Land Stewardship Internship Announcement (2014 Season)
The Aldo Leopold Foundation (ALF) is seeking individuals to fill two Land Stewardship Internship
positions from February through November 2014. This is a unique opportunity to challenge and enhance
your natural resources background through the legacy of Aldo Leopold. Working side-by-side with
experienced ALF staff, interns will assist with management activities on the 2,000 acre Leopold
Memorial Reserve (LMR). In addition to Aldo Leopold’s famous Shack, the Reserve houses both restored
and remnant native Wisconsin habitat ranging from prairies to floodplain forests. This diverse outdoor
classroom provides opportunities to gain first-hand experience with native plant communities, identify
threats to native landscapes, and gain knowledge of tools and strategies that will help you manage a
number of diverse ecosystems.
As seasons change, management focuses on different activities including invasive species
control, prescribed burning, seed collecting, and more. Interns will have the opportunity to interact
with a diverse range of conservation professionals and the Leopold family, who play active roles in
guiding and executing the Leopold Foundation’s mission.
On-the-job training will be provided in various capacities throughout the internship with
opportunities to gain professional certifications. These trainings and certifications include some or all of
the following: Wisconsin Private Pesticide Applicator Certification, the ALF Woodland School’s Burn
School (for prescribed burn training), chainsaw safety training, and First Aid/CPR. Interns can also expect
to gain experience with GPS, GIS, and the use of trucks, trailers, tractors, UTVs, herbicide sprayers, and
more. For all work-related management activities, personal PPE and safety equipment will be provided.
Applicants should have a degree in a natural resources-related field; have a valid driver’s license;
and be prepared for physically demanding work in a variety of conditions. Interns must commit fulltime for the entire nine-month program. Interns will be paid $1160 per month in addition to nine days
of paid vacation and housing at an ALF owned property (internet and utilities included).
Candidates should send a resume, responses to the three application scenarios below, and two
letters of recommendation to Alanna Koshollek, P.O. Box 77, Baraboo, WI, 53913 or if you would like to
submit an application electronically please submit it with the following subject line: 2014 Internship
Application Materials to alanna@aldoleopold.org.
Please visit http://www.aldoleopold.org for more information. If you have further questions,
please contact Alanna Koshollek at alanna@aldoleopold.org using the subject line: 2014 Internship
Announcement Questions. Applications must be postmarked by Tuesday, December 31, 2014.
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Approximate Hiring Timeline:
December 31st Application Deadline
January 6th-10th Application Review
January 13th-17th Phone Interviews
January 20th-24th Job Offers
Week of February 10th Start Date
Directions: Please read through each of the two scenarios and develop a one page
narrative, or less, for each scenario that addresses the specific questions listed.
SCENARIO 1:
This list of tasks is provided to you and your co-worker at the end of the day on Friday for the
following week. You and the other intern will need to decide how you complete these tasks
given the weather and other commitments for that week. Please list for each day which task is
going to be completed and by whom. Please list the task in order of which you would complete
them. Please provide a brief narrative to describe how you came to the decisions on which tasks
to complete when.
Background information
 Work schedule is typically Monday – Friday 9a.m. -5 p.m. (40 hours per week), with
flexibility to adjust to weather
 2 person intern crew
Forecast for the week: May 2013
Monday: Sunny 60 degrees
Tuesday: Sunny 65 degrees
Wednesday: Partly cloudy 55 degrees & 60% chance rain after 3 p.m.
Thursday: Cloudy 52 degrees & 80% Rain all day
Friday: Partly cloudy 58 degrees & 20% Chance of rain
Tasks to complete this week:
1. Preparation of daily field maps for invasives control– Est. ½ person hour per day
2. Enter bird survey data from previous weeks survey– Est. 2 person hours to complete
3. Preparation of chemical for invasive control – Est. ½ person hour per day
4. Take work truck to Baraboo for oil change – Est. 3 person hours to complete
5. Invasives treatment with chemical sprayers & hand held PDA/GPS unit for data
collection – all populations are flagged and population characteristics are recorded for
each visit. Protocol is to transect the entire area where populations exist chemically
treating each population. Chemical needs 1 hour dry time before rain to remain effective Estimate 60 person hours of work to complete management unit.
6. Clean equipment garage – Est. 2 person hours to complete
7. Hand weeding native focal gardens around Legacy Center – Est. 6 person hours to
complete
Commitments:
 Staff Meeting to attend 9:45 – 11 a.m. on Thursday
SCENARIO 2:
It is early May and you and your co-intern are in the middle of a very busy field season requiring
a full 8 hours each day to be devoted to the task at hand to complete the project by mid June.
Near the middle of May two 6-week summer interns will be joining you. The summer interns
will be college sophomores studying natural resources. The goal of the summer internship is to
provide these students with some exposure to a variety of land management activities from
invasive species treatment, bird surveys, and seed collecting, among others.
You have already worked for the Aldo Leopold Foundation for several months and are familiar
with the work environment and staff. The field work that you will be doing for a majority of the
first six week session you are trained and familiar with, while some half day projects will be new
to you and them.
You and your co-worker will serve as crew leaders and be responsible for daily schedules and
training of summer interns when appropriate. After the first 6-week session the two interns will
leave, you will have one week before two more interns come for the second 6 weeks of the
summer.
Please describe:
 How will you and your co-worker prepare for new crew members and the change
between 1st summer session and second?
 How will you welcome these interns to the crew?
 How will you structure a rain day with meaningful tasks, when your primary task for the
week is a field-based project?
 At times you will need to complete tasks as part of a project you were assigned when you
started; the new interns will not be familiar. How will you decided if it is worth
involving them in it or delegating another task from the work giving you time to
complete your task?