TROPICAL FOREST RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES – TREE CENSUS

UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO – RIO PIEDRAS
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
TROPICAL FOREST RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES – TREE CENSUS
January 14th through May 14th, 2016
Complete applications must be submitted by November 2nd, 2015

RESEARCH DESCRIPTION:   A five year interval tree census will begin in the
16-ha Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP), in Puerto Rico’s El Yunque
National Forest.  The LFDP is a member of the Center for Tropical Forest
Science network, an organization funded through the Smithsonian Tropical
Research Institute.  We also receive support from the National Science
Foundation funded Long Term Ecological Research Program.  To complete the
census we are seeking volunteer interns in three phases over the course of
several months.  For this first phase of the project, we seek the help of
seven (7) volunteer interns.  After training in census protocol and
database management, volunteers will work in the forest identifying,
measuring, and mapping trees in marked grids.  Data will then be entered
using database software.  Volunteers work together in teams of three under
the supervision of a field technician, spending long hours in the field (8
am until 4 pm, Monday-Friday, with weekends free), often in wet and muddy
conditions and on challenging topography.  While in Puerto Rico volunteers
will have the opportunity to learn about diverse aspects of tropical
ecology from scientists involved in the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological
Research Program.

PERIOD:  January 14th through May 14th, 2016.

STIPEND: $600 per month to cover food and general living expenses.

ACCOMMODATION: Free accommodation at the El Verde Field Station in Puerto
Rico.  Housing is communal using shared resources.  The field station is
relatively isolated and transportation is available on a limited basis.

TRAVEL: Refund of up to $750 towards a round-trip plane ticket from
mainland USA, if not already living in Puerto Rico.
NOTE: We are unable to provide any medical insurance.

REQUIREMENTS: College graduates with excellent organizational skills and
attention to detail, preferably with background in biology, ecology, or
environmental science, field-work experience, and knowledge of plant
identification.  Tropical experience useful, but is not required.  We are
currently only considering US citizens and permanent US residents for these
opportunities.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Interested applicants must fill out the online
Application Form (see http://sites.google.com/a/ites.upr.edu/el-verde-field-
station/internships/luquillo-forest-dynamics-plot-internship-
opportunities/lfdp-internship-application).
The following additional materials must also be submitted via email to Seth
Rifkin at lfdp@ites.upr.edu by November 2nd:

1) A letter of interest indicating why you wish to work in the tropical
forest and describing your relevant experience.  Include a statement that
you understand your application is for a volunteer position;

2) Full resume;

3) University transcripts (scanned unofficial transcripts are fine).

All email attachments must include the name of the applicant as part of the
file name.

Please email further inquiries to lfdp@ites.upr.edu.

Following phone interviews, we will inform successful applicants in mid-
November, 2015.

For more information, please see https://sites.google.com/a/ites.upr.edu/el-
verde-field-station/Home, http://luq.lternet.edu/,
http://www.ites.upr.edu/, and
http://luq.lternet.edu/research/projects/forest_dynamics_description.html.