Overview:
Schedule: Four, 10-hour days per week
Housing: Housing Available
Estimated START Date: Monday May 20, 2024
Estimated END Date: Friday August 9, 2024
Agency: National Park Service
Location: Bryce Canyon National Park
Description:
Despite being best known for its famous hoodoos, Bryce Canyon National Park (BRCA) possesses a fossil record that represents several Late Cretaceous and Paleogene ecosystems. The intern will help the park protect and understand these paleontological resources through systematic fieldwork and detailed data management. The intern should expect to spend upwards of 30 hours per week conducting fieldwork with fellow paleontology staff. The remaining 10 hours per week will be dedicated to detailed data management, scientific literature review, and the development of educational materials. The work accomplished during this internship will contribute to the drafting of the BRCA Paleontological Resources Management Plan. The intern may be encouraged to present results/novel findings at professional meetings, such as those for the Geological Society of America (GSA) or the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP). The intern will also have opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines within BRCA, especially in the Resources Management Division (other physical sciences, GIS, wildlife and plant biology). The intern may also volunteer in Preventative Search and Rescue operations. Contributing to BRCA’s annual Geology Festival will provide the primary outreach/educational task for the intern, although other additional opportunities may be available through collaboration with the Interpretive Division throughout the internship.
Responsibilities
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The intern will join paleontology staff in conducting fieldwork at Bryce Canyon National Park (BRCA).
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Fieldwork consists mostly of inventorying and monitoring fossils in the park’s Late Cretaceous and Paleogene-aged rock formations.
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Requires 8-10 hours daily of rigorous hiking over uneven and often brushy terrain in the park’s remote wilderness areas.
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Sturdy hiking boots with ankle support and adequate water storage (such as a water bladder) are required; all other essential equipment will be provided (field backpacks, sunscreen, tools, etc.).
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The intern will learn to use NPS-standard locality forms and offline GIS data collection workflows to record data during fieldwork.
Qualifications:
The intern must have a positive attitude and work well on a team. BRCA’s staff consists of a small but tightly knit team of motivated individuals who have nurtured a positive work culture. Preference will be given to applicants who already have some outdoor field experience (with a focus in geology and/or paleontology, such as paleontological quarry excavation or prospecting, field camp class,mapping, measuring section, etc.).
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The intern should either be currently enrolled in or have already completed, at minimum, a Bachelor’s program with a focus in paleontology, biology, geology, or some related field (GIS, earth sciences, environmental sciences, etc.).
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Related coursework includes but is not limited to animal biology, zoology, anatomy, sedimentology, stratigraphy, GIS, geological field mapping and methods, petrology, mineralogy.