Natural Resource Management Assistant – El Malpais National Monument

Start/End Dates: May 5, 2025 – September 19, 2025 (20 weeks)

Mosaics in Science seeks to engage ethnically and racially diverse young professionals in natural resource careers. You must meet the following requirements:

• Be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
• Have a valid driver’s license.

• A personal vehicle is required for this position.

Position Description:
This internship will focus on acoustic monitoring of bat diversity and activity levels at El Malpais National Monument. The intern will learn how to deploy monitoring equipment, process bat calls, and upload data to the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat). Following NABat protocols, acoustic detectors will be deployed in “grid cells” throughout the park, allowing the intern to experience the monument’s rugged volcanic landscape. GIS will be used to plot acoustic monitoring sites and visualize species distribution.

In addition to the primary acoustic project, the intern will have opportunities to assist with cave environmental monitoring, cave mapping, and cave inventory to assess conditions in the monument’s main bat habitats. Other tasks may include assisting researchers with projects such as cave microbe sampling and ice coring.

Responsibilities:

• Organize and process acoustic data, tables of identified bat calls, NABat data uploads, and GIS maps of bat diversity.
• Contribute to the development of acoustic monitoring SOPs.
• Write a short report summarizing results and create an end-of-term presentation for the public.
• Prepare abstracts and presentations for the New Mexico Bat Working Group meeting and/or other meetings such as the National Speleological Society Southwest Regional, as encouraged.

Qualifications:

• Major studies relevant to this position: Wildlife biology.
• Strong interest in bats and caves.
• Comfortable hiking cross-country over rugged, difficult terrain.
• Experience with horizontal caving is desired.
• Experience with GIS, cave maps, acoustic monitors, or data loggers is ideal but not required.
• Ability to work well independently and as part of a team in both the office and the field with minimal supervision.
• Computer skills in Microsoft Word and Excel are required.
• Ability to communicate effectively in writing and orally.
• Online training for computer access may also be required before starting this position.

Interns in this program will receive 800 hours towards Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority. See below for 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 employment and 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.