Opportunity Details
Ozone Garden Research Internship
Internship Information
VLM Internships are primarily designated for students enrolled in college or program of academic study. Candidates not enrolled in college will be considered on a case by case basis and must follow all guidelines and term lengths.
Department: Education
Name of Internship: Ozone Garden Research Internship
Reports To: Emily Hoffman, Education Associate
Summary of Internship: Under the guidance of the Education Department, the Ozone Garden Research Intern will be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the ozone garden, helping to establish a citizen science data collection system, and collect and analyze data in a research based project to be presented at the end of the internship. This internship is designed to educate about the importance of ozone, its relationship to plant and human health, and develop research and public communication skills about ozone.
Length of Internship: Summer only from May/June to Labor Day; 12 hours a week on set schedule.
Qualifications for this Internship:
- The position is open for currently enrolled high school and college students
- Interest in learning biology, botany, plant pathology, atmospheric sciences or related fields
- Motivation to learn about and perform further research on ozone and bioindicator plant species
- Must be willing to actively engage guests of all ages through citizen science projects
- The majority of this internship will take place outdoors during the summer – an ability to be outside, in the summer heat is required
- Willingness to get your hands dirty maintaining the garden
- Must be organized, able to stick to a weekly schedule, and able to work with minimum amount of supervision
- Basic skills using Microsoft Office Products, mainly Word and Excel
The Intern will gain the following experience:
- Learn basic plant identification
- Learn to identify and quantify ozone plant injury
- Learn how to communicate scientific data to the public and engage in citizen science related work
- Develop a research project from start to finish including: background research, data collection, compiling and analyzing data, and presenting completed research project
- Develop research skills as well as presenting and communication skills
Duties:
- Help maintain the health of the garden by keeping up with weekly watering, weeding, and pruning
- Develop a schedule for weekly plant and ozone data collection
- Compile and analyze collected data
- Create and communicate a research project about data results
- Help develop citizen science data collection system
- Develop a schedule for weekly citizen science data collection
- Compile and analyze citizen science data collection
- Create a useful display of citizen science data collection for guests to view and interpret
- Understand and utilize evaluation sheets to assess pros and cons of the citizen science data collection process
- Attend bi-monthly meetings with supervisor to talk about progress with the garden, the research, the citizen science and overall value of the internship
- Create a presentation based on data collected throughout the internship to be presented at the end of the internship
Expectations - What expectations do you have of the interns in your department? (Example: managing events, teaching training classes, must work 100 hours on-site, etc.)
- To maintain a schedule for research and citizen science data collection
- Develop an end of the internship presentation based on analysis of data collected throughout the semester
- Be proficient at collecting citizen science data, and displaying that data in a format that is easy to understand for our guests
Culminating Project: A research based project of the Interns choosing will be presented to the Education Department and others at the end of their internship.
Evaluation and Feedback: An evaluation of the intern’s progress will take place at the halfway mark of their internship as well as at the conclusion of the internship. The museum’s standard Intern Evaluation form will be used. The intern will also have the opportunity to provide feedback to the Education Department through bi-monthly meetings. These meetings will also assess the progress of the intern’s research project and evaluate any successes and/or challenges of the current citizen science data collection method.
Application Instructions: Please submit an official VLM volunteer application (available at www.thevlm.org), along with a resume, cover letter and unofficial transcript. Application materials should demonstrate some prior knowledge of plants. Deadline to apply: May 5, 2019.
Age Minimum (with Adult): 18+, Minimum Age:18+
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