Restoration Management Assistant (Intern)

The 8000 acre Kankakee Sands Project/Prairie Restoration, located within Northwest Indiana, is an ambitious attempt to connect three key natural areas (Willow Slough FWA, DNP Conrad Savanna, and DNP Beaver Lake Prairie) with a highly diverse, ecologically functional, and resilient prairie. This project is a vital step in ensuring that plants and animals dependent upon the eastern tallgrass prairie mosaic (emergent wetlands to dry dunes) have what is necessary for their survival as well as allowing for a greater connectivity betwen the pre-existing sites. The Kankakee Sands Project has worked to restore the mosaic of unique communities within the site by restoring hydrology, collecting propagules of over 500 species of native plants for planting, and re-introducing ecological processes (i.e. fire, grazing) long absent from the landscape.As a Restoration Management Assistant (RMA), you will work to restore prairie and oak barrens/savanna areas at the Kankakee Sands Macrosite. Your position will focus on controlling invasive species across nearly 8,000 acres of tallgrass prairie restoration and black oak barrens, however, but you will also participate in other aspects of restoration activities such as: transplanting (greenhouse and field), collecting and processing native plant seeds, and planting seedlings. You'll use hand tools, herbicides, various herbicide sprayers, trucks, ATVs, tractors, and small machinery (i.e. chainsaws, brushcutters, augers) to complete these restoration duties. You may have the opportunity to participate in prescribed burning activities. All RMAs are supervised by the Kankakee Sands Stewards.