GSA Online Application System

 

 
 

Public Land Name:
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK

Position Title:
Invasive Vegetation Management, Mapping, and Education Intern

Agency: NPS

Position Type: SIP

Position ID Number:
2017034

Location:

101 Reserve Street
Hot Springs, AR 71901

Accepting Applications?

# of current Applicants: 0

Position Description:
POSITION DESCRIPTION PDF

The intern hired for this position will be part of the natural resource management team, helping to achieve invasive vegetation management goals through research, monitoring, and active removal, aiding in visitor outreach and education about the impacts of invasive species on forest health, and assisting the Chief of Resource Management and Visitor Services by creating maps, reports, interpretive programs, and printed educational materials to inform park management decisions and expand visitor understanding and satisfaction. The intern will be the lead individual for a vegetation management project on Hot Springs Mountain to manage English Ivy (Hedera helix), an invasive species that has overtaken approximately 40 acres of the forest immediately adjacent to the National Historic Landmark area of Bathhouse Row. The ivy has killed several native trees and threatens hundreds more as it continues to proliferate. Because of the sensitive thermal water resources of the area and potential contamination of groundwater, herbicide application is not a possible treatment option. Instead, the intern will work with a contracted goat rental company to mechanically remove the ivy and other invasive species in the area.

The intern’s primary responsibilities will be to complete before and after surveys of the treated areas, to produce photographs, maps, and a scientific report of results (based on the change in percent cover of English Ivy and other species, etc.), to identify and record trees heavily impacted by ivy, and to interpret the project’s goals and methods to the public throughout, as this project will be in a high visitor use area. Secondary responsibilities will include the mechanical removal of ivy that the goats miss or cannot reach, development of printed and digital interpretive material about the project, its results, and invasive species, the creation and presentation of formal interpretive programming about invasive vegetation management, and putting together a lesson plan about flora in the park that meets education curriculum standards in Arkansas. Tertiary duties may include assistance with other projects in natural or cultural resource management such as acoustic surveys of bat species, water quality monitoring, and archival research. The results of this project are expected to inform vegetation management decisions of the future and to contribute to the execution of the park’s mission to preserve the lands associated with the thermal water.

Upon successful completion of the GIP internship, the participant is eligible for an AmeriCorps Education Award. This position is offered through the National Park Service's Geoscientists-in-the-Parks Internship Program in partnership with Environmental Stewards 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.