Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Intern

Title:  Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Intern (1 opening)

Start/End Date: January 8, 2024 – December 6, 2024 (anticipated)

Term Length:  48 weeks

Stipend: $600/week

Reports To: U.S Fish and Wildlife Service Region II Science Applications – Conservation Biologist with Conservation and Adaptation Resources Toolbox (CART)

Location: 500 Gold Avenue SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102

Status: 1700-hour AmeriCorps Service term; 40 hours/week

Benefits: Additional housing allowance $200/week; professional development funds $1,500; AmeriCorps Education Award $6,495 and Public Lands Corps Certificate* - both with successful completion of the internship; health insurance eligible

AmeriCorps is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. AmeriCorps provides opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds to serve their country, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, and improve lives and communities. Environmental stewardship programs help conserve natural habitats, improve energy efficiency, protect clean air and water, and help to mitigate the effects of climate change among other environmental efforts.

Conservation Corps New Mexico (CCNM)

Conservation Corps New Mexico, a program of Conservation Legacy and AmeriCorps partner, aims to continue the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930's. CCNM is focused on connecting youth, young adults, and recent era military veterans with conservation service work projects on public lands. CCNM operates programs across southern New Mexico and western Texas that engage individuals and strengthen communities through service and conservation. The CCNM Las Cruces office manages the Individual Placement Program.

Mentorship

These Individual Placement Positions are unique development opportunities. Interns are paired with a local supervisor and gain technical, hands-on experience in the work of these organizations or agencies. Site supervisors commit to facilitate career development; provide an introduction to numerous pathways within the conservation field; and create accessible, meaningful, learning opportunities and experiences for interns.

Position Summary:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Science Applications is a non-regulatory program within the Service that tackles conservation issues no single Service program or partner can address alone. We bring partners together to identify shared conservation priorities and deliver scientific information and tools partnerships need to achieve conservation goals across the landscape. With a foundation of climate adaptation, our work sits at the nexus of landscape conservation, inclusive collaboration, and science support.

Our mission: facilitate partnerships that address shared conservation challenges to create a network of healthy lands and waters where fish, wildlife, plants, and people thrive.

 We do this by:

• Promoting an inclusive approach to conservation.
• Fostering science excellence, integrity, and innovation.
• Developing data-driven decision support tools that make collaborative conservation achievable.

The selected intern will support CART, a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing platform that enhances collaborative conservation efforts at all scales by facilitating issue-based, not geography-based, knowledge sharing. CART, a multi-organizational partnership formed in 2017 between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation, supports natural resource managers and researchers in the Southwest, and more broadly North America, to answer questions such as who is doing what and where, what is working and what isn’t, and where can we find resources to help us improve our work on a similar issue? CART’s Communities of Practices (CoP) provides a forum for managers and researchers to regularly interact and learn how to conduct their work and achieve common goals more effectively. The intern will support CART’s Non-Native Aquatic Species CoP by developing useful tools to support knowledge sharing and decision-making.

Many non-native aquatic species have been introduced intentionally or unintentionally throughout freshwater systems. These species can present obstacles to achieving management objectives, ranging from recovery of native aquatic species to maintenance of water delivery infrastructure. The intern will develop decision-support tools specifically for the Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Program (GRBNFCP). Additionally, this intern will develop case studies that document non-native fish control strategies and techniques to protect and enhance native fish populations across the Gila River Basin and greater Southwest region.

The intern will have the opportunity to regularly interact with biologists and managers across federal and state government agencies, NGOs, and academia through the development of case studies. In addition to being exposed to different conservation professionals, the intern will have an opportunity to learn about a diverse range of conservation topics. The CART team offers regular skill building sessions on analytical and writing skills, resume and CV development opportunities, as well as skill building opportunities for professional communication, collaboration, and time (and calendar) management. Additional training and professional development will be encouraged as needed to support product development.

Essential Responsibilities and Functions:

• Develop Case Studies that document projects, methods, and technologies for
  native fish conservation in the Gila River Basin.
  • Work with supervisor and Bureau of Reclamation partners to identify high priority.
    projects and research that can be synthesized into Case Studies.
  • Gather and synthesize information about on-the-ground natural resource.
    management programs and projects.
  • Conduct interviews with natural resource managers and researchers to support.
    case study development.
• Create a public-facing, interactive web product that synthesizes management.
  of the eight Bureau of Reclamation fish barriers in the Gila River Basin.
  • Create web product mockups based on input from project partners using ArcGIS
    Online, Power BI or other relevant web-based application.
  • Work with supervisor and Bureau of Reclamation partners to build out the overall
    product structure for the public-facing web product.
  • Build a dashboard style module for one of the fish barriers, the Blue River Fish Barrier.
  • Create a report or synthesis document detailing process, workflow, and future
    product development recommendations.
• Partnership support around management of native and non-native fishes.
• Support CART’s Non-Native Aquatic Species, At-Risk Species, and Aquatic Restoration Communities of Practice.
• Support planning and delivery of GRBNFCP technical, coordination, and reporting
  meetings as needed.
• Attend and participate in Arizona’s Statewide Native Fish Conservation Team
  Meetings and other region-specific native and non-native fish meetings.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Per federal grant requirements, this internship is for young adults between the ages of 18-30 (35 for veterans), inclusive, at the time the individual begins term of service.
• The internship will be filled by an undergraduate or graduate student, or recent graduate in natural resources, conservation biology, biology, ecology, hydrology, climate science, environmental sciences/policy, social sciences/human dimensions of conservation, science communication, or other related fields.
• The ideal candidate is a self-motivated team player with excellent analytical and writing skills.
• Working proficiency in ArcGIS Online or other equivalent web-based applications.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A student who is highly motivated to learn about natural resource management challenges and opportunities, while gaining experience in science communication with the support of experienced mentors.
• The ideal candidate will be excited to develop skills in time management, organization and communication (scheduling, collaborative writing projects, email communication), partnership building, teamwork, writing (learning writing styles, accepting, and incorporating feedback, etc.), science communication, and interviewing.

Physical Requirements:

• To successfully perform essential functions, the individual is required to sit, stand, walk, speak, hear, etc. May be required to stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl for significant periods of time and be able to safely lift 50 pounds on a routine basis. He/she must be able to operate office equipment, telephone, and computer and reach with hands and arms.
• Ability to hike and navigate in rough terrain.
• Reasonable accommodation may be made for qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Participant Essential Eligibility Requirements/Participation and Expedition Behavior:

• Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to accept
• Contribute to a safe learning environment, no harassment of others for any reason.
• Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program including conservation projects, education, training, and national service.
• Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues, and organization staff.
• Appropriately represent Conservation Corps New Mexico, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, and AmeriCorps to the public and partners at all times.
• Flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to work in a fluid, changing work environment.

Safety and Judgment: 

• Effectively communicate danger to others in the form of either a warning of danger others may be encountering or a notification of personal distress, injury or need for assistance. Must be able to do so at a distance of up to 50 meters and in conditions with limited visibility or loud background noise such as darkness or high winds.
• Effectively perceive and understand significant and apparent hazards and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during the exposure to the hazard. Ability to respond appropriately to stress or crises.
• Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions.
• If taking prescription medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self- medicating without assistance from others.

Substance Free:

• In accordance with a drug free workplace, alcohol and drugs are prohibited while participating in AmeriCorps and program activities and while on organization property.

*To be eligible for a Public Lands Corps certificate, interns must be between the ages of 18-30 (35 for veterans), inclusive, at the time the individual begins the term of service.

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring a breadth of diverse professionals and encourage members of diverse groups to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, political affiliation, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

To Apply: Please submit an updated resume and cover letter along with the online application at https://corpsnm.org/individual-placement-openings . If you have questions, contact CCNM’s Individual Placement Program Director, Joy Hernández, at jhernandez@conservationlegacy.org.

For more information about Conservation Corps New Mexico, please visit www.corpsnm.org. Conservation Corps New Mexico is a program of Conservation Legacy.