Jobs and Internships

LiMPETS (Long-term Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students) is a California-based environmental monitoring and education program for students, educators, and volunteer groups (www.limpets.org). We have three inter-meshed project goals: coastal stewardship, hands-on education and scientific data collection. We expect approximately 200 high school students from Northern Santa Barbara County to participate both in the classroom and at field sites at Campus Point and Coal Oil Point by June 2015. This program is administered through the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and supported by a Fall 2015 grant from UCSB’s Coastal Fund.

LiMPETS has established protocols and permanent sites for both rocky intertidal and sand beach ecosystems. Students learn about the Scientific Method, oceanographic processes and localized conditions that control and affect coastal marine life. In the classroom they practice identifying key tidepool and beach species, and then take those skills into the field for monitoring at an established site. A public-access database houses student-collected data, and helps to provide a regional context for patterns of distribution and abundance measured during the field trip. LiMPETS is designed to provide authentic, hands-on coastal monitoring experiences that empower participants to experience real science and serve as ocean stewards. The program fits nicely into the Next Generation Science Standards, as it emphasizes experiential learning and can fit into a multi- disciplinary context. In some urban communities that we serve, most students have never been to the beach prior to the experience of a LiMPETS field trip.

Open Internship Positions:

We have Coastal Fund internship stipends available for two highly qualified UCSB undergraduates each quarter who can dedicate at least 50 hours with our program. In addition, we also have a position available each quarter (on an hourly basis) to conduct several visitor use surveys at two different sites (Campus Point and Coal Oil Point, < 25 hrs per quarter).

Winter Quarter: two positions with stipends available immediately. We are looking for upper-division individuals with an academic interest in marine biology and community ecology, specifically in the rocky intertidal, and/or an interest in a career in environmental education and teaching at the K-12 level. Training will occur ASAP, with some flexibility in timing but dependant upon low tides. Participation on specific dates will required, dates pending.

Spring Quarter: two positions available at the beginning of the quarter. We are looking for upper-division individuals with an academic interest in marine biology and community ecology, specifically in sand beach ecosystems, and/or an interest in a career in environmental education and teaching at the K-12 level. Internship Responsibilities

Interns will learn rocky intertidal (Winter Quarter) or sand beach (Spring Quarter) monitoring protocols and will assist in collecting monitoring data both outside of and during student field trips. This will provide interns with valuable research experience and may help inform future decisions on careers or graduate studies.

Specific duties include: assisting program manger with preparation for field work, learn to identify a list of up to 30 marine invertebrates/algae, learn field monitoring techniques, perform in-field monitoring and quality control measures for research purposes, work with groups of high school students in the field and assist them with monitoring exercises. Field work will occur around specific low tides during Winter Quarter and will require up to 3 hours each field day. In addition, interns must complete a short independent project selected with approval of Program Manager.

Winter Quarter positions will be filled ASAP. Spring Quarter positions will be filled by March 1.

Additional details will be provided upon request.