Intern Announcement for Fall Appointments at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD Immediate Openings for Fall 2010
The nutritional ecology program at SERC is collaborating with the US Geological Survey and the National Zoological Park in a study of the nutrient composition of the invertebrate prey eaten by sea otters on the Pacific coast of North America. Sea otters consume a wide variety of prey, but individual otters have specialized diets, consuming, for example, predominantly crabs and abalone, or clams and worms, or kelp bed snails. This internship is designed to determine some of the nutritional correlates of foraging choices by sea otters. This is part of a much larger study of sea otter foraging and conservation at multiple sites on the Pacific coast, from California to Alaska. The intern will be based at the SERC campus in Edgewater, MD. The intern will be expected to undertake the following responsibilities: 1. Inventory, weigh and process invertebrate samples shipped to SERC from our collaborators. Processing will include homogenization and sub-sampling. 2. Conduct nutritional analyses as directed by the principal investigator, Dr. Olav Oftedal. In particular it is anticipated that prey samples will be dried and assayed for gross energy (by bomb calorimeter), nitrogen (by CHN gas analysis) and fatty acids (by gas chromatography). 3. Prepare a summary report of the work in relationship to prior data on sea otter prey and prior data on the foraging behavior of sea otters. 4. Prepare and deliver a presentation to SERC staff and students of the results of the internship. At the present time there is no plan that field work will be associated with this internship. The internship will be conducted in the fall of 2010, but the exact start date is negotiable. Please go to the following link for electronic submission of application materials: https://solaa.si.edu/solaa/SOLAAHome.html For any questions about this immediate opening please contact Dan Gustafson. Daniel E. Gustafson, Jr. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Fellowship Coordinator 647 Contees Wharf Rd PO Box 28 Edgewater, MD. 21037 443.482.2217 (phone) 443.482.2380 (fax) [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> www.serc.si.edu/pro_training/index.aspx<http://www.serc.si.edu/pro_training/index.aspx>
