8 week internship in Ecology. The intern will be working on a project that determines the factors contributing to biological invasions in the mixed grass prairie of western North Dakota. How do species diversity and soil productivity predict the presence of exotic and invasive species within the Bakken oilfield? This is part of a larger research effort determining the effect of oilfield activity (well construction and pipeline building) and subsequent reclamation activities on soil quality, native plant species abundance, and on bird and insect populations. The intern will assist with field work to collect ecological data and will summarize these data. The intern will be trained for field work that includes four-wheel driving, hiking, performing point counts for bird species, measuring plant frequency, making soil collections and quantifying soil conditions, performing insect sweeps, and recording data in field computers. The intern will use Microsoft Excel to summarize the data, JMP for preliminary statistical analyses, and a word processing program to write a summary of the project, including introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections. The intern will work with our technology transfer specialist to develop a poster that communicates the results of the project.
Identification experience for plants, insects, OR birds is highly preferred. Require knowledge of Microsoft Excel or other data entry program. A general ecology course is also required. Start date is flexible. The internship pays $3900 over the 8 week period. Please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected]
