Applications for the Late Summer Internship Session are due Thursday, June 13th.
We are working towards a sustainable future in the rainforest of Ecuador and we need help! In 2007, a few of usecology, economics, and business graduatesfounded a non-profit organization called Third Millennium Alliance. We raised some money and bought a lot of land in a critically endangered rainforest and established an ecological reserve (Jama-Coaque Reserve). There was a small patch of previously degraded land right in the middle where we have built an innovative and surprisingly comfortable research station out of bamboo by hand. Immediately surrounding the house we are designing/growing/building a living laboratory of sustainable resource management (i.e. permaculture), which also serves as our field headquarters for biological scientific research and forest monitoring. Project Activities: Interns are encouraged to take on high-impact and dynamic projects; we are a young organization forging our path as we discover it. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done and experience to be gained for interns and for us. Above all, creativity, innovation, and self-motivation are the fuel of our intern program. In addition to work managing the agroforestry production zone and organic vegetable garden, each intern is assigned a personal project, which is akin to a thesis of sort, but of a much more practical nature. Generally speaking, there are three categories of personal projects: 1) conservation biology research and 2) permaculture/sustainable food production and land management, and 3) appropriate technology. The following is a list of projects were looking to tackle during the upcoming summer session. Stared projects are of high interest and priority. Flora & Fauna Research: *Ethnobotany* (requires strong Spanish-speaking skills) *Tracking Monkey Troops (Howler & Capuchin) *Herpetological inventory of sample plots in an agroforestry / reforestation zone* Camera trap survey of wild felines (ocelot, margay, jaguarundi) Food Production *Create a cacao fermentation processing system and protocol* *Design and build an Aquaponics system* Diversifying shade-grown cacao plots with supplemental agroforestry food crops Building a mushroom propagation system on natural logs Vegetable garden assistant Appropriate Technology *Design and build a solar food dehydrator* *Design and build a non-electrical refrigerator* Working with natural materials (mainly, native bamboo) to build home appliances (e.g., cutlery, etc.) Our Late Summer Internship Dates: August 14th - October 9th Application Deadline: Thursday June 13th To see a complete program description, please visit our Internship page at our website at www.tmalliance.org. Here you can download the application form and contact details, as well as other media, such as the intern-maintained blog, and the program FAQ. When applying please list 2-3 projects that are of particular interest. We look forward to working with you! Jordan Trujillo Internship Coordinator Third Millennium Alliance Jama, Ecuador www.tmalliance.org
