The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
The Nature Conservancy is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in all 50 states and more than 33 countries. Founded in 1951, the mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Nature Conservancy is entering its fourth year of offering internships intended to increase the diversity of our staff. Our 2010 Summer Diversity Internship program seeks to enrich and diversify the field of conservation through paid internship opportunities to students currently underrepresented in the conservation field. The internships offered cover a wide range of fields and are available in locations throughout the U.S. and will begin June 7, 2010.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The 10 week internship will result in the creation and/or update of 4-6 nature preserve designs, with an emphasis on prairie sites. Nature preserve designs are an essential first step in The Nature Conservancy’s efforts to proactively reach out to landowners to conserve important natural areas. The nature preserve designs identify the most important land to protect based on an examination of critical biological, land use, and other relevant data. The essential steps are as follows: 1) review existing manual files, including old nature preserve design files and TNC’s Conservation Action Plan for the conservation area which identifies the site’s natural resource conservation targets (species and/or habitats), threats to those targets, and strategies to abate those threats; 2) analyze those designs in the context of more recent GIS data including areas of biodiversity significance and aerial photography; 3) tour the site with TNC preserve managers to get a greater understanding of the area; 4) interview TNC preserve managers (and potentially partner organizations and agencies) on threats and opportunities; 5) update any missing parcel data for key parcels; 6) use all the information to produce draft maps of the “desired future nature preserve design” for high priority sites; 7) work with Director of Habitat Protection to schedule meetings with relevant staff and partners to review draft updated nature preserve designs; 8) make necessary revisions.
The end product for each nature preserve will be a map with areas outlined for proposed TNC land acquisition, TNC conservation easement, and/or partner conservation. These nature preserve designs will be used to help focus proactive outreach to landowners to facilitate future land conservation efforts. Companion products may also include databases of priority landowners ready for mail-merge letters and/or brief write-ups (1-5 pages) about the site explaining the nature preserve design rationale and key issues for consideration during implementation.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
• 3+ years education in conservation biology, natural resource management, geography, planning or related field. • Experience doing research and analyzing data required. • Experience in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) required. • Experience looking at data from different sources and applying that information to a map.
ADDITIONAL JOB INFORMATION
The State of Minnesota will spend $70 -100 million per year over the next 25 years on habitat conservation. The MN chapter of TNC needs to be prepared to submit proposals to utilize these funds for protection of high biodiversity sites. To help position the Chapter to be able to leverage these funding sources, we need to update many of our nature preserve designs. The Preserve Design intern will help us update the preserve designs to highlight areas of conservation significance and identify those properties that should be protected in the future. Many of our existing preserve designs are outdated and do not take full advantage of the extensive GIS information that is available. Many also do not reflect recent changes that have occurred on the landscape. Most of the work will be done in the Minneapolis office, and the intern will travel to see a few of preserves in Greater MN.
BENEFITS
The Nature Conservancy offers competitive compensation, excellent benefits, flexible work policies and a collaborative work environment. We also provide professional development opportunities and promote from within. As a result, you will find a culture that supports and inspires conservation achievement and personal development, both within the workplace and beyond.
SALARY INFORMATION
Undergraduate: $10/hour Graduate: Beginning at $12/hour
