Job Description:

Title: Natural Sounds & Night Skies Intern
Reports to: Kelsey White, Natural Sounds & Night Skies Division Biologist for the Southeast Region; National Park Service
Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Status: Seasonal, Full-time, exempt (900-hour AmeriCorps National Service Term)
Stipend: $600/week + $200 housing stipend = $800 (paid bi-weekly)
Health Benefits: N/A
Other Benefits: Training, uniform shirts, and protective equipment provided. Other development opportunities as available. $3,247.50 Segal AmeriCorps Education Award upon successful completion of service term.
Position Dates: November 6, 2023 – April 19, 2024 (24- week term)
Positions Available: 1
Position open until filled.

Southeast Conservation Corps:

Southeast Conservation Corps (SECC) empowers young people to attain compassion, responsibility and grit through community service, hard work and environmental stewardship. SECC is a local, non-profit, AmeriCorps affiliated organization based out of Chattanooga, TN. SECC selects young adults ages 18 - 35, to complete conservation work projects on public, private, and municipal lands throughout the Southeast. SECC fosters the personal development of corps members through environmental stewardship projects and experiential learning. Through community partnerships, SECC provides hands-on job training opportunities to young adults while simultaneously meeting natural resource needs throughout the Southeast. SECC positions focus on place-based learning, life skills development, appreciation of diversity, civic responsibility, and career development. SECC also provides an opportunity for interns to learn about the local environment, environmental issues and introduces individuals to recreation and resource management careers.

Position Summary:

This position would be part of the southeast regional office and support the Natural Sounds & Night Skies program. The National Park Service regional office in Atlanta supports 75 parks across nine states and two territories. The Science and Natural Resources Management Division provides sustained leadership, coordination, technical assistance, policy guidance, and data to parks, programs, and partners to support science-based natural resource stewardship and geographic information management.

Natural Sounds & Night Skies Division is a national team that provides Service-wide policy, technical & operational guidance to park units for protection of acoustic & night sky resources. The Division also works to increase scientific understanding and inspire public appreciation of the value and character of soundscapes & night skies.

These offices support parks as they seek to manage complex resource issues with shrinking budgets and limited staff. The intern will support national parks through a range of projects related to acoustic & photic resources focusing on data collection, management, analysis, and reporting as well as working on communicating this data to NPS staff, partners, and the public. The intern would also support a regional program that is working with parks to assemble information related to budgets, staffing, cultural resources, natural resources, and science.

Because this position works with vulnerable populations, all offers of employment are conditional upon the completion and clearance of a National Sex Offender Public Registry check and state of residence, state of service, and federal criminal history checks.

Responsibilities Include:

Providing technical support and guidance to park staff to assist in the management of natural resources and visitor experience through a variety of means including:

• Working with appropriate staff, researchers, and partners to enhance the protection, inventory, monitoring & research activities related to acoustic & photic resources.
• Collecting field data, supporting data management, analysis, & preparing scientific reports
• Contributing to the development of technical guidance documents for lighting & noise mitigation in protected natural areas.
• Developing & presenting educational and communication materials
• Gathering, collecting, and summarizing park data to support the evaluation of Resource Management Programs

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources, Cultural Resources, Social Sciences or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Communication & Written Skills
• Experience in the field
• Basic and/ or Wilderness First Aid

AmeriCorps Qualifications:

To qualify, you must be between the ages of 18 and 30 (exception for Veterans up to age 35), and a US Citizen, National, or Legal Permanent Resident that has received a high school diploma or GED. Must be eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award (individuals are eligible if they have not already completed 2 full years of AmeriCorps service, or 4 AmeriCorps service terms, whichever comes first – please contact us if you are unsure of your eligibility).

Compensation:

Interns earn a living stipend of $600/week ($1,200 bi-weekly) plus an additional $200 weekly housing stipend dispersed bi-weekly (before taxes) via direct deposit. Training, uniform shirts, and protective equipment is provided. Upon successful completion of their term, interns will receive a $3,247.50 Segal AmeriCorps Education Award for tuition at Title IV accredited learning institutions, AmeriCorps approved non-traditional continued education or paying off student loans. Housing is not provided.

Participation and Expedition Behavior:

• Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem-solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to accept differences.
• Contribute to a safe learning environment, no harassment of others for any reason.
• Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program including conservation projects, education, training, and national service. Members must commit to participating in all crew/team activities, including service days in local communities where applicable.
• Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues, and organization staff.
• Have the cognitive ability to learn necessary skills and apply them to effectively carry out the service work requirements.
• Appropriately always represent the Program and AmeriCorps to the public and project partners.

Safety and Judgment:

• Effectively communicate danger to others in the form of either a warning of danger others may be encountering or a notification of personal distress, injury or need for assistance. You must be able to do so at up to 50 meters and in conditions with limited visibility or loud background noise such as darkness or high winds.
• Effectively perceive, understand, and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute appropriate and perhaps unfamiliar techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during exposure to the hazard.
• Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions.
• Perceive and comprehend significant and apparent hazards, including those hazards previously identified by others.
• Respond appropriately to stress or crises.
• If taking prescription medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self-medicating without assistance from others.

Environmental Ethics:

Learn and practice ‘Leave no Trace’ techniques.

Outdoor Skills and Fitness (where appropriate):

• Learn and safely perform fundamental outdoor living/travel and work skills as appropriate to the project. Additionally, remain adequately hydrated, fed, and properly dressed to remain generally healthy and safe, avoiding environmental injuries.
• Live in a physically demanding, possibly remote environment for an uninterrupted period of up to several weeks. Conditions of this environment may vary significantly and may include severe and/or trying weather. The remoteness is such that it may require at a minimum one hour, but perhaps up to 12 hours, to reach the nearest advanced medical care.

Substance Free:

In accordance with a drug free workplace, alcohol and drugs are prohibited while participating in AmeriCorps and program activities and while on organization property.

This program is available to all eligible applicants, without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or religion.

To Apply:

Follow the link, SECC & NPS - Natural Sounds and Night Skies Intern - 1316 Cherokee Orchard Rd., Gatlinburg, Tennessee - Conservation Legacy (silkroad.com), and complete the application. Please include a resume and three references. A cover letter is optional but encouraged.

If you have questions regarding the position , please contact:

Kelsey White
Biologist
National Park Service
Kelsey_White@nps.gov

If you have questions regarding the application process, please contact:

Kahla Stewart
Intern Program Coordinator
Southeast Conservation Corps
(423) 402 - 6004
kstewart@conservationlegacy.org

Required Skills

Required Experience

• Demonstrated ability to assess children and adults in a psychiatric crisis
• Skills needed to work independently and exhibit sound clinical judgment
• Ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team in a collaborative and professional manner
• Computer proficiency and ability to complete clinical documentation on an EHR