Paid Student Internships Available at the U.S. Forest Service
Location: Pacific Southwest Regional Office
1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, CA
July- September 2011 (Deadline to apply: June 21, 2011)
The mission of the U.S. Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands for the benefit of present and future generations. In addition to managing 20 million acres of public land in California, the Forest Service also assists private forest landowners, works to support urban trees and urban forests across the state, manages and fights fire, and works to engage urban Americans and the next generation in stewarding and caring for our public lands. These programs and the eighteen national forests in California are overseen at a Regional Office in Vallejo, CA.
The following 8-12 week positions in our Regional Office are open to students who are currently working toward an undergraduate or graduate degree. The exact dates of the internship and whether it is full-time or part-time will be negotiated on an individual basis. The internships will be excellent opportunities to learn about the Forest Service and to interact with a variety of scientists, land managers, and policy analysts while also contributing meaningful work. Interns must be resourceful and motivated to learn.
1. Conservation Education Internship
The Forest Service engages the next generation through a number of different programs. In California, these include individual classroom presentations, sponsoring events such as National Get Outdoors Day, and supporting school teachers through curriculum development and professional development opportunities. The focus of this internship will likely be to develop a sister-classroom program to teach students about the connection between water, healthy forests, and climate change in California. Classrooms near the upper reaches of the Feather or Yuba Rivers would be paired with schools and classrooms far downstream and near the San Pablo and Francisco Bays for peer-to-peer learning about the water cycle and the forest ecosystems that filter, store, and release the water that Californians drink and use.
2. Sustainable Operations Internship
Through Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, the Obama Administration directed every federal agency to develop policies and practices to reduce their environmental footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. The Forest Service employs over 8000 people in California, and those employees work in a large number of buildings and drive a large number of vehicles. The Sustainable Operations intern will help our leadership team understand what operations changes are going to have the most positive effect on our footprint, will help institute a few short-term changes at the Regional Office, and will help provide information to the National Forests. Tasks may include helping to plan a November Sustainable Operations Summit in Sacramento and organizing other businesses and residents on Mare Island to increase public transportation options for the Regional Office.
3. Garden Manager Internship
As an agency of the Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service has enthusiastically taken part in the "<http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=PEOPLES_GARDEN>People's
Garden Initiative," a USDA program that encourages employees to become involved in the communities where they work through volunteering or helping to establish new community gardens. Employees from the Regional Office helped start <http://www.vallejopeoplesgarden.org/>the Vallejo People's Garden last year, and this internship may work either on managing volunteers, harvesting, and planting at the existing Garden or toward establishment of a garden and green space at the Regional Office. The intern should have experience or aptitude in at least one of these
areas: volunteer management, vegetable gardening, or working with
K-12 students.
4. Partnership Coordinator
The Forest Service is required to work collaboratively with other federal, state, and local agencies, user and interest groups, stakeholder organizations, and volunteers to care for forest resources and to serve the public. The Region's newly established Partnership Office broadcasts information about opportunities to work with the USFS, provides trainings on collaboration and partnerships for employees and partner groups, works to decrease institutional or legislative barriers to partnerships, and supports local "Friends"
and volunteer groups on the National Forests in California. This intern could work on any number of tasks, such as designing a catalog of forest volunteer opportunities in California, organizing public events or screenings of the USFS film "Green Fire," meeting with partners and employees across the region, and improving <http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/partnerships/>the partnership website as a resource for partners.
To apply, send your resume and a cover letter to <mailto:acundiff@fs.fed.us>acundiff@fs.fed.us. Be certain to indicate which internship you are most interested in. Applications considered on a rolling basis up until 5:00pm, Tuesday, June 21.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all
programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at
720-2600 (voice and TDD).
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