The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Summer Internship
(Posted 02/05/2025)

Target Audience(s): Undergraduate Student


Institution: University of Georgia

Institutional Web Link: https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/employment/summer_internships_2025.asp

Position Description: The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Program (GCE LTER) is looking for undergraduate interns for summer 2025. Some opportunities are limited to students who have not yet graduated. All positions will receive either a stipend or an hourly salary. Most internships last ~8 weeks between May and August. However, start and end dates are flexible based on the schedule of the intern and supervisor. Please read the position descriptions carefully as some positions have different requirements, dates, and/or locations.


The deadline for applications is 11:59 PM EDT on Sunday, March 2, 2025. For more information on these opportunities, please contact Io Hennessy at io.hennessy@uga.edu.


The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, genetic information, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or protected veteran status.

Tracking Ecological Variability Across Habitation Transitions in Coastal Salt Marshes. Supervisor: Dr. Steven Pennings (University of Houston) and Dr. Amanda Spivak (University of Georgia). The intern will help study how variability in ecological communities changes across habitat transitions along a salt marsh-to-creek bank gradient. This individual will be part of a multi-disciplinary team and contribute to collection and processing of samples representing plant and benthic invertebrate communities. On a daily basis, the intern will report to Steven Pennings. Collections will involve long days hiking through uneven and soggy terrain in salt marshes and upland borders, working with marsh plants and invertebrates, digging in soils, and observing ecological features (e.g., crab burrow holes). Field days can be up to 12 hours or more depending on tides and require carrying 40 lbs or more. Experience with coastal field work is desirable but not required. This position will be based on Sapelo Island, GA for ~10 weeks during May-August; housing will be provided and travel expenses to Sapelo Island will be reimbursed. This position will receive a stipend equivalent to $15/hr. This position is limited to students who have not yet graduated.

Characterizing Variability in Biogeochemical Processes Across Habitation Transitions in Coastal Salt Marshes. Supervisor: Dr. Amanda Spivak (University of Georgia). The intern will help study how variability in biogeochemical processes changes across habitat transitions along a salt marsh-to-creek bank gradient. This individual will be part of a multi-disciplinary team and contribute to collection and processing of data and samples describing carbon gas fluxes and soil properties including carbon content and porewater chemistry. On a daily basis, the intern will report to Amanda Spivak. Collections involve long days hiking through uneven and soggy terrain in salt marshes and upland borders, working with instrumentation (e.g., gas analyzers), digging in soils, and extracting porewater. Field days can be up to 12 hours or more depending on tides and require carrying 40 lbs or more. Experience with coastal field work is desirable but not required. The position will be based in Athens (GA) for ~10 weeks between May-August with several multi-day trips to Sapelo Island (GA) where field work will be conducted. Lab work in Athens will include preparing for sample collections, processing collected material, and working with data. Housing is not provided in Athens but will be provided on Sapelo Island. Reasonable travel expenses to Athens and between Athens and Sapelo Island will be reimbursed. This position will receive a stipend equivalent to $15/hr. This position is limited to students who have not yet graduated.

Remote sensing of coastal environments. Supervisor: Dr. John Schalles (Creighton University). This position involves field, laboratory, and computer work for the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project at the University of Georgia Marine Institute located on Sapelo Island, Georgia. On a daily basis, the intern will report to John Schalles. The intern will receive training in marsh and coastal water sampling, drone operations, laboratory sample processing and analyses, and use of ENVI and Pix4D geospatial software for imagery processing and analysis. The intern should be comfortable with long days in the field (up to 10 - 12 hours, depending on tides) and have the ability to carry 40 lbs or more. Experience with small boats and computer data processing are desirable but not required. The Schalles Lab uses the data collected to calibrate and validate remote sensing imagery for analysis of (1) salt, brackish, and freshwater tidal marsh vegetation biomass and health, and (2) phytoplankton chlorophyll, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and particulate suspended matter concentrations in estuaries and nearshore waters. The remote sensing imagery platforms for this work are: (1) GCE’s new IF1200 Inspired Flight drone with Altum Red Edge camera and Creighton’s DJI P4 Multispectral drone – each with 5 color bands, and (2) USGS Landsat 8 & 9, European Space Agency Sentinel 2, and NASA’s new PACE satellites. The position will be based on Sapelo Island, GA for ~10 weeks during June and July. Housing will be provided and travel expenses to Sapelo Island will be reimbursed. This position will receive a stipend equivalent to $15/hr. This position is limited to students who have not yet graduated.

Field assistant in coastal science. Supervisor: John Williams (GCE LTER lead technician). The intern will work as a general assistant to the GCE technicians on Sapelo Island. Duties may include assisting in water quality sampling, plant and invertebrate monitoring, boat and flux tower maintenance, helping a variety of research groups with field work, and light construction. On a daily basis, the intern will report to John Williams and the other GCE technicians. This position will be primarily in the field, often in small boats, and will require strenuous physical activity and irregular hours. The position will be based on Sapelo Island, GA for ~10 weeks during May-August; housing will be provided and travel expenses to Sapelo Island will be reimbursed. This position will receive a stipend equivalent to $15/hr. This position is open to all undergraduate students and recent graduates.

Recovery from disturbance in intertidal marshes. Supervisor: Dr. Steven Pennings (University of Houston). The intern will assist with monitoring three experiments in intertidal marshes that are designed to understand factors that affect marsh recovery from disturbance. This will include sampling marsh soils, plants and invertebrates; and some laboratory work processing soil and plant samples. On a daily basis, the intern will report to Steve Pennings and his graduate students. The intern should be comfortable with long days in the field and have the ability to carry 40 lbs or more. The position will be based on Sapelo Island for ~10 weeks during May-August; housing will be provided and travel expenses to Sapelo Island will be reimbursed. This position will receive a stipend equivalent to $15/hr. This position is limited to students who have not yet graduated.

Long-term patterns of salt marsh snail growth. Supervisor: Dr. Steven Pennings (University of Houston). The intern will measure archived samples of snails from the GCE-LTER long-term monitoring program to see if snails have changed in size, shape or growth rate over time, perhaps as a consequence of global change, or if these variables differ among marsh sites. This will involve extensive laboratory work measuring preserved snails. On a daily basis, the intern will report to Steve Pennings. The position will be based on Sapelo Island for ~10 weeks during May-August; housing will be provided and travel expenses to Sapelo Island will be reimbursed. This position will receive a stipend equivalent to $15/hr. This position is open to all undergraduate students, including graduating seniors.

The effects of physical-biological coupling in estuaries and influences of a non-native ecosystem engineer. Supervisor: Dr. Jeb Byers (University of Georgia) and Matt Pierce (PhD Student). The intern will help on several projects to study the effect of tidal creek bank morphology on the ecology of estuarine organisms. One focal project under this broad research agenda is to quantify how native biota interact with the non-native, range-expanding mangrove fiddler crab (Leptuca thayeri). The intern will help execute lab and field experiments as well as field sampling at marine reserves in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The experiments will cover multiple factors vital to understanding the ecological interactions that are occurring between native fiddler crabs, fiddler crab predators, and the salt marsh habitat that mangrove fiddler crabs have moved into. On a daily basis, the intern will report to Matt Pierce, a PhD student advised by Dr. Byers. The intern should be comfortable with long days in the field (up to 12 hours or more depending on tides) and have the ability to carry 40 lbs or more. Familiarity with Microsoft Excel is desirable but not necessary. Experience with small boats is desirable but not required. The intern will be based on Sapelo Island, Georgia for ~10 weeks during May-August 2025, with short trips during this time to the Jacksonville, Florida area and to coastal South Carolina. Housing will be provided at the UGA Marine Institute and covered during travel to other sites. Reasonable travel expenses to Sapelo Island will be reimbursed. This position will receive a stipend equivalent to $8/hr. This position is open to all undergraduate students, including graduating seniors.

Position Type: Temporary Position

Funding Source(s): National Science Foundation (NSF)
Other


How to Apply: Complete the online application and submit all relevant supporting documents by 11:59pm March 2nd at
https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/employment/summer_internships_2025.asp

Application Closing Date: 02/03/2025