Internships/Volunteer Positions
Reptile Research is pleased to announce its new internship program. We offer exciting possibilities and unique experiences in biology, photography, information technology, and environmental organizations. Specific positions may be partly suited to match your specific proficiencies and interests. Interns may work at field sties, our Arizona office, or by telecommuting. Positions are not limited to students, and anyone may apply. Positions may be filled as an internship as part of an academic program, or as a volunteer project; the requirements and skills gained are the same either way. Stipends are not currently available, but interns are encouraged to seek financial assistance through their own institutions. Additionally, once you have completed your term as an intern, you may receive priority and consideration to participate in our field programs.
Read each description carefully, and to apply, send your résumé or CV, along with a detailed letter of interest to Paul Hamilton, Executive Director, at apply@reptileresearch.org. In your letter, make sure to include your desire to work with our organization and mission, as well as dates and hours available.
Meet our current interns here.
Note: We will be in the field From June 15-Sept 30th, and only limited internship hours are available in that time period.
Nonprofit Organization Development Specialist
Nature Photography Science and Business Specialist
Participants who have already completed our western Ecuador research program may opt to continue independent study beyond the length of the expedition. Those with a strong ability to work independently under rigorous conditions with proficiency in Spanish might consider this option. See the project pages for a description of the project as a whole. Interns may contribute to work already in progress or may, in assistance with our organization, develop their own project which may could potentially contribute to a thesis or dissertation. Interns pay their own expenses, which comes to approximately $650/month. Reptile Research provides logistical support in the field and continuing through analysis and publication, and data is shared between our organization and the intern. There are a variety of projects available, which are developed in conjunction with the Intern. These include study at additional study sites as well as undertaking different topics and methods at existing sites. In some cases, an internship can turn into a graduate thesis or dissertation.
Nonprofit Fundraising (Development) Specialist
Reptile Research is a small, but rapidly growing 501(c)(3) organization. The fundraising intern will be assisting with various areas of growth, including:
ˇ Building and maintaining a contact and donor database
ˇ Building and maintaining a funding source database
ˇ Recruiting research participants and finding additional mechanisms for recruitment
ˇ Processing information requests and participant applications
ˇ Coordinating email and mail communications
ˇ Coordinating outreach events
The applicant ideally will have some background in the nonprofit world which includes experience in one or more of the above activities. He or she should have some knowledge and great enthusiasm for the mission of Reptile Research. The candidate should be able to follow directions to the letter, but also be able to offer new ideas and improvements.
Duration: Minimum six week commitment
Hours: 10-40 hours/week
Location: Preferably downtown Tucson, Arizona, USA, but will consider telecommuting applicants as well.
No stipend is currently available, but interns may receive consideration in our field research program.
Nature Photography Science and Business Specialist
Note: the Photography Internship position is currently filled until May 1.
The intern will be given the responsibility of managing a database of approximately 30,000 photographs of nature. Photographs need to be cataloged and keyworded. This entails embedding metadata into them which contains information about copyright, location, species, specimen number, etc. The intern then has the responsibility to make the images available for public and private use. Public uses include making the images available as photo vouchers, which other researchers can use in their own work. Private uses include selling digital images to stock agencies and fine-art prints to individuals, which comprises part of our fundraising efforts. The intern will be assist with posting photos to stock agency sites (e.g. www.Alamy.com) and receiving and processing photo requests from these agencies. The intern will also learn fine-art matting and framing techniques to fulfill orders from individual clients. Interns with experience in web design may assist with the design and development of BiodiveristyPhotography.org.
Qualifications. An ideal candidate has:
ˇ A strong interest in learning the science, art, and business of photography
ˇ Proficiency of imaging software (e.g. Photoshop)
ˇ A conscientious attitude and attention to detail.
ˇ Knowledge of photo archiving software (e.g. Adobe Lightroom or Photools Imatch) a plus
ˇ Knowledge with web design a plus
Duration: Minimum one month commitment.
Hours: 15-40 hours/week.
Location: Downtown Tucson, Arizona, USA
No stipend is currently available, but interns may receive consideration to be a photographer in our field research program.
Database Specialist Specialist
The intern will be given the responsibility for data entry and management of ecological data. This includes beta testing and assisting with the development of our database projects TRANSECT and IDENTIFY.
Duties will be commensurate with experience, but may include:
ˇ Data entry
ˇ Building database forms
ˇ Writing database scripts for analysis
ˇ GIS Data Management
ˇ Development of web-enabled database forms
ˇ Development of PDA database applications
Minimum Requirements:
ˇ A conscientious attitude with attention to detail
ˇ Good working knowledge of at least one database (not spreadsheet) program, such as Access
Additional Desired Qualifications:
ˇ Database programming skills
ˇ GIS Systems skills
ˇ HTML proficiency
Duration: Minimum one month commitment.
Hours: 10-40 hours/week.
Location: Initial one-week training period in downtown Tucson, Arizona, USA, and then may be carried out at any location.
No stipend is currently available, but interns may receive consideration in our field research program.
We have two web sites with literally thousands of pages. The webmaster intern will be given the responsibility for maintaining, and more importantly, developing websites and pages. Specific duties include:
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Data management for mass communications
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Graphical and organizational
design of websites, banners, etc.
Minimum
Requirement:
ˇ HTML proficiency with advanced web-authoring software (e.g. Dreamweaver)
Additional Desired Qualifications:
ˇ Graphic design skills
ˇ Proficiency with design software (e.g. Photoshop. Illustrator, etc.)
Duration: Minimum one month commitment.
Hours: 10-40 hours/week.
Location: Initial one-week training period in downtown Tucson, Arizona, USA, and then may be carried out at any location.
No stipend is currently available, but interns may receive consideration in our field research program.
Note: The Insect Taxonomy internship is currently filled until October 2008.
In the course of our field work, we have developed a large collection of insect photographs. A majority of these insects have not been identified to species. However, we have confirmed that we have discovered new species and even a new genus of insect in our photo collection. The intern will be working with our large collection of unidentified insect photos with experts in the field. This involves studying an insect collection and talking to and corresponding with experts from around the world who specialize on various taxa of insect.
Qualifications:
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At least basic coursework in Entomology (advanced coursework or degree desired)
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Enthusiasm for subject
Duration: Minimum six week commitment.
Hours: 10-40 hours/week.
Location: Initial one-week training period in downtown Tucson, Arizona, USA, and then may be carried out at any location.
No stipend is currently available, but interns may receive consideration in our field research program.