Research Internships
Central Coast Bat Research Group
Contact person: Winifred Frick wfrick@batresearch.org (831)662-1338
The Central Coast Bat Research Group (CCBRG) is a local environmental research and consulting firm that specializes in bat ecology and conservation. We are part of the California Bat Working Group (CBWG), which is responsible for creating the California Bat Conservation Plan, a state document that will outline the conservation threats and management strategies for protection of California’s 25 bat species. We are looking for a motivated student who is interested in helping with the California Bat Conservation Plan. The intern’s responsibilities will include organizing and entering data on bat capture records into a statewide biological database as well as help draft reports on the “Conservation Concerns for Central Coast Bat Populations” and “Bats in Oak Woodlands” sections of the CBCP. A field trip to Pinnacles National Monument to capture bats may be included as part of the internship’s activities. Given the intern’s interest level and desires, there is potential for senior thesis projects to develop out of this internship. This is an exciting opportunity for a student to be a part of real-world conservation and management activities. The intern will learn a lot about bat ecology and conservation, conservation issues at the state level, acquire skills in data organization and management, and gain valuable writing experience while participating in an important conservation program.
Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group
Contact Info: Glenn Stewart gstewart@ucsc.edu
We currently have two internships that provide students with opportunities to learn more about Peregrine Falcons, working with members of the public on a conservation education project, collecting data on provided forms, and developing observation skills. Participation in the winter quarter College 8 class, “Peregrine Falcon Recovery—A Case Study in Conservation Success” is strongly advised and class participants will have priority for internships. There are two opportunities to participate. Falcon Nest Camera Operator: (2 units—6-8 hours per week) We offer views of nesting falcons to the public from three locations in the Bay Area. Operator/attendants use their computers to move the cameras as needed during incubation of eggs and rearing of young. Attendants become intimately familiar with the nesting chronology of peregrine falcons, and participate in a large conservation education effort (camera web site receives 600,000 or more hits per week). They also collect prey delivery data. Nest camera operators must also staff at least one, five-hour shift at a nest site during the period when young falcons fledge in May.
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Ventana Wildlife Society
Contact: Cathy Hamilton cathyhamilton@ventanaws.org 831-455-9514
Ventana Wildlife Society is offering one-week volunteer internships in beautiful Big Sur, California for students (must be 18 or older) interested in learning more about a wildlife management and research career. Selected candidates will assist with a California Condor restoration program and selected avian research and education projects. This internship is an excellent opportunity to work directly with professional biologists and naturalists, gain exposure to endangered species management, learn a variety of avian research techniques, and explore the central California coast in five fun-filled days. Interns will have the rare opportunity for a close encounter with California Condors, a critically endangered species with the largest wingspan of any North American landbirdNo experience is necessary, but candidates should be interested in birds, enjoy being outdoors, and be physically fit. Selected interns must provide their own lodging, food, and transportation to our field office at Andrew Molera State Park. We provide a shared campsite for the week and accommodation for one night at our remote condor sanctuary. For more information....
Santa Cruz Bird Club
Contact: Jenny Anderson jka@cruzio.com 831-423-8039
Available Spring Quarter only; The intern's time would be divided between time in the field assisting with the monitoring of nest boxes at Quail Hollow Ranch, analyzing past data, researching Western Bluebird nest success and connecting with the California Bluebird Recovery Program, and in sending data collected in the 2010 season to the Cornell Ornithological Lab's Nest Watch Program. The Nest Box Program at Quail Hollow Ranch County Park was started in 2002 to provide habitat for cavity nesting birds, particularly the Western Bluebird. The data we provide for the Cornell Lab focuses on lay dates, hatch dates, fledge dates, and nest success for all of our birds (Chestnut-backed Chickadee, As-throated Flycatcher, Oak Titmouse, Western Bluebird and Violet-green Swallow)
CASFS Bird Survey
Contact: Carol Shennan cshennan@ucsc.edu
The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems is a research, education, and public service program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, dedicated to increasing ecological sustainability and social justice in the food and agriculture system. The CASFS Bird Biodiversity Study is an ongoing survey of the various bird species that occupy the different habitats and agricultural plots at the CASFS Farm. The CASFS Farm is conveniently located on the UCSC Campus, across from PICA and the Village, next to the Arboretum. Interns will need a pair of Binoculars and a field-guide to the Birds of the Western North America, both of which can be borrowed free of charge from Chris Lay (cml@ucsc.edu) the head of UCSC Natural History Museum.
Research and Writing a Garden Manual
Contact: Jan Perez jperez@ucsc.edu 831-459-3235
The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) is a research, education, and public service center at the University of California – Santa Cruz. Our mission is to increase the understanding and practice of social and environmental sustainability in the food and agriculture system. A current project at the Center is to update and revise its two training manuals: Teaching Organic Farming & Gardening: Resources for Instructors and Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors. These manuals draw on the extensive experience of the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, providing other instructors with teaching resources based on the many skills and concept taught during the six-month Apprenticeship training program
This internship position will help support the revision of several sections of these manuals. This position will entail providing research (and potentially writing) for the revision of the social issues sections, and for several sections of the marketing manual. Web and library research will be a primary activity. This position will also be involved in summarizing references and resources for annotated bibliographies. Depending on skills and time availability, co-authorship is possible. This position will also provide a small amount of support to an evaluation of a farm-to-school evaluation project (data entry of post-workshop evaluation forms).
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The Center for Agro-Food Studies
People: K. Michelle Glowa kglowa@ucsc.edu Margaret FitzSimmons fitzsim@ucsc.edu
The interns will work to collect information on organized urban gardening projects in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles. One intern will specifically focus on the Bay Area including projects in the counties of San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County, and Contra Costa, and Marin County. The other intern will focus on Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County. The intern will use internet and phone based research to identify and describe the characteristics of urban agriculture projects that are collectively organized. Interns will also work to map this information and analyze this against socio-economic data. Finally, interns will be asked to do initial research on the policies of localities that support these programs. This research will go towards the documentation and study of the growth of urban gardening in the state, as well as analyzing obstacles to its promotion.act
Re-census the UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot
Contact person: Greg Gilbert, email: ggilbert@ucsc.edu.
Help with the expansion and 5-yr re-census of the 6-ha Forest Ecology Research Plot (FERP) on the UCSC Campus Natural Reserve. The FERP is a living laboratory designed to study forest dynamics and species interactions in the mixed-evergreen forest, an is a resource for teaching and student research in ecology, evolution, and environmental sciences at UCSC.
Small Mammal Research
Contact person: Chris Wilmers yixwang@ucsc.edu 408-858-1309
The Small Mammal Research in the Forest project is a collaboration between graduate students Yiwei Wang, Taal Levi and Leighton Reid, Natural History Museum director Chris Lay, and UC Reserves coordinator Gage Dayton. We are conducting a long term survey of small mammal population dynamics in the North Campus Experimental Forest Plot, a temperate forest. We will be trapping small mammals every quarter and will be using that information to examine questions pertaining to habitat stratification, disease dynamics, predator prey dynamics and other ecological concepts. We are looking for students to work with us to gain skills in research, small mammal trapping techniques, public speaking, website design, environmental education and grant writing. The intern will do research on small mammal survey techniques, questions, schedules, and methodologies. The intern will also learn to identify local small mammals and become familiar with trapping protocol. The intern will be expected to present a poster of his or her work and participate in the writing of grants. We are also looking for interns interested in designing and conducting their own senior projects that are related to small mammals in the Forest Plot. 50% literature research 25% trapping related activities 25% miscellaneous.