The National Park Service (NPS) recently received a grant through the George Melendez Wright Initiative for Young Leaders in Climate Change (YLCC) to provide a pathway for exemplary students in higher education (graduate students and advanced undergraduate students) to apply their skills and ideas to park-based challenges and solutions. The Initiative offers a 12-week paid internship which will allow students to gain valuable work experience, explore career options, and develop leadership skills through mentorship and guidance while helping to advance the NPS response to climate change. Successful students may be eligible for non-competitive hire into federal positions for which they qualify following completion of all academic requirements. The primary duty of the position will be to develop a strategy to communicate the climate change message to students and the public within communities surrounding the New River Gorge area. The strategy will be developed using the resources of NPS Interpretive and Resource Management staff, college academics, and secondary educators, and will be conveyed via social media, existing park education programs, and new curriculum-based programs targeting high school students. The preferred starting date is May 15, 2016, however dates of the position are flexible, depending upon availability. Ideally the intern will work 480 hours between May 15 and Aug. 15. The intern selected will be paid at $15/hour for 12 weeks, or 480 hours. Housing will be provided. An application and more information is available at http://parksclimateinterns.org. The application period runs through Jan. 28, 2016.
