Resilience Ecology Internship

Solar One, a nonprofit leader in New York City on the cutting edge of sustainability education, has openings for 4 summer interns for our project-based resilience ecology internship program. 
Stuyvesant Cove Park serves our community and beyond as a resilient and beautiful space, that has evolved from formal native plant gardens into a productive natural ecosystem. This engineered native food forest is a vibrant example of regenerative stewardship on a former industrial site.  Solar One is a 501 (c)3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to design and deliver innovative education, training, and technical assistance that fosters sustainability and resiliency in diverse urban environments.  We manage this city-owned property in partnership with the NYC EDC. 
Resiliency – In the coming years, our park will be clearcut, razed, and re-built to provide flood protection to lower Manhattan as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency project. Our location on the frontlines of climate change presents unique opportunities for resilience education. We are growing ecosystems that are poised to adapt at-pace with climate change, and  working to incubate and bank the biological diversity cultivated over the past 15 years at Stuy Cove. 

Internship Overview
The park program provides a plethora of learning and research opportunities, and you will work to develop skills in a number of disciplines related to resilience ecology based on your individual interests. During your internship you will focus on producing a product of your experience; interns spend roughly a third of their time working on a creative arts, management, or research project in any area of the arts, sciences, or humanities. 
As an intern, you will be interacting with partner organizations and the community, and must be professional, reliable, and motivated to learn and get the most from your internship. 
Skills:

• Teaching. From peer crew leadership to play facilitation to co-teaching permaculture and wild foods programs, you will have the opportunity to learn through sharing your knowledge and experience.

• Gardening skills such as native and invasive plant identification; planting, pruning, weeding, and watering techniques; and how to use and take care of garden tools.

• You will gain an understanding of how to take care of a public space, from hardscaping repairs and garbage removal to interacting with the community.

• Interns will develop data gathering, data entry, and record organizing skills in working on citizen science and resource production projects.

Schedule:

• 20 hours a week minimum commitment required. We will work together on planning your internship schedule. 

• Take breaks! One 15 minute break every 4 hours is standard. Please try to keep it to that average in tending to your personal needs. You may take breaks when you like, just check in with park staff before you leave if you are leaving. Lunch is an hour from noon to 1. 

• Spend 10-30 minutes a day writing and photo-journaling about what you’re learning, observations about the park, plants, or interactions you have in the park. Please communicate with staff about scheduling time to journal.

• We work outdoors all year round in nice weather. (There are plenty of indoor projects when it is too cold though!) Be prepared to take care of yourself with appropriate attire (including rain gear!), open communication, and looking out for your needs. It is important you are having fun!

Coaching and Progress:
You will be checking in with your staff mentor frequently to see how your internship is going. Each internship is an individual experience that ultimately is up to you! 
We welcome suggestions of how we can improve the internship experience, we want to hear your thoughts and ideas – please give us feedback as we go. Solar One is a great place to work and the people who work here are very friendly and genuinely passionate about what they do. 

Project Ideas:

• Edible Plant Field Guide
• Geology of park
• History of green activism on the LES
• Soil testing under park for contamination 
• East River maritime history
• Collaboration with billion oyster project
• Brooklyn waterfront research 
• Wildlife survey
• Birds & Bugs field guide
• Plant Nursery/propagation project
• Instagram takeover
• Science research project
• Flower harvest guide
• Recipe booklet
• TikTok account and content (Wildlife dancing?)

Compensation:
This is an unpaid internship. Staff will work with your home institution and/or funding partners to verify participation for education credits. 

Apply:
Please email cover letter and resume to Emily Curtis-Murphy at murphy@solar1.org.