Wednesday, June 12, 2019

United Nations Internship

INTERN - ENVIRONMENT AFFAIRS / SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - United Nations

Daily responsibilities will depend on the individual's background; the intern's assigned office as well as the internship period.

Under the Supervision of a Programme Officer, the intern will:
  • Assist with research on issues related to the main focal areas of the GEF (biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate adaptation, chemicals and waste, land degradation, and international waters), for example, to support STAP papers, terms of reference for consultancies, and project reviews;
  • Assist in preparing speaking notes and presentations, and in organizing STAP meetings and workshops; and
  • Assist with STAP communications, including updating the STAP website.

Paid Internships in GIS and Remote Sensing

Paid internship opportunities to collaborate with Dr. Brian Needelman (UMD Environmental Science and Technology) and Dr. Steven Mirsky (USDA-ARS Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory. Duties will include GIS and/or remote sensing applications for use in agricultural systems both locally and nationwide. Depending on student skills and interests, tasks may include:

Data collection and organization

  • Geocoding existing datasets
  • Creating workflows for future datasets to include native geocoding

Data acquisition

  • Acquiring remote imagery from public APIs and open data warehouses
  • Assessing the value of private/commercial APIs and data warehouses for our work
  • Acquiring other spatial data: soil properties, weather, crop layers

Data processing and analysis

  • Ingesting and processing remote sensor data
  • Joining geocoded datasets with imagery
  • Manipulating imagery (e.g. reorienting rasters, calculating spectral indices)
  • Converting processed rasters to tabular format for other analysts and vice versa
  • Team collaboration
  • Working with statisticians, data scientists, and machine learning experts to bring spatial context
  • to their analyses
  • Working with field technicians to implement protocols for collecting spatial data
  • Delivering processed data in common formats to our team and via public APIs
Technology assessment
  • Testing and evaluating spatial tools and software platforms to decide if they are useful for our
  • organization
  • Training analytical and technical staff on adopted technologies
Qualified applicants will have proficiency in some of the following:
  • Python, R, JavaScript
  • Cloud computing
  • ArcGIS, QGIS
  • Leaflet, Mapbox
  • SSURGO/Web Soil Survey

Students will spend part of their time at the USDA-ARS Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory in Beltsville, MD. Internships may be full or part time with flexible hours; we have openings both during the summer and fall semesters. To apply, please send your resume and unofficial transcripts to
Ruth.mangum@ars.usda.gov.

Important Bird Areas Data Fall Internship with Audubon

Audubon’s Conservation Science team in the San Francisco,California office has a paid internship opportunity for an individualinterested in bird conservation and data science. The intern will work with the Important Bird Areas Project Manager to explore what data needs updating and the potential sources for updating species data. This internship is designed to provide the intern with the opportunity to interact with and learn from experts in the field of conservation science and to make a meaningful contribution to Audubon’s Important Birds Areas (IBA) conservation work.
The deadline is on a rolling basis, and the internship is full time and paid. More information on the opportunity can be found here

NASA DEVELOP Fall Applications Accepted

The NASA DEVELOP Program is currently recruiting for the fall 2019 term. This is a 10-week paid contracting position open for current students, recent college graduates, and career transitioning professionals including veterans of the Armed Forces. Although the term is only 10 weeks, there are many opportunities to advance through the program to year-long contracts.
This is a great opportunity for individuals who are interested in practical applications of remote sensing and GIS, specifically in the field of Earth Science. Our projects focus on addressing local and international community concerns while utilizing NASA's Earth observations. Participants work in teams, with guidance from NASA and partner science advisors, to demonstrate to partner organizations how NASA remote sensing imagery can be used in water resources, disaster management, ecological forecasting, and other applications to address environmental community concerns. DEVELOP’s projects are interdisciplinary in nature, so applications are welcome from all academic backgrounds.
Details about the program and how to apply can be found at http://develop.larc.nasa.gov/. The fall online application window is May 20 – June 28. The fall term dates are September 16 – November 22. The DEVELOP program has three terms: spring, summer, and fall – the term dates and application windows are updated on the “Apply” page of the DEVELOP website. In addition to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, there are many other locations across the United States that you can find on the "Locations" page.
Responsibilities include: literature review, data processing and analysis, and composing deliverables including a technical paper, poster, and presentation. Previous GIS or remote sensing knowledge, while beneficial and more competitive, are not required for acceptance.
Applicants must have excellent communication and writing skills and be able to work in a fast-paced environment. Days of the week are flexible, but applicants should be able to commit to 20-29 hours per week for the fall term. Paid positions are funded using a rate determined by application type, education level, and location.

SOCY477- Intersectionality and Illness- Summer Session I-B starting June 17

Students who would like to explore a sociological approach to understanding health disparity can now register for SOCY479: Intersectionality and Illness, offered online this summer (June 17th - July 5th). 

Students will examine the social determinants of disease: the relationship between socioeconomic status and health care access, as well as investigate the links between social status and disease chronicity. Students will also explore how health disparities, health resource distribution, and susceptibility disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities with chronic diseases.

Departmental permission to register for the course can be granted by calling 301-405-6389, for students who lack the prerequisite of (6) credits of SOCY coursework.

DOJ Environment and Natural Resources Division Environmental Enforcement Section Fall Internship: Due July 1

The Environmental Enforcement Section is one of the largest litigating Sections in the
Department and includes nearly one‐half of the Division's lawyers. The Section is responsible
for bringing civil judicial actions under most federal laws enacted to protect public health and
the environment from the adverse effects of pollution, such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water
Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, RCRA and the Superfund law (CERCLA). The
breadth of the Section's practice is extensive and challenging. It includes cases of national
scope, such as cases against multiple members of an identified industry, to obtain broad
compliance with the environmental laws. Through its enforcement of the Superfund law, the
Section seeks to compel responsible parties either to clean up hazardous waste sites or to
reimburse the United States for the cost of cleanup, thereby ensuring that they, and not the
public, bear the burden of paying for cleanup. The Superfund law is also a basis of the Section's
actions to recover damages for injury to natural resources that are under the trusteeship of
federal agencies.

Application is due July 1!!

Duties/Assignments:
Under the "Undergraduate" Program, the interns are usually assigned to supervisory paralegals,
in some sections the intern is assigned directly to an attorney. It is the responsibility of that
paralegal/attorney to assign the work. Sometimes, other attorneys approach the intern directly
with assignments too. It could include:

  • working on trial exhibits;
  • putting trial notebooks together;
  • redacting information;
  • preparing privilege logs;
  • researching, inserting or extracting information from databases;
  • internet research;
  • minor legal research;
  • participating in mock trials;
  • attending brown bags;
  • proofreading documents;
  • reconciling records; and
  • filing, copying, faxing, and the like.

No one can predict what one will be doing on a daily basis because it depends on the posture of
the case what the assignments will involve. We check in with the undergrads frequently to see
what they are working on and to make sure that they understand their assignments.

Commitment:
We ask for a minimum 6‐8 week commitment, with a minimum of 3 days per week. Partial days
are allowed as long as they total a minimum of thirty (30) hours. Office hours equals 8 hours
between the hours of 8 and 6:30 with some flexibility. All internships are unpaid, and housing is
not provided.

The Application Process:
It’s a two step process. The first step is all potential interns must answer the following
questions before we can send out the paperwork:
1. Full Name (including middle)
2. Date of Birth
3. Place of Birth (City, State, Country)
4. SSN
5. Reliable Mailing Address
6. Reliable e‐mail address
7. Reliable phone number

In addition, Volunteer legal interns must be US citizens. If the applicant is a dual citizen, they
should be prepared to fill out additional paperwork regarding the dual citizenship.
Volunteer legal intern applicants must complete a background check. The screening will
specifically inquire into an applicant’s police record, payment of taxes, issues of indebtedness,
and drug use, specifically within the last year. There are a number of things that have resulted
in recent applicants’ security clearance being delayed or denied. Here are the top four:
1. Drug Use. Certainly admitted illegal drug use – even in states where marijuana is legal –
can be problematic for securing a federal government position, even one that’s a
volunteer position.
2. Failure to pay taxes.
3. Defaulting on student loans.
4. Residency Requirement. There have been several recent candidates who have spent
considerable time living abroad. (E.g., travel, study aboard, work abroad, visiting family).
Candidates must have lived in the US for 36 of the last 60 months (non‐consecutive is
fine). There are very narrow exceptions (e.g., US military or diplomatic service).
Answers to the 7 questions, a resume and a writing sample should be sent to
gavin.hilgemeier2@usdoj.gov .

The second step is a security background check. The background check paperwork is sent out
about 10‐12 weeks before the semester begins. This means prospective interns have
approximately 2 weeks to fill out the paperwork, get fingerprints etc., as the clearance process
takes 6‐8 weeks. During that 6‐8 week period if all is well the applicant, and this office, will
hear nothing from the vetting officials. This is normal, do not be concerned.