Watershed Intern Program

Watershed Groups Invited to Sponsor Summer Intern

Project proposals are now being accepted for the summer Internship Program. These web pages will provide your organization with information needed to submit an application - please read it carefully before filling out the application.

Applications will be accepted until all positions are filled.

The Interns

The Office of Surface Mining recruits nationally for top students with a wide variety of fields. Our competitive stipend generates a pool of one to two hundred student applicants each year. From this pool the Office of Surface Mining selects the top three applicants for each project and the sponsor organization conducts telephone interviews and makes the final selection.

The Office of Surface Mining seeks students with such skills and interests as:

• Community Development
  
• Educational Programming
  
• Historical Research
  
• Environmental Science
  
• Environmental Studies
  
• Public Relations
  
• Landscape Architecture
  
• Environmental Engineering
  
• Civil Engineering
  
• Geology
  
• Chemistry

Project Proposals

Successful project proposals will contribute to the development of regional awareness of watershed problems and AMD. Some of the ways in which projects achieve this goal through:

• Enhancing watershed understanding and knowledge of regional AMD problems
  
• Strengthening community collaboration and support
  
• Educating the local community both young and old
  
• Developing the watershed organization into a more effective organizer of stakeholders in the area for AMD remidiation.
  
• Retrieve effective scientific data on water quality and aquatic health for realistic evaluations by agencies for grant proposals

All internships last twelve weeks and it must be feasible to complete the proposed project in that amount of time. Projects must produce a significant product and provide an educationally meaningful experience for the intern. Clerical work, sales, tours and unskilled tasks are not acceptable intern duties.

Costs

Interns will receive a stipend of $2000 and.
Interns may be compensated as either contractors to your agency to complete their projects or as employees, in which case your agency is responsible for withholding taxes and worker's compensation.
Also, if your proposed project involves travel (for research, meetings, surveys, etc.) your organization must reimburse the intern for that mileage. The Office of Surface Mining provides for $500 in office supplies and travel.

Office Space

No matter how outstanding the proposal, a project cannot work without suitable workspace, therefore office space must be determined before the application is submitted. Work space needs will vary with the specific nature of each project and agencies may need to be creative in finding space. Interns generally do not need their own office but they do need easy access to a phone, fax machine and computer with e-mail and internet access, and a desk of their own from which to work.

Watershed Intern Program Main Page