Stations: Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society (T.R.E.E.S)
Location: 27.5 miles Hummingbird Highway, Stann Creek
Country: Belize, Central America
Last date to apply: January 7, 2025
Position dates: Open from January 20 – August 1, 2025 (minimum 2 weeks)
Description:
Internships are held at the T.R.E.E.S Hosting Center, a research and education center in the Maya Mountains of Belize. The center is operated by the Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society (T.R.E.E.S), a small grassroots not-for-profit organization whose mandate is to conserve Belize’s natural and cultural heritage through education, conservation, and research. One way in which we meet our mandate is through hosting interns. By training international and local Belizean students in environmental and wildlife management, field research techniques and data collection protocols, knowledge on the biodiversity of Belizean fauna and flora will be gained.
The goal of this internship is to give the student various experiences in tropical mammalian field studies that will aid the student in developing their skills for a variety of future education and employment opportunities. For applicants with a current rabies vaccination, this internship can be focused mainly on bat sampling. Interns will learn to set up and bring down mist-nets which are used to capture bats. Trained professionals will teach how to safely extract bats and how to identify the different species whilst learning proper handling techniques. Interns will also learn how to record data in addition to proper database management. The data will contribute to future ecological studies on mammal diversity, movement, and population abundance on the T.R.E.E.S property.
Requirements:
We are looking for interns who are independent yet willing to work in a team environment. Applicants should have a certain level of mammal identification and tracking skills and should be interested in improving their techniques for proper identification and survey methods applicable in the tropics. Applicants should have a desire for learning about the incredible biodiversity of Belize through systematic field surveys and data collection. Experienced mammal biologists are also welcome and will be treated according to their experience level and are eligible for *discounted rates.
Internship Responsibilities:
Work with T.R.E.E.S researchers, international collaborators, and other interns on the development of protocol design and write protocols for continuing field work and data collection.
Implement protocols in the field using the help of T.R.E.E.S staff and Ecorana tutors to find the best places to set-up long-term monitoring locations for bat nets.
Set up mist-nets under the guidance of trained field staff and biologists.
Extract bats from nets under professional supervision, process the bats at the station for morphometric data collection, and identify different species of bats using keys and guides.
Assisting in data collection for bat research and monitoring projects (using mist-nets and recording GPS coordinates for roosts)
Learn to enter data in a systematic manner and compile it into a scientific report with introduction and literature review, methods, results (including basic statistical analysis), and discussion using peer-reviewed scientific articles.
Maintaining and updating the database in Microsoft Excel.
Washing cotton bags and managing field equipment
Assisting in repairing mist-nets damaged by bats during captures.
Interns will assist with creating captions for social media posts to engage and update followers on what has been going on at the bat station and various projects that are being done.
Depending on involvement in project, may have opportunity to collaborate on future publications.
Contributing to the production of public outreach material such as posters, pamphlets, or PowerPoint presentations on bats, with the guidance of our bat biologist.
Internship Period:
Interns can choose to do a minimum of 2 weeks to a maximum of 4 weeks during this Apprenticeship program, though 4 weeks is the recommended duration.
Costs:
This internship has a fee of $389 USD/week which includes room and board (meals included Monday-Friday), full access to lab equipment, and training by professional on-site biologists. Food is not provided as part of the internship program. Interns can also purchase their own basic food supplies from nearby vendors that can be prepared simply on-site without access to a full kitchen OR interns can order meals from the on-site Toucan Café restaurant that is open daily and caters to all dietary restrictions Lodging at the research center signifies a shared dormitory-style rustic cabins with other same sex interns with full access to other facilities such as showers, restrooms, and kitchen. Fees do not include airport transfer, flights, travel medical insurance, or $100 USD visitor permit fee if remaining in country for more than 30 days.
We are hoping to expand our internship program beyond North America. Citizens from Latin America and the Caribbean will be charged at a discounted rate of 50%. Belizeans will get another discount. For more information, kindly email Scandia Cruz with the email provided above.
Schedule:
Interns are required to work for 35 hours/week minimum. The typical schedule runs from Monday through Friday with the work time dependent on the project planned out for that day. Weekends are free time for interns; therefore, you can do as please (travel, hike, relax). No refunds on food and lodging will be available if the intern decides to leave the station. Projects may sometimes run into the weekend; in which case the days will be returned to them during the week.
The intern supervisor(s) will be responsible for designing a schedule with the intern each week that is reasonable and includes work on the various projects.
Application:
To apply register on the Ecorana website (https://www.ecorana.ca/internship-application-form/) and e-mail your curriculum vitae/resumé, cover letter, and short video to the T.R.E.E.S Internship Coordinator, Scandia Cruz, at scruz@treesociety.org once you have submitted your application form.
For more information on our organization and facilities please visit our website: www.treesociety.org *To apply for discounted rates, please contact us directly to discuss your qualifications.
Belizeans seeking an internship with us must email the Internship Coordinator with the email provided above to get further information.
To apply for this job email your details to scruz@treesociety.org