Redwood National Park Internship Background Information
ENVS 482 (2 units, CRN: 26628)
Deadline for priority consideration: Monday, December 16, 2013
(late applications will be reviewed if there is space available)
Background: The Redwood National Park and State Parks Internship Program is to connect Humboldt
State University students with professionals working at Redwood National and State Parks. The
internships are meant to provide students with a deeper understanding of the ecosystems in Redwood
National and State Parks, and will help them develop or hone the skills needed to manage these
ecosystems in the future, while also benefiting RNSP by providing interns to assist with Resource
Management projects.
To obtain credit for this internship, interns will be required to work 90 hours. At least 75 hours should be
spent working in the parks (including travel time), and the remaining hours can be used to complete the
project report, and to prepare and give a 10 minute presentation on their internship.
Scheduling: It may be difficult to complete the required number of hours without having at least one
business day free per week. Please look carefully at the scheduling requirements for each position you
are considering. If you do not have one full day per week, consider applying for a position that allows
part days (invasive/rare plants, phenology monitoring), or consider whether you can work 4-5 days over
spring break, and are able to take 2-3 additional days off over the course of the semester.
Each student will receive a modest stipend to compensate for travel and food expenses associated with
this internship, upon successful completion of the internship. Please read through the following project
descriptions and list the project(s) that you are interested in working on in your application.
Vehicles: Interns be responsible for getting themselves to park offices in Orick or to Gold Bluffs Beach,
north of Orick. However, carpool opportunities may be available for some projects.
Project Descriptions
1.
Forest sampling and fire effects plot monitoring (4 interns)
Student interns will participate in forest and woodland plot sampling with the second-growth restoration
or fire effects monitoring programs. Sampling methods may include fuels sampling, tree sampling in a
variety of plot types (rectangular, variable radius, fixed radius), marking timber for thinning, and use of
standard forestry equipment such as BAF prisms, dbh tapes, GPS units, map/compass, clinometers etc.
Work involves extensive fieldwork marking timber and/ or establishing and collecting data on a network
second-growth forest or oak woodland plots. There may be office work associated with this project,
including data entry.
Schedule: Students must be available for at least one full work day per week, on a Monday – Friday,
from 7 am – 5:30 pm, or willing to work 4-5 days over spring break, and take 2-4 additional week days
to complete the required hours.
Skills needed: This job is arduous and requires hiking long distances, off trail in steep terrain, in all
weather conditions. Volunteers should be physically fit, have the ability to learn to identify tree species
and to pay attention to detail in collecting and recording biological data.
2. Invasive plant survey and control and rare plant survey and monitoring (4 interns)
Interns will work in the parks’ long-term invasive plant control and rare plant monitoring programs, with
most of the work involving invasive plant control (Feb – April), and rare plant surveys in late April or
early May.
Invasive plant control: Interns will participate in restoration-based invasive plant control in one or more
vegetation types that may include coastal dunes, coastal scrub, prairies, oak woodlands, and various
forest types. Interns will learn about prioritizing species and sites for control, long-term planning, how to
choose the best control technique, mapping and data management, and will spend a good deal of time
with hands-on invasive plant control in the field.
Rare plant survey and monitoring: Assuming intern availability in late April-early May, interns will
search for, census and map rare plants in a variety of vegetation types that may include coastal dunes,
prairies, oak woodlands, and various forest types.
Interns may use GPS units, map and compass, weed wrenches and other invasive plant control tools, and
will record data on rare plant location and abundance.
Skills needed: Interns should have an understanding of plant taxonomy, and a sharp ability to pay
attention to detail in observing plants and recording data. This job can involve repetitive motion, and can
be somewhat arduous, depending on the project. Interns should be able to learn the rare plants, as well as
the specific invasive plants to control, to walk on uneven ground and to conduct manual labor out doors
for at least two hours at a time, but if working with staff in the field, field days can be 8 hours long.
Schedule: This project can accommodate partial or full days, Mon-Thurs, according to a schedule agreed
upon between the intern and their mentor, with at least one scheduled Saturday invasive plant pull.
Limited independent weekend work may be considered.
3. Plant phenology monitoring (2 interns)
Student interns will observe the phenological stage of specific, tagged plants at 2-3 locations in the parks,
record those observations on a datasheet, and enter their data into the online National Phenology
Network database, or use a smart phone app for data entry. This project is part of the California
Phenology Project (www.usanpn.org/cpp). The project sites are: Freshwater beach adjacent to the
Kuchel Visitor Center just south of Orick, the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail a few miles up Bald Hills
Road, and Crescent Beach Overlook, just south of Crescent City.
Skills needed: An understanding of basic botany and/or plant taxonomy. Ability to pay attention to detail
in observing plants and recording data. The Lady Bird Johnson site requires an easy 2 mile walk RT, the
other sites are very short walks from the parking areas.
Scheduling: After a training session, interns will conduct much of the monitoring independently, with
regular check-ins with their mentor. Interns will need to be available to visit their monitoring sites two
partial days per week, at least 3 days apart, in order to get their hours in. A sample schedule would be
Tuesday 1pm – 5pm, and Saturday 9am – 1pm. Interns may use a government vehicle to access field
sites during business hours, but would have to use their personal vehicles if working outside of business
hours.
4. Surveying legacy forest roads for wetland restoration potential (2 interns)
Interns will participate in wetland and “Waters of the US” sampling along legacy logging roads slated for
treatment or removal. Sampling methods may include identification and delineation of Army Corps of
Engineers wetlands and “Waters of the US”. Work involves extensive fieldwork walking legacy logging
roads, collecting data within the road prism and in adjacent drainage ways. Standard surveying
techniques and GPS collection methods will be employed.
Schedule: Students must be willing to work 4-5 days over spring break plus 2-4 additional week days to
complete the required hours.
Skills needed: This job is arduous and requires hiking long distances, on and off trail in steep terrain, in
all weather conditions. Volunteers should be physically fit, have the ability to learn to use surveying and
GPS equipment.
5. Gold Bluffs Beach Restoration Project- invasive plant control, vegetation monitoring (3 interns)
Interns will participate in the Gold Bluffs Beach Restoration Project, where over 40 acres of European
beachgrass were removed in the fall 2013. Work will include an introduction to dune ecology and
restoration, mapping using a GPS unit, invasive plant pulling (Scotch broom and European beachgrass),
and vegetation plot monitoring.
Skills needed: Interns should have an understanding of plant taxonomy, and a sharp ability to pay
attention to detail in observing plants and recording data. This job can involve repetitive motion, and can
be somewhat arduous. Interns should be able to learn a suite of dune plants, to walk on uneven ground
and to conduct manual labor out doors for long field days
Schedule: This project requires several full work days M-F, and may be able to accommodate a few
Saturdays.
Redwood National Park Internship Application
ENVS 482 (2 units, CRN: 26628)
Deadline for priority consideration: Monday, December 16, 2013
(late applications will be reviewed if there is space available)
Name:
Major:
Minor (if applicable):
Class standing (frosh, soph, jr, sr):
GPA:
Internship Project(s) interested in applying for: ___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Relevant courses taken (and grades earned for each):
SCHEDULE AVAILABILITY AND TRANSPORTATION
1. Which weekdays and times are you regularly available to work? Please attach your spring 2014
course schedule (include other regular commitments such as jobs etc.).
2. Are you available to work over Spring Break? If so, which days?
3. If you are not available at least one full day per week, are you planning to (check all that apply)
(if you are available one day/week, leave blank):
 Apply for a project with flexible time requirements, or
 Work over spring break, plus take a few days off school to complete the hours
4. Do you have a vehicle? If so, would you be willing to drive it to field sites?
STATEMENT OF INTEREST
Please write 1-2 paragraphs describing:
5. Why you are intersested in this internship program
6. Your relevant qualifications (academic and work experience)
7. What you hope to get out of it
Email completed application to Alison O’Dowd (ap73@humboldt.edu) by Monday, December 16, 2013
(late applications will be considered).
This internship program is supported by an educational grant from: