Refuges WaterCorps GIS Intern

Remote Southwest USFWS WaterCorps GIS Intern

Position Details:

Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards) provides individuals with service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants work with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits building institutional capacity, developing community relationships, and supporting ecosystem health. Stewards in partnership with the USFWS-Southwest Region GIS are seeking an intern who will help document the water delivery systems of the Southwest Region's National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) and maintenance knowledge required to effectively use those water delivery systems.  Many of our NWRs or stations have water delivery systems to supply water to different agricultural and wetland management units to provide forage and habitat for waterfowl.  These water delivery systems can consist of levees, canals, ditches, gates, etc.  Depending on yearly precipitation totals, a station may need to adjust its water delivery strategy.  When there is less water available a station may only be able to supply water to a smaller number of management units.  Given these scenarios, it is important to document, map, and archive the flow of water into holding ponds and which parts of the water delivery system can be used to supply water to the management units given the available water.

Position Responsibilities will include:

• The GIS Intern will review the Water Resources Inventory and Analysis (WRIA) documentation to determine which stations have a GIS dataset for their water delivery infrastructure.
• Develop a water delivery and flow data system. This will include having the hardened infrastructure stored in the assets authoritative data layer (ADL) in ArcGIS Online, and having a topologically correct geodatabase stored on the national servers known as the EDW.
• Intern will create Field Maps ready projects for stations of their water delivery infrastructure and maintenance schedules.
• The maintenance schedule work will include interviewing station staff. This may include working with ancillary information such as photos of paper maps that have the water delivery system's maintenance schedule.
• Intern will help develop a SharePoint digital toolkit for stations to easily reference this information and provide training to stations.
• Intern will help with mapping other assets using imagery, lidar, and virtually meeting with staff.

Minimum Requirements:

• Completed 9-12 credit hours in GIS and a strong interest to further develop web & mobile based GIS skills.
• Willing to learn about organization wide digital asset management, understanding the importance of record keeping and attention to details.
• Interest in understanding metadata and how to ensure data meets FAIR standards.
• Willing to use Microsoft Teams to meet virtually with other team members and screenshare project stages.
• Willing to undergo and pass a required criminal history check.
• A strong interest in a career in natural resource conservation science.
• You must be eligible to serve in AmeriCorps State & National Direct Service programs (must not have served more than 4 terms in AmeriCorps).
• You must be available to work a 40-hour week for the 26-week term
• You must be between 18 and 34 years of age.
• You must have received a High School Diploma or GED
• You must be a member of a Federally recognized Indian Tribe, Band, or Village; Alaska Native; or meet one of the following descriptions:
  • Persons who possess at least one-half degree Indian blood derived from Tribes Indigenous to the United States.
  • Descendants of Members of Federally recognized Indian Tribes, Bands or Communities who were residing on any Indian Reservation on June 1, 1934 – shown by completing BIA Form 4432.

 Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in GIS or Building/Asset/Water Infrastructure Management with GIS credits or Hydrology with GIS Credits.

Benefits:

• Living Allowance: $600/week (pre-tax)
• Position is eligible for an AmeriCorps education award upon successful completion of the program. Value of education award is $3,447.50 (pre-tax).
• Student loan forbearance and health insurance
• Federal non-competitive hiring status through the Public Lands Corps upon successfully completion of the program (only those ages 18-30 are eligible for this benefit).
• Access to online GIS trainings through ESRI and USFWS.
• Intern will receive training about the authoritative data layers, using Microsoft Teams for remote work, FWS GIS and Data Management.

How to Apply:

If you have questions about this position, please contact Cinthia Eichhorn (cinthia_eichhorn@fws.gov) or Stewards Program Coordinator Morgan Ehmling: mehmling@conservationlegacy.org.

This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, genetic information, and military service. Where a significant portion of the population eligible to be served needs services or information in a language other than English, the recipient shall take reasonable steps to provide written material of the type ordinarily available to the public in appropriate languages.