Internship Title: Vermont Monitoring Cooperative Summer Field Internships
Internship Site: Burlington, Mount Mansfield, Lye Brook Wilderness and other locations around Vermont
Description: Three to six interns will train with the Vermont State Department of Forest Parks and Recreation staff to inventory and assess forest plots as part of a statewide forest health monitoring program. Interns will work closely with forest health professionals to establish monitoring plots, quantify stand composition and structure, assess canopy condition, collect hemispherical photos for digital assessments of crown closure, and conduct regeneration and understory assessments on subplots.
After training, interns will be expected to work independently to plan daily trips, maintain equipment, conduct field work, work with the VMC database, as well as develop and contribute content to VMC social media outlets.
Additionally, VMC has been working on expanding forest health monitoring to other states in the northeastern US. This year there will be opportunities that involve establishing plots down in the Finger Lakes region of New York. This may involve some training with staff from the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forest staff.
At the end of the field data collection, interns will be expected to conduct a summary analysis of data for the year. This could include simple descriptive metrics of plot measurements, or more complex statistical analyses to compare methodologies, species or locations. The intern’s final report on the measurements collected will be included in VMC’s annual reporting and posted to the web site.
Desired qualifications/skills/coursework:
Because of the nature of this field work, interns must be comfortable in the field and capable of hiking long distances over rough terrain. Some plots will require camping overnight to minimize travel time to clusters of distant plots. There may be days requiring travel where interns will be expected to work 10+ hours (when daylight allows).
Successful applicants must be knowledgeable of the common tree species in our area. This can be demonstrated by having completed the NR21 dendrology course. Because plots are unmarked, comfort with GPS navigation is also required. Exposure to additional forest inventory sampling techniques (hypsometers, d-tapes, prisms, etc,) are preferred but not required.
As with any research study, attention to detail and a willingness to raise questions or concerns are imperative. Because this field crew will work independently for much of the internship, successful applicants must also demonstrate a high level of maturity, responsibility and attention to safety standards.
Because of the nature of this work, it is likely that work weeks will consist of four 10 hour days and flexible schedules based on weather and distance to various field locations.
Supervision: Interns will work closely with Jim Duncan (VMC Director), John Truong (VMC Field Coordinator) Jennifer Pontius (RSENR faculty) and Sandy Wilmot (VT FPR) for the first several weeks of the internship. After this initial training period, interns will be expected to continue field work independently, reporting back to VMC supervisors at the end of each week.
Start and End Dates: Start Date: June 12, 2017 End date: August 21, 2017
Total Hours: 400 hours (10 weeks, 40 hrs per week)
Compensation: $11.25/hr
How to apply: Send a resume and one reference letter to John.truong@uvm.edu by March 18, 2017.