Internships for undergrads with the National Park Service

Ten week summer job/service opportunity at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve's Barataria Preserve.  They will be hiring an AmeriCorps Environmental Steward whose work will focus on a Giant Salvinia bio-control program.  The ideal candidate will already have some experience with invasive species ecology and/or management issues and will be familiar with the coastal wetland landscape in which the Preserve is located.  Here is a bit of information about the project:

 

The Summer 2012 Environmental Steward at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve’s Barataria Preserve will engage an invasive species management project.  The Steward’s comprehensive goal is to develop our Giant Salvinia bio-control effort into a vibrant integrative program addressing Park resource management and interpretive needs and involving Park volunteers.  Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta), a floating aquatic fern native to the Amazon Basin, invaded the Preserve in 2006 and its populations now cover most Preserve waterways for much of the year.  It exhibits classic invasive species attributes and its environmental impacts cascade from shifts in key abiotic conditions to community and ecosystem properties.  It is a severe nuisance to boaters and fishers.  Key elements of the Steward’s summer work include sustaining the introduction and distribution of the weevil bio-control agent in selected waterways, developing and implementing a monitoring protocol assessing Giant Salvinia coverage and weevil populations in these waterways, coordinating Park volunteer effort on this project, producing weekly reports on waterway accessibility for Park staff and the public, and developing interpretive guides and/or programs communicating the need for, aims of, and status of this Park project.

  The application itself is available on-line at http://www.hardrockteam.org/docs/SP_2012_Member_Application.doc.  Students, please note that to show interest in THIS specific stewardship, you will need to indicate that on your application!  The national program website is http://www.hardrockteam.org/pages/Environmental-Steward-Summer-Program.cfm.