea turtles are both important parts of the ocean ecosystem and at a high risk for extinction. They’re amazing animals to watch in their natural habitat, and they deserve to be protected. You can help protect them by interning with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. The organization’s Internships page doesn’t offer details about specific internships, but they offer internships both at their office, which is an hour northwest of San Francisco near the Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and at other locations (possibly virtual?). They offer help with housing and transportation, and there is also the possibility of a stipend for selected interns. Although there are no specific internships posted right now, you may want to take a look at the part-time, volunteer Web Activist position that they’ve posted. It’s not an internship per se, but it might as well be one. Whether you’re interested in that position, or a real internship, you can apply by sending your cover letter and resume to tshore@TIRN.net (or you can just inquire about internship opportunities).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you had any firsthand experiences with sea turtles? Tell us about them.

Forest Trends

Willy Franzen — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:31:27 +0000

Do you feel most at home when you’re surrounded by trees? Would you rather be in the woods at risk of being eaten by a bear than walking through the city at risk of being hit by a bus. Well if you want to intern for Forest Trends because of your love for great forests, you’re going to have to risk being hit by a bus, because they’re located in Washington, DC. Still, it will be worth it. Forest Trends is all about conservation “by capturing market values for ecosystem services such as water purification, flood control, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation.” You can’t do that it in the woods, but when you’re done interning, you’ll have helped to ensure that the forest is still there for you to enjoy.

Be a Forest’s Friend and Intern for Forest Trends

Forest Trends’ market-based approach is interesting because it is so different from how most conservation based organizations work. Instead of aiming to protect forests for the sake of protecting forest, they aim to build economies based on sustainable forest ecosystems. By making the presence of a forest valuable to a local economy, Forest Trends builds a group of passionate people who see the forest not only as something that must inherently be preserved, but also as something that is essential to their livelihoods. Forest Trends takes a three step approach to make this happen. These steps are: “convening market players to advance market transformations, generating and disseminating critical information to market players, and facilitating deals between different critical links in the value chains of new forestry.” It’s a pretty cool approach, and if it sounds like something that you’d like to be a part of, then you should consider an internship.

Forest Trends is currently looking for a Development Intern and a Communications Intern in their Washington, DC office. Both of these internships begin as soon as possible, and run through the spring. They are paid, which is unusual for non-profit internships, so grab them up while you can if you’re in the DC area. To apply, send a cover letter and resume to dmckay@forest-trends.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Forest Trends’ approach?

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Willy Franzen — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:00:12 +0000

If you’ve been paying attention over the past few weeks, you may have noticed that I recently moved to Chicago. I’m trying to make a list of things to do and places to see, and one of the attractions that I’m excited to visit is the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. It’s exactly what you’d expect a nature museum to be – they have butterflies, praying mantises, and water snakes. They have all kinds of exhibitions and special programs that include daily animal feedings. It looks like a wonderful day to visit, and it also looks like a fantastic place to have an internship. And in case you were wondering Peggy Notebaert is the wife of Richard Notebaert, the CEO of Qwest, who donated $5 million to the construction of the museum with the stipulation that it be named after her (we really had to dig to find that).

Nature in the City

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is located in the neighborhood of Lincoln Park in the city of Chicago. It may not be the first place that you’d think to go to get closer to nature, but they sure seem to do a good job. A lot of that can be attributed to their staff, many of whom are interns. They offer internships in the summer, fall and winter, and right now they’re recruiting Winter interns who can work from January to May. The deadline for applications is November 14th, so you still have plenty of time to apply (the deadline is April 3rd for Summer internships and July 25th for Fall internships). Their internship offerings are wide ranging, but they are grouped into three categories – Biology and Collections with internships in Invertebrate Care, Butterfly Conservation Genetics, and VPlants Collections; Education and Educational Programs with internships in Early Childhood Programs, Family Programs, Program Planning and Development, and Student Programming; and Exhibits with internships in Exhibit Design and Production and Graphic Design. Internships at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum are typically unpaid, although they do occasionally offer paid internships. If you’re interest is piqued, check out the museum’s internships FAQ and take a look at the internship descriptions that you’ll find on the internship categories page. If you decide to apply, make sure to follow the application instructions carefully, and direct any questions to internship@naturemuseum.org

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum? What’d you think?

National Audubon Society

Willy Franzen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:49:31 +0000

John James Audubon loved painting birds. His seminal work, Birds of America, was a collection of 435 beautiful life-size prints. To this day, when you hear the name Audubon, you think of birds. Interestingly enough, John James Audubon had no direct involvement with the founding of the National Audubon Society. Audubon’s widow, Lucy, tutored a man named George Bird Grinnell and some of Audubon’s love of birds must have rubbed off, as Grinnell was one of the Audubon Society’s founders. To this day, the Audubon Society persists in its mission “to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.” The Audubon Society works to achieve this mission through a national network of community-based nature centers and chapters and scientific, educational, and advocacy programs.

These Internships Are for the Birds

The National Audubon Society has a long list of current job and internship openings in a variety of locations across the country. We scanned over them, and identified all of the internships that appear to be available this fall. The Audubon does a great job of describing their internships, so you should get a good sense of the work involved with each.

We should also warn you that one job listing on the pagesays that the start date is in 2006. We hope that this is a result of a careless copy-paste job, but we have no way of knowing how recently all of these internships were posted (most of them look up to date though). We couldn’t find much information on what it’s like to work for Audubon, but it probably varies widely depending on location. If you’re a birder, and you’re looking for a non-profit Fall internship, figure out which of the above is most appealing and apply! The contact information varies depending on the internship, but you are expected to apply by e-mailing a cover letter and resume. Most of the internships are paid some sort of stipend or hourly wage, although the pay is very modest. A few of the other position listings seem to have no mention of whether they are paid or not.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite bird? We like birds of prey like hawks, eagles, and falcons.maineorg

New York Restoration Project

Willy Franzen — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:11:04 +0000

This is our last Summer internship post for a while. We’ll be taking a couple weeks off to rejuvenate and find great Fall internship opportunities. We will publish a post tomorrow that will provide resources for a last minute internships search, so if you’re still hunting, we won’t completely abandon you. For our last Summer internship posting, we’ve chosen a non-profit organization founded by Bette Midler, yes, she of Hocus Pocus fame. We wanted to take the opportunity to make some jokes about a celebrity do-gooder, but we’re actually going to restrain ourselves because we’re really impressed by the New York Restoration Project and the work it does.

Restoring New York’s Green Space

A lot of celebrities who are involved in philanthropy focus on telling other people what to do, the following quote shows that Bette Middler isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.

When I moved to New York, I was very disappointed in how parts of the city looked. I was so upset, I didn’t sleep for weeks. I love New Yorkers, and I’m like them—I’m noisy, I have my opinions—but I’m not used to the kind of carelessness and waste that I was seeing. People were throwing their garbage out the window, leaving their lunches on the ground. Finally, I realized I needed to actually do something—even if I had to pick up the stuff with my own hands.

That’s the attitude of a true environmentalist and conservationist. It’s amazing how many people will talk and talk about how they care about the environment, but won’t even take the first step of cleaning up their own “backyards.” Since 1995, NYRP has been working to improve, enhance, and increase green space across New York City. Here’s why Parks and Opens Space are important according to NYRP. If you agree, you should continue browsing the NYRP website – it’s really well done. Don’t forget to look at all of the NYRP’s accomplishments too.

As for internships, the NYRP is looking for 2 Horticulture Interns (Idealist.org). These are paid Summer internships in New York City, and they’re best suited for students who have a background in biology, environmental science, horticulture, landscape construction, landscape design, greenhouse management, gardening, botany, or entomology. Interns will have the opportunity to learn about urban horticulture and landscaping by working directly on NYRP projects. There is also a listing on NYRP’s Jobs page for Americorps Team Members, but it was for the Spring. We don’t know if we’re still hiring for those positions, but they might be a nice alternative to an internship. You can inquire about or apply for positions at NYRP by e-mailing HR@nyrp.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you enjoyed green space in New York City? What’s your favorite spot?

Chicago Botanic Garden

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:11:40 +0000

This isn’t the first time we’ve featured internships at a botanical garden, but we thought it was time to reach out to those plant science and botany majors again. It must have crossed our mind when we realized that spring is in full force at One Day, One Job Headquarters. Everything has bloomed, and not only is it beautiful here, but it also smells great. Whenever we open a door or window we get a fragrant burst of springtime. Since we hear from a lot of people that we focus too much on internships in New York and California (hey, that’s where a lot of them are), the addition of the Chicago Botanic Garden to our list of companies and organizations that hire interns should be welcome.

Chicago Has Great Flora and Fauna

You may have heard that a wild cougar was recently shot by police in downtown Chicago and that another was sighted shortly afterwards. Usually big cities don’t get that much wildlife action, which is why things like botanic gardens were created – to make sure things didn’t get too urban. “The 385-acre Garden features 23 display gardens and three native habitats, uniquely situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes.” It sounds wonderful. I haven’t been there yet, but I’m in Chicago often enough that I will make a visit sooner or later. Once I go, I’ll leave a comment on this post with my observations. There are three core components to what the Chicago Botanic Garden does: collections, education, and research. There are internship opportunities that touch on all three of areas, but unfortunately almost all of the internships directed at non-graduates have already been filled (there are a lot of internships for new grads though).

Internships for People Who Stop to Smell the Flowers

There are three specific internship programs with the Chicago Botanic Garden, all of which can be found directly from their Employment page. Their main internship program offered over a dozen different internships (with even more openings) for the summer of 2008; unfortunately, all but one of those internships are filled already. The one that is not yet filled is the The President John H. Stroger, Jr. Internship Program, which offers 5 internships for Cook County residents only. The deadline for applying has passed, but there is a chance that you may be able to sneak your way in. Applications were supposed to be submitted to “each candidate’s appropriate Forest Preserve District Commissioner, which is determined by residency.” For future reference, all of the internships at the Chicago Botanic Garden are paid, and all besides those in the President John H. Stroger, Jr. Internship Program are open to international students.

The second internship program with the Chicago Botanic Garden is the National Science Foundation
Research Experiences for Undergraduates, which is also no longer accepting applications. This is run in collaboration with Northwestern University and offers “a 10-week summer research experience in Plant Biology and Conservation.” More about these internships can be found here. You can apply for 2009 starting in December.

Finally, here are the internships that are still available. This is a change for us, because these internships are geared towards new grads instead of current students, but we think that you’ll find these opportunities quite interesting. The Conservation and Land Management Internship Program places more than 80 outstanding college graduates in five- or ten-month paid internships ($750 every 2 weeks) to assist professional staff at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS) or U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Interns are given one week of training on the Endangered Species Act and related conservation issues and then sent off across the country to work with their mentors. Areas that interns may work in include: Archaeology, Botany, Conservation, Entomology, Forestry, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Ornithology, Policy (i.e., U.S. Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act ), Range Management, Recreation, Technical Writing, Wetland Ecology, and Wildlife. These internships offer amazing learning opportunities and the possibility to jump directly into an entry-level job (also check out entry-level jobs at the Chicago Botanic Garden). There’s a lot more information about this program on the Conservation and Land Management Internship Program page, so don’t forget to give it a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How far along is spring where you are?

Southface

Willy Franzen — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:44:47 +0000

Judging by the name, you might think that Southface is a company that produces “barely there” fashions for destinations that one might visit on Spring Break. Since the North Face is all about warm clothes, that’d be a good guess. Too bad it would be a wrong guess. Southface isn’t a company (it’s a non-profit organization), and it doesn’t manufacture clothing. They do work to provide “responsible solutions for environmental living” through education, research, advocacy and technical assistance.

Not the Opposite of Northface

Since you’re probably curious about the name Southface, we tried to find information about it on their website, but we didn’t have any luck. We’re pretty sure that name came from the fact that it’s typically more energy efficient to build your house facing South. That kind of information is at the essence of what Southface is all about. They offer resources like Green Building Toolkit and Home Energy Rating Training. In fact, the Southface website is itself an excellent resource and will tell you a lot more about the organization than we ever could.

Green Internships

Southface has a distinct internship program; however, it is not seasonal like those offered by most companies and organizations. Instead, Southface hires interns on a rolling basis, and expects interns to work with them in their Atlanta, GA office for at least 6 months. Interns can either work directly with Southface or with EarthCraft House. About half of an intern’s time is typically spent working on administrative tasks and light construction duties. After the interns prove themselves as hardworking and capable, they’ll be quickly placed on more exciting work with project managers. The Southface Internships page has an excellent overview of the program, so read up on that for more information.

Internships at Southface are full-time (40 hours a week) and compensated with a small stipend ($100 per week), free mass transit passes, and sometimes shared housing (dependent on the number of interns). You can apply (with this application form) or send questions to internships@southface.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

One Day, One Internship should be viewed facing South for maximum energy efficiency. Can you tell us why? Leave your guess in the comments.