Environmental Science Outreach Internship (Bilingual)

Apply to join the Maryland Sea Grant team as an Environmental Science Outreach Intern (Bilingual)! This paid internship is available to be filled starting as soon as October 2023.

Maryland Sea Grant is seeking a bilingual, biliterate (i.e., fluency in Spanish-English speaking and writing) intern to expand our capacity in community engagement, environmental literacy, and workshop development, particularly with Maryland’s Spanish-speaking communities. We seek an enthusiastic individual who wants to learn about and share community priorities on coastal issues, work on science adoption and tool utilization that is most applicable for community priorities, and investigate how outreach can best foster behavior change in terms mitigation and adaptation to climate change impacts. 

As part of the internship, you will pursue 2-3 special projects, participate in several professional development trainings, and contribute to the administration of our main office. 

Compensation and Location

This internship term will be for one year . The internship is a full-time, 40 hours per week, Contractual Contingent 2 position at Maryland Sea Grant’s office in College Park, Maryland. The intern will be paid an annual salary of $37,500 as well as benefits including health insurance, tuition remission, and generous leave. It is expected that the internship will be a mix of in-person and remote work.

Maryland Sea Grant, located in College Park, is a federal-state partnership that supports scientific research, education, and outreach focused on restoring and preserving the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland’s coastal bays and watershed resources. We serve as a bridge between scientific expertise and the needs of people who manage, conserve, enjoy, and make their living from the Chesapeake Bay, America’s largest and most productive estuary.

Potential Projects and Responsibilities

• Community Liaison. You will act as the primary point of contact to help build relationships with Maryland Sea Grant’s ongoing work with Maryland Hispanic Communities. You will work directly with community-based nonprofit, ecoLatinos (25% of your time), to learn cultural nuance and best engagement practices and share with them Sea Grant’s expertise on coastal climate change issues.  
• Best practices in community outreach. You will help determine what mechanisms (e.g., informational booths, webinars, townhalls) are most effective in increasing Maryland Sea Grant’s presence/exposure in Maryland coastal communities and how this may result in improving the communities’ environmental literacy and coastal resilience.  
• Assist with current community engagement and co-production projects. You will help strategize, design, and logistically support efforts to increase community resilience among the Hispanic communities, coastal farmers, and other community engagement efforts that arise regarding adaptation and resilience. Work to ensure that research, communication products, and other resource tools reflect community and end-user needs and preferences.
• Assist in climate and coastal resilience themed workshops. The intern will provide logistical support for any Sea Grant-hosted workshops. 
• Assist with strengthening Maryland Sea Grant’s role in the built environment community. The intern will support multidisciplinary projects that help Maryland’s coastal communities deal with the effects of climate change with focus on the built environment (i.e., architecture, environmental engineering, landscape architecture, civil engineering, and land-use planning).

The intern will also be exposed to the cutting-edge research funded by Maryland Sea Grant and environmental organizations throughout the state of Maryland. The intern will have a direct supervisor at the Maryland Sea Grant office to help guide them through learning the various duties as well as mentorship from ecoLatinos, Inc. Other mentors will provide guidance for specific projects throughout the internship. There may also be other special project opportunities outside of those discussed above as the internship evolves.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this internship, you have an associate's degree or bachelor’s degree in natural, social, or environmental sciences or policy. Individuals with a master's or other higher degree are not eligible.

Maryland Sea Grant and the National Sea Grant College Program champion diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by recruiting, retaining, and preparing a diverse workforce, and proactively engaging and serving the diverse populations of coastal communities. Sea Grant is committed to building inclusive research, extension, communication, and education programs that serve people with unique backgrounds, circumstances, needs, perspectives and ways of thinking. We encourage applicants of all ages, races, ethnicities, national origins, gender identities, sexual orientations, disabilities, cultures, religions, citizenship types, marital statuses, veteran status types, and socioeconomic status types to apply for this opportunity.

What We are Looking For in a Candidate

We are seeking a motivated candidate that is open to learning about and tackling new challenges, brings a positive, inquisitive attitude towards projects and tasks, and has an interest in climate change mitigation and adaptation, marine science, environmental justice, community outreach, and environmental literacy. Some specifics include:

• Ability to communicate effectively over the phone and in person
• Ability to work in a team and as an individual
• Organized and detail-oriented
• Computer and internet skills, including Excel, Word, Google suite, and internet searching skills
• Spanish language skills 
• Strong interest in Maryland Sea Grant’s mission

How to Apply

For best consideration, please submit your application through our internship portal. The portal will remain open until the position is filled. Your application must include the following:

• Responses to four short answer questions.  Treat these questions as your cover letter -- telling us why you want this internship, what you bring to it, and why it's important for your career. (maximum 300 words each)
  • What are you passionate about and why is that related to this internship?
  • What experiences do you have that will contribute to your success in this internship?
  • What are your career goals and how might this internship help you achieve them?
  • Maryland Sea Grant leads a variety of community engagement programming and research throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. Peruse our website and let us know which community and/or social science research project in the last ten years interests you the most and why.
• A resume
• An undergraduate transcript (released to student acceptable)
• A writing sample (report, paper, blog, essay) of no more than 1000 words   
• A list of three references

Selection Process

We will seek to identify interns who most closely identify with Maryland Sea Grant’s mission to support research, education, and outreach to advance understanding and sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Coastal Bays, and their watersheds, particularly with Maryland’s Hispanic communities. We are particularly interested in individuals that demonstrate how this internship will jumpstart or bolster their career. Applications are being be reviewed by the selection committee on a rolling basis and the most qualified applicants will be asked to participate in a virtual interview. To select interviewees, the committee will consider the quality of the personal and career goals statement; additional relevant experience related to diversity of education, extra-curricular activities, honors and awards work and life experience, and interpersonal communication skills; academic record; and the potential impact of the internship on the applicant's career. 

The most qualified applicants will be selected to interview with the Maryland Sea Grant selection committee.

Maryland Sea Grant Contact

Maryland Sea Grant College
(301) 405-7500
mdsg-research@umd.edu

Photograph credit: Logan Bilbrough / MDSG