In partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO), the Chesapeake Research Consortium offers paid, twelve-week summer internships for undergraduate students.

Environmental Literacy Internship—Climate Change Curriculum

Project Description:

 The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) and Chesapeake Research Consortium (CRC) seek a summer intern for late May through mid-August 2024 (12 weeks) to work with the Environmental Literacy and Partnerships branch (EL&P). The EL&P branch, in part, encourages and supports K-12 education in the development and implementation of comprehensive environmental literacy programs by supporting regional environmental literacy policy initiatives, education resource development, grantmaking, and professional learning programming. The selected intern will support two aspects of NCBO environmental literacy work: the identification and analysis of high-quality interdisciplinary climate change education curriculum and support of in-person and virtual professional development programming.

Climate change is a powerful interdisciplinary learning opportunity, but the landscape of high-quality and science-based curricula available is not well understood. The primary focus of this internship is to review existing climate curricula and evaluate the curricula based on a set of criteria that was developed last summer. The criteria were designed to assess best practices in climate curriculum design and to identify and evaluate examples of existing or planned climate-change–focused curricula. The selected intern will also support the planning and implementation of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Climate Change Education (MACCE) Conference.

The intern will, as time and capacity allow, support summer Environmental Science Training Center (ESTC) programming, including educator professional development workshops that provide support for the implementation of environmental literacy and climate change programming in K-12 education.

Opportunities:

In this position, the intern will work side by side with professionals at the forefront of environmental literacy policy and program development. The intern will develop and hone research, curriculum analysis, and data organization and interpretation skills in an emerging space, climate curricula. While supporting ESTC programming, the intern will develop skills useful in communicating, learning, and working with large and diverse audiences. They will have the opportunity to strengthen planning and public speaking/presentation skills throughout the summer workshops. The intern will work both independently and as part of a team to create practical tools and engaging programming in support of regional environmental literacy efforts.

Deliverables:

  • Apply evaluation criteria and conduct an analysis of climate curricula and units; produce a synthesis report based on findings.
  • Through research, interviews, and professional outreach, continue to develop a catalog of climate curriculum and high-quality standards-aligned lessons.
  • Develop a resource for educators, using the Environmental Literacy Model (ELM) format, that can serve as an example for how to connect education for climate action to the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience.
  • Serve as a team member supporting the planning and implementation of summer teacher professional development workshops by developing learning activities, facilitating workshop components, and helping with workshop logistics (both in-person and virtual).
  • Identify two to three personal professional development goals to achieve during the internship, determine steps to achieve those goals, and report on progress each week. Examples of professional development goals include developing particular professional skills, learning particular topics related to NOAA, developing a broader professional network, or attending professional and/or academic conferences.
  • Presentation to NCBO staff at the conclusion of the internship summarizing work conducted.

Eligibility:

  • Must be a resident and/or attend a college/university within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (NY, PA, MD, DE, DC, VA or WV)
  • Must be a college-level student entering sophomore, junior, or senior year of undergraduate study
  • Must be a U.S. citizen and willing to undergo a security background check

Requirements:

  • Strong writing and communications skills
  • Strong independent research skills
  • Experience developing, working with, and synthesizing complex information
  • Familiarity with data management and Google spreadsheets

Desired Qualifications:

  • Experience (work or study) in environmental science or education
  • Interested in climate, sustainability, or education related careers
  • Motivated self-starter with the ability to work proactively and reason independently, consistently share progress updates, and recommend or inquire about next steps toward project completion
  • Ability to work well with others, and to seek out and incorporate feedback into work products

Work Location and Duration:

We envision that this position will be an in-person position and will be based out of the NOAA Cooperative Oxford Lab (Oxford, MD) or the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office in Annapolis, Maryland.

The position will begin in mid-May and conclude in mid-August and will be in place for 12 weeks. We will provide interns with access to a NOAA computer, email and in-office phone services.

Compensation:

The intern will be reimbursed at the end of each month, for a total of up to $6,000 for the equivalent of 12 weeks (422 hours). Funds are available to compensate interns for occasional work-related travel. Candidates should expect to follow a normal weekday work schedule (roughly 9am-5pm, M-F) with occasional variations for possible field work or other activities. No benefits are provided.

Diversity and Inclusion:

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office is committed to supporting a diverse and inclusive science oriented workforce. Our internship program endeavors to recruit from a diverse, qualified group of potential applicants to secure a high-performing workforce drawn from all segments of American society. NOAA is strongly supportive of broadening the participation of historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and institutions that work in underserved areas. We highly encourage applications from students at any of the above institutions as well as students that identify as black, Indigenous, person of color or 1st generation college student.

Application Instructions:

Applicants are instructed to register with the Chesapeake Jobs online application website: https://chesapeake.org/ncbo/ to apply. You will be instructed to submit a resume detailing your education and work experience and a cover letter that details your interest in this position and describes how your skill set will contribute to the work described above. You will also be asked to provide the review team with three references. The deadline for applications is January 28, 2024.