Barrier Island Stewardship Internship – With Housing

The Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR) is seeking an intern to assist with various stewardship and resource management activities. Projects will primarily focus on Little St. George Island, FL, an uninhabited barrier island, with occasional work on other ANERR managed lands. The successful candidate will assist ANERR staff with the following tasks and projects: 

• 50% Sea Turtle Nesting Beach Surveys – Find and identify sea turtle nests, screen nests to protect them from predation, monitor nests throughout the incubation period, conduct hatch success assessment surveys, camera surveys, and associated data. This will be the majority of the intern’s workload.
• 15% Invasive Vegetation Management – Hand clear invasive vegetation from ANERR lands and map locations
• 15% Trail and Public Access Maintenance – Use hand and power tools to maintain ANERR’s public sites. Perform small construction and enhancement projects for recreation.
• 10% Mangrove surveys – Use kayaks to access populations of mangroves and collect data.
• 5% Photo monitoring – Participate in long-term photopoint monitoring of habitats and wildlife game camera monitoring.
• 5% Education and Outreach – Create fliers, kiosk posters, storymaps, radio spots, presentations about stewardship projects.
• Data Entry and Quality Control – Enter data using ArcPro, ArcGIS online, and associated applications such as Field Maps.

The ANERR Stewardship Division is a small 3-person team of dedicated individuals who excel at working together, but also operate independently in remote areas. Co-ed style housing in Apalachicola, FL is available for interns at no charge. Interns will be expected to work 35 hours per week on average, Monday-Friday.

Salary: $1000 per month stipend and free housing 

Required Qualifications:

• Must be a recent college graduate with a degree in biology, wildlife sciences, fisheries, natural resources or a related field.
• May 2024 (exact start date flexible) – October 2024. We are looking for at least a 6-month commitment with a possible extension through December 2024. Exact timing to be agreed upon with the successful candidate.
• Must be able to lift to 50lbs.
• Must be able to work and maintain a positive attitude in hot, humid, sunny, buggy conditions.
• Must be comfortable working independently in remote areas without facilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work in rigorous field conditions.
• Demonstrated ability to cooperate with teammates.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Boat operation experience.
• UTV operation experience.
• Threatened or endangered species survey experience with any taxa.
• Familiarity with ESRI programs and apps such as ArcGIS Online, Pro and Field Maps
• Kayak experience.

This is an entry level internship that covers a wide variety of resource management tasks. ANERR staff do not expect applicants to have experience with every task and project listed in the job description, but the successful applicant will demonstrate an ability to learn quickly and have a proven ability to work well as part of a team.