Natural Resource Management Interns
The Barataria Preserve Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is located just south of New Orleans, Louisiana. Its 23,500 acres of bottomland hardwood forest, cypress tupelo swamp, and freshwater marsh are 30 minutes and a world away from downtown. More information can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/jela/barataria-preserve.htm.
These positions will assist the park's Natural Resource Management staff with a variety of tasks at the Barataria Preserve unit. You may be involved with establishing a network of water level and surface elevation measurement instrumentation; monitoring breeding birds, pig damage, and restoration projects; treating invasive exotic plants; and completing data entry. In addition, you will be a member of the incident management team that is planning and will implement the 2013 National Park Service/National Geographic Society BioBlitz at the park on May 17th and 18th. These positions will require fieldwork in wetland habitats, some basic labwork, as well as office time. Heat, humidity, biting insects, and dangerous wildlife are common in the park during the internship period. Specific duties may include installing stilling wells and monumentation, establishing plots and completing transects or survey routes with experienced collaborators, using herbicides under the supervision of certified pesticide applicators and/or releasing biocontrol agents, and collecting and processing samples of plant material infected with biocontrols. You will use hand and power tools, mapping grade GPS units, and dataloggers. Much of the park is only accessible by boat or airboat. Interested interns may be able to complete the Department of the Interior Motorboat Operator Certification Course.
