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Public Land Name:
Congaree National Park

Position Title:
Integrated Education / Hydrology Assistant [Mosaics]

Agency: NPS

Position Type: Mosaics

Position ID Number:
2015205

Location:
Hopkins, SC

Accepting Applications?

# of current Applicants: 0

Position Description:
OVERVIEW: The interns’s primary duties are to assist with two summer initiatives through the NPS Old-Growth Bottomland Forest Research and Education Center (OGBFREC or the Center) at Congaree National Park: PROJECT I: TEACHER WORKSHOPS – The intern will assist with approximately 6-8 workshops for local K-12 teachers. The Center is currently working with several local partners, including the USC Center for Science Education, Richland One School District, and School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties to host these workshops. The purpose of these workshops is to engage local teachers in the science of Congaree National Park, with an eye towards how park science can be used and taught in both the context of the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the new South Carolina state science standards and performance expectations. Topics will include the water cycle, the carbon cycle, soils, climate change, decomposers, forestry, and stream ecology (among others). Basic data collection experiences will be emphasized – both to build the teachers’ confidence as scientists as well as model projects for classroom use. An education training about the framework, context, and language of the standards will be provided for interns prior to the start of the workshops. While these standards are specific to SC and not part of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), they are based on the same framework and are very similar. Many of the training needs for local teachers involve both the science and engineering practices as well as the crosscutting concepts. Content will also be integrated with other mathematics, English language arts, visual arts, performing arts, and social studies standards if/as appropriate. PROJECT II: FLOODPLAIN HYDROLOGY TECHNICIAN – The second project will involve research in several aspects of floodplain hydrology. While time and field conditions will determine the final balance of the work, the components of interest include the following: 1. Assist with maintenance inspections and data management for the Congaree Observation Well Network (COWN), a 10-well transect across the edge of the floodplain to Cedar Creek. 2. Assist with maintenance inspections and data collection for the Congaree Surface water Observation Network (CSON), a series of three stream gages that collect stage data. Additional discharge data is needed to help convert water levels to flows. 3. Assist with biophysical stream assessments using a protocol in development through the NPS Southeast Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network. These assessments use a matrix of simple measurements and descriptions, which are collected at regular intervals along the stream, to provide a semi-quantitative score for the stream’s local health and condition. 4. Assist with preliminary limnologic investigations into water quality and water column structure in Weston Lake, an old ox-bow lake of the Congaree River. Wise Lake and other lakes may be assessed as well. This is a Mosaics in Science position. The Mosaics in Science Program is run in partnership with the National Park Service and The Geological Society of America.

If you have questions about the application and selection process, please contact GSA's GeoCorps managers.  If you have questions about any aspect of the position — description, qualifications, housing, dates — please direct them to the contact(s) listed in the project description. Remember, application materials can only be submitted online. The project contact(s) will not accept application materials sent to them via e-mail, mail, fax, etc. See the full program details at the GeoCorps homepage.