Start/End Dates: May 12, 2024 - August 2, 2024Compensation: $600 per week housingApplication Due: February 6, 2024

Fish and Feathers Internship Program seeks to engage ethnically and racially diverse young professionals in natural resource careers.
You must be (additional requirement):

• a U.S. citizen or legal resident
• a college graduate 

 * Personal vehicle is not needed for this position.

Position Description: 

Fish and Feathers is a program funded by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered by Environment for the Americas. Our goal is to provide our national park partners with talented interns who are eager to learn and to engage with local communities. The intern will focus on supporting, implementing, and leading community outreach programs that focus on fishing and birding activities. The overall goal is to increase diverse community engagement with NPS partners during the program and in years to come.

Responsibilities:

• Reach out to local communities through outreach and educational activities to increase engagement in fishing and birdwatching
• Create new materials (i.e., social media, educational games/activities, signage, etc.) to provide visitors with information about fish and birds at the NPS site
• Understand regulations regarding fishing and ethical birding and communicate this information to participants
• Establish or build upon fishing and birding programs at the NPS site
• Manage and maintain program equipment
• Meet deadlines for Environment for the Americas program requirements 

Qualifications:

• Ability to hike and conduct field operations as part of a team and/or independently in an outdoor setting.
• Experience giving presentations and ability to learn new skills and transfer the knowledge to participants.
• Interest in learning fishing regulations and bird identification for program development and implementation.
• Ability to learn methods employed in fish and wildlife management.
• Strong interpersonal, oral, listening, and written communication skills.
• Interest in learning new skills such as rafting, canoeing, and kayaking.

Major studies relevant to this position: 

Successful candidates will have a background and/or coursework in the following areas or a strong interest in the outdoors with experience fishing and/or birdwatching.

• Biology
• Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
• Ecology
• Aquaculture
• Communications/Marketing
• Environmental Science
• Recreation
• Interpretation/Education

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About this Site:

This internship would be co-hosted between two programs at Lake Clark: Interpretation/Education and Natural Resources and would have both visitor services/education and hands-on field components.

The intern will begin their experience by participating in a parkwide training that will include presentations from all disciplines in the park and skills sessions such as paddling, boating, shotgun, bear, and backcountry safety.

Post-training, the intern will work with the interp/ed team to develop and hone skills in customer service, communications and public information, interpretation, and education programming skills through staffing the VC desk, co-facilitating junior ranger programming, writing social media posts, and shadowing presentations and programs for the month of June, and will be mentored through an evening program presentation process while researching Lake Clark’s salmon fishery in preparation for field experiences in July. They will also have rove and project time for self-study and enrichment. This time will also be critical to prepare the intern for their field/backcountry experience with the natural resources team.

For most of July, the intern will deploy to the backcountry via small plane to work with the fish team. During this time, they will gain field experiences in salmon count and capture, fish ID (species and sex), data collection, proficient use of fisheries gear and sampling equipment and techniques, small motorboat operation and certification, small plane travel, and data reporting. In addition to technical experience, they will also visit local village fish camps and put to practice communications skills learned with the interpretation team and staff fish counting towers and collect data. 

Upon completion of the field experience, the intern will return to Port Alsworth and develop a presentation on Lake Clark Fisheries for the local Port Alsworth community. They will also work with the Education Lead to co-facilitate a fish themed Junior Ranger program, and work with the Visual Information Specialist to write a #MyParkStory and social media post on their experience and Lake Clark fisheries.

Other enrichment and developmental opportunities will include a park hosted resume workshop by the Interpretation, Education, and Partnerships Program Manager, community celebrations for service for all seasonal staff, cross training opportunities as available in the interns areas of interest while in Port Alsworth, networking across multiple disciplines, and gaining experience in viewing place through a cultural lens while serving in the ancestral homelands of the Dena'ina people, an intact ecosystem at the headwaters of the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world, and a rich cultural wilderness.

Finally, while the proposed internship would provide singular opportunities for networking, skills gained, and multidisciplinary experience, it’s special to just be here. Living in Qizhjeh Vena, meaning ‘a place where people gather lake’ in Dena’ina, (the original name of Lake Clark) is a one in a lifetime experience. Living in remote, wild places brings challenges and opportunities that foster a sense of community, deep connection to place, respect for the land, self-reliance and awareness, perspective, and gratitude. This internship holds limitless opportunity for a young professional.

Interns in this program will receive 480 hours towards Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority. See below on information about:

Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority (PLC)
The Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority is a special hiring authority available to qualifying interns. The intern must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, inclusive, or a veteran up to age 35 and complete 640 hours of work on an appropriate conservation project to be eligible for this hiring authority. Upon successful completion of the PLC project(s), the intern is eligible for two years to be hired non-competitively into a federal seasonal, term, or permanent position. The applicant must apply to a PLC-eligible position advertised on USAJobs.gov and selected off a non-competitive certificate of eligibility. For more information, see DOI Personnel Bulletins 11-02 , 12-13, and 17-03.

EEO Statement

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