2005 Internship Positions
TITLE: Intern, Institute for Plant Conservation – Regional Floristics and Rare Plant Monitoring
PURPOSE:
The internship is geared to working with regional flora, with particular focus on monitoring rare plants in the Chicago area through the Plants of Concern (POC) program. Duties would include helping to train volunteer monitors and entering/analyzing monitoring data, including GIS applications. The internship also includes assisting with herbarium management. The intern may undertake a personal research project related to the Plants of Concern program and attend local professional meetings and task forces, as well as interact with other Conservation Science staff.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
May through September – assist with POC training workshops. Engage in monitoring field work throughout the region. Interact with and provide support to volunteer monitors.Assist with the herbarium specimen collection and with scanning of specimens for the vPlants Web site.
October through December – work with POC program assistant to collect and organize monitoring data forms from volunteers. Enter data and conduct statistical analysis for presentation at an advisory group meeting and in grant reports. Train volunteers in data entry and various lab projects. Continue herbarium specimen organization.
January through April – help finalize POC reports, co-author poster for presentation, and assist with grant applications. Contribute to POC Web site maintenance. Assist with preparations for upcoming monitoring season: contact volunteers, send out mailings, and assist in workshop preparations; prepare site and species lists.
DEPARTMENT: Institute for Plant Conservation
REPORTS TO: Research Botanist
SUPERVISES: Volunteers in the field and lab (high school/college level interns)
COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIPS: POC program assistant; Garden staff, particularly in the science department; public and private land management agencies in POC
POSITION REQUIREMENTS: BS in ecology, botany, or biological sciences. Plant identification skills; field experience in plant monitoring or field research. Computer experience with all Microsoft Office functions, including Access. Basic statistical and GIS software experience helpful. Organizational and people skills. Ability to work well independently as well as in a team setting.
Revised January 2005
