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It was neat working with a nearly all-female staff of professionals. They gave me a nice choice of job duties doing event planning, working in their herb garden, and assisting in stream conservation. I really appreciated their mission of helping to educate the community and to conserve the fragile freshwater ecosystems in the mountains above Auckland. They were super helpful and I am really glad I chose this internship
Our conservation biology projects are some of the most important and interesting options that we have. The exciting part of our project is seeing immediate results and knowing that every hour you spend is increasing biodiversity. We work with non-profits as well as indigenous groups who are committed to a particular place and seeing it flourish.
There are six interlinked stages in the systematic planning approach.
1. Compile data on the biodiversity of the planning region
2. Identify conservation goals for the planning region
3. Review existing conservation areas
4. Select additional conservation areas
5. Implement conservation actions
6. Maintain the required values of conservation areas
One of our projects focusses on stream restoration. Replacing invasive species on the streamside and within the water with native plants affects the entire ecosystem. Native and endemic aquatic life has a chance to recover and regain a foothold once the exotics are removed. This project is a big favorite with the local community. You may be joined on weekends with school children and parents who want to lend a helping hand and restore the stream to how their grandparents may have known it. It is this kinship with a particular waterway or forest that minimizes the human/nature divide and reminds us that ultimately we are all connected.
We also have terrestrial projects that involve the reintroduction of native mammal and bird species to a given area. In these projects, the landscape is assessed and exotic plants and trees removed in favor of native vegetation. The caloric needs of a given species are examined and once the restored acreage can provide that the species is re-introduced.
Some of our projects allow you to split time in the office and the field. This allows for a comprehensive introduction to what it takes to restore an environment from the inside out Students may be introduced to GIS—Geographic Information Systems—which is a real skill and important for any career in the field. Likewise, our projects often include an educational component that allow you to share your work with school groups or the outside community.
We work with both contract archeologists and university researchers.
Contract archaeologists are private firms hired by state and county governments, businesses, and land developers to survey and catalog potential building sites. Sites must be tested to determine if there are any culturally sensitive or important artifacts before building occurs. Religious artifacts as well as pre-historic and even historic items of interest must be catalogued before a decision is made to continue with the development. An internship with a contract archaeologist provides real world experience in both the business and cultural sides of archaeology.
University researchers have the expansion of knowledge as their primary goal. They are typically funded by the university or federal grants. Excavations tend to be more in depth and are in locations where there is the potential to increase our knowledge of a given culture in contrast with just being in the way of new development.
Working with university researchers entails both field and lab work. This is a research intensive position that relies on all forms of research from the actual dig, to libraries, to collecting oral histories in the area.
Archaeology studies of past human societies by recovering and analyzing the material culture and environmental data they have left behind. The discipline involves purveyance, excavation and eventually analysis of data collected in order to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. The purpose of archaeology is to learn more about past societies and the development of the human race. Over 99% of the history of humanity has occurred within prehistoric cultures, which did not make use of writing, thereby not leaving written records about themselves which we can study today. Without such written sources, the only way to learn about prehistoric societies is to use archaeology.
An archaeological investigation usually involves several distinct phases, each of which employs its own variety of methods. Before any practical work can begin however, a clear objective as to what the archaeologists are looking to achieve must be agreed upon. This done, a site is surveyed to find out as much as possible about it and the surrounding area. Secondly, an excavation may take place to uncover any archaeological features buried under the ground, and thirdly, the data collected from the excavation is studied and evaluated in an attempt to achieve the original research objectives of the archaeologists. It is then considered good practice for the information to be published so that it is available to other archaeologists and historians, although this is sometimes neglected.
Once artifacts and structures have been excavated, or collected from surface surveys, it is necessary to properly study them, to gain as much data as possible. This process is known as post-excavation analysis, and is normally the most time-consuming part of the archaeological investigation. It is not uncommon for the final excavation reports on major sites to take years to be published.
At its most basic, the artifacts found are cleaned, cataloged and compared to published collections, in order to classify them typologically and to identify other sites with similar artifact assemblages. However, a much more comprehensive range of analytical techniques are available through archaeological science, meaning that artifacts can be dated and their compositions examined. The bones, plants and pollen collected from a site can all be analyzed (using the techniques of zoo archaeology, paleoethnobotany, and palynology), while any texts can usually be deciphered.
Bird conservation and study is close to the heart of IGS’s mission. With habitat destruction pushing more and more songbirds to threatened status, we hope to do our part to ensure the skies will be song-filled for years to come. Our avian internships have three different areas of interest:
TRACK ONE: AVIAN CONSERVATION
Join leading conservation groups whose primary focus is to increase habitat and diversity for endangered bird populations. We work with groups that focus on both coastal as well as terrestrial birds. As such, you will have your choice on whether to focus on land or coastal areas. Bird conservation can be an incredibly rewarding field as you are in constant contact with the birds you want to help.
TRACK TWO: AVIAN RESEARCH
Join leading scientists in their study of birds. Help them unlock some of the many mysteries that birds have eluded our knowledge for years. Ornithology encompasses a wide range of topics from avian behavior to distribution patters. Research takes place both in the lab and in the field. Work alongside leading scientists and experts in their field to promote diversity and conservation through knowledge.
TRACK THREE: BIRD WATCHING ECOTOURISM
Assist a leading tour operator on daily and weekly bird watching expeditions and running the business side of the tour company. Assisting leading guides in the field is a great way to learn species diversity and behavior. We work with tour operators that focus on both terrestrial and aquatic birds. Working with a bird watching company likewise provides insight into how an eco tour company is run. Assist in the marketing aspects of the business and help update the website. This is a chance for a well-rounded immersion.
JOB DUTIES
Lend a hand in the preservation in preserving Hawaiian culture through its plants. The fifteen acre botanical garden is dedicated to supporting Native Hawaiian traditions associated with land use, and conserving the plant resources of traditional Native Hawaiian culture. The garden is planted to reflect the landscape of the Kona coast in the era before foreign contact. Approximately 6000 people visit the garden each year, and it is used as a resource by schools, traditional artisans, and students of traditional culture.
Positions Available
Propagator: Volunteers will work in the garden nursery propagating native plants and Polynesian crops. They will get hands on experience in all types of cultivation: cuttings, air layering, division, grafting, and seed cleaning, pretreatment, and planting. They will also learn other aspects of nursery care: transplanting, repotting, irrigation, fertilization, weed control, pest control, labeling, and record keeping.
In the process of learning these basic nursery practices, they will become familiar with a number of native and Polynesian introduced plants and their uses.
Horticultural Aid: The volunteers will assist in maintenance of the garden grounds. They will get hands on experience in all aspects of care of a landscape planted with native and Polynesian introduced plants: planting, pruning, pest control, weed control, fertilization, irrigation, and general garden maintenance. Special attention is given traditional crops, and the intern will help care, harvest, and replant taro, sweet potato, and wauke.
Job Description
These positions may be combined to suit the interests of the volunteer and needs of the garden. In both cases, the volunteers may become involved in other projects as well, including helping with tours and assisting visitors, mapping and record keeping, equipment maintenance, helping with workshops and presentations, construction of garden paths, maintaining and updating signage, etc.
Minimum Length of Stay: 4 weeks
Additional Requirements: Volunteer must be at least 18 years old, able to climb, bend, and lift gardening equipment.
Join a team of young people in hands on conservation effort whose goal is to revitalize Hawaii’s ecology. Your team will work on a diversity of projects that may include: rainforest conservation, dryland forests, wetlands, coastal areas, to name a few. This is a chance to visit remote corners of the state that the average tourist may never get a chance to see.
Here is a chance to work alongside and receive training from some of the leaders in the conservation fields of Hawaii. The internship provides the opportunity to gain cultural awareness of Hawaii’s unique interaction between it diverse peoples and the environment. Working with a team, you will be able to develop leadership and team skills along the way.
Projects take place on O’ahu, Kaua’i, Moloka’i, Lana’i, Hawai’i Island, and Maui depending on the time of the year.
If you are twenty-years-old or younger you can be a team member. If over twenty, we can get you in as a team leader if accepted.
Located in a lush tropical rainforest overlooking Honolulu is a very unique and well-respected Nature Center whose goal is to connect Hawaii’s children and adolescents to island nature in a hands on and tactile way. With a staff of professional educators, the Center features a wide range of activities that aids their goal to inspire appreciation through experience.
The Center hosts local classrooms as well as private parties visiting the area. The project pairs interns with Center staff members to serve as both Teacher’s Assistants as well as Lead Naturalists depending on the age of the groups that visit. This is a great opportunity to learn from leading educators the best ways to inspire and help visitors embrace the natural origin of the Aloha Spirit.
You have the opportunity to work both with educators in the office and in the field. The lush rainforest setting provides an inspiring backdrop to show up to work each day.
JOB DUTIES:
Located in a lush tropical rainforest overlooking Honolulu is a very unique and well-respected Nature Center whose goal is to connect Hawaii’s children and adolescents to island nature in a hands on and tactile way. With a staff of professional educators, the Center features a wide range of activities that aids their goal to inspire appreciation through experience.
The Center hosts local classrooms as well as private parties visiting the area. The project pairs interns with Center staff members to serve as both Teacher’s Assistants as well as Lead Naturalists depending on the age of the groups that visit. This is a great opportunity to learn from leading educators the best ways to inspire and help visitors embrace the natural origin of the Aloha Spirit.
You have the opportunity to work both with educators in the office and in the field. The lush rainforest setting provides an inspiring backdrop to show up to work each day.
JOB DUTIES:
Located in a lush tropical rainforest overlooking Honolulu is a very unique and well-respected Nature Center whose goal is to connect Hawaii’s children and adolescents to island nature in a hands on and tactile way. With a staff of professional educators, the Center features a wide range of activities that aids their goal to inspire appreciation through experience.
The Center hosts local classrooms as well as private parties visiting the area. The project pairs interns with Center staff members to serve as both Teacher’s Assistants as well as Lead Naturalists depending on the age of the groups that visit. This is a great opportunity to learn from leading educators the best ways to inspire and help visitors embrace the natural origin of the Aloha Spirit.
You have the opportunity to work both with educators in the office and in the field. The lush rainforest setting provides an inspiring backdrop to show up to work each day.
JOB DUTIES:
Working in collaboration with a major conservation / education group based in the verdant cloud forest of Monteverde IGS offers interns a chance for hands on rainforest protection. Located on a 32 acre reserve and adjoining the Bosque Eterno S.A., the reserve includes primary and secondary growth cloud forest with trails throughout, and is available for research and recreational use. Areas of focus include several areas of focus that reflect the complex issues faced by the Monteverde zone and around the world. All of our programs, whether they are a study abroad program, an applied research project, or community forum, reflect these areas:
Interns will assist in all aspects of running the Garden. After a training period you will be asked to serve as an interpreter for visiting guests to the Garden. In this regard you will be expected to discuss the history of the garden, the behavioral patterns of the insects in the Garden, the threats to each species from commercial development, and loss of habitat. Additional job duties will include maintaining the exhibits, propagating new species, and cleaning up after hours if needed.
The garden was founded in 1989 by a leading biologist and his wife with the aim of inspiring and education visitors about the vast array of butterflies and insects native to Costa Rica. All the butterflies in the garden are bred on the premises, unlike most gardens which buy in their chrysalides. The Garden believes in hands-on education. The biodiversity center displays a variety of insects and arachnids local to Moneteverde, many of them live, allowing visitors and up-close and personal experience, as well as information about breeding, feeding and habitats, live bug cams, and a case for viewing butterflies as they emerge from their chrysalides. Each of the four butterfly gardens represents a different Costa Rican habitat according to temperature, altitude and vegetation, ranging from hot lowlands to mid-elevation forest-edge to higher altitude cloud forest. The gardens contain more than fifty species in total, including the unique Calico butterfly, the only butterfly in the world to produce sound; the stunning Blue Morpho seen all over Monteverde, as well as transparent and barely visible Glass-Wings and unusual striped Zebra-Wings.
The medicinal plant garden is a self-guided tour of more than seventy plants used medicinally throughout the world. An information sheet lists their many different and often surprising uses.
The final, and perhaps most fascinating exhibit, is the Leaf Cutter Ant Colony, displayed under glass allowing visitors to see the ants carrying leaves along a warren of trails to their nest; here they are cultivating a fungus from the decomposing vegetation that they will use to feed on later.
The tour is informative and often very entertaining, actually more like a mini-course in tropical entomology and Costa Rican natural history! As well as learning about butterflies visitors will discover why cockroaches are actually great neighbors and how jewel scarab beetles can distort light waves.