Part of our mission at BiodiversityWorks is to mentor young people interested in the field of wildlife biology and science. Young adults (high school & college) need opportunities to engage in field research and monitoring in order to develop their career interests and skills. While they are learning and growing, our interns, high school mentees, and seasonal staff play a vital role in our hands-on approach to wildlife projects.
During the summer season, May-Aug interns and staff have a chance to engage in all our wildlife projects. Each year, we spend many hours monitoring and protecting our island’s beach-nesting birds; piping plovers, terns, and American oystercatchers. Staff help with finding and monitoring nests and chicks as well as protecting nests and chicks with fencing. They also spend time educating the public about these charismatic birds.
Our other wildlife projects can vary from year to year. Staff may find themselves sitting in the woods at night netting for the rare Northern long-eared bat or using radio telemetry to follow tagged bats, snakes, or turtles. Our motto here is “all wildlife all the time”, so each season we are working hard to research and monitor our island’s wildlife.
Interns work every Wednesday late June- Aug. Wednesday’s start with a staff meeting and then Naturalist Training time. We invite scientists in a variety of fields to speak to our staff about their career path to help expose them to all the possible careers in science. We also spend time with our island naturalist learning about Vineyard plants, moths, butterflies, birds, reptiles, and mammals. After Naturalist Training interns head into the field with our year-round and seasonal staff to assist with our wildlife projects. In late July or early August staff and interns create posters of their summer work to present at our annual summer gathering.
Each summer season we hire 3-5 interns (high school or college), and 1-2 wildlife assistants (college/post-college). We also welcome high school students interested in work-study or high school/college students interested in independent projects.
Ready To Apply?
All 2023 internship positions are full. Please apply in spring 2024 for the 2024 field season!