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 (2 week minimum)
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. This knowledge will then be compiled into peer-reviewed publications, Belizean government reports and regulations, field guides, and other publications that will increase the global visibility of Belizean fauna and flora and aid in their management and ultimately their conservation.
The goal of this internship is to give the student various experiences in tropical botanical studies that will aid the student in developing their skills for a variety of future education and employment opportunities. The main component of the project will be to work with the T.R.E.E.S staff and Ecorana biologists in establishing a long-term plant monitoring project that is part of a bigger project looking into insect abundance and timing of plant flowering and seed production in the Maya Mountains of Belize and how this affects wildlife (especially avian) abundance, breeding, moulting, and movement. Interns will also aid in the creation of a herbarium for the field station of plants that are found on the property, as well as the continuation of the field guide that has been started by previous interns.
If you are an international student in financial need, your academic institution may be able to offer a scholarship or bursary for this opportunity. Potential interns should also look into the possibility of getting accredited through their school for the internship. You should identify an academic advisor willing to support you in this internship, and we will discuss this opportunity directly with him/her as well as provide a letter of support to your academic institution.
Requirements:
We are looking for interns who are independent yet willing to work in a team environment. Applicants should have a certain level of botanical identification skills and should be interested in improving their techniques for proper plant identification in the tropics and learning about the incredible biodiversity of Belize through systematic field surveys and data collection. They should also have previous experience working with plant presses and preparing botanical specimens for herbariums. They should have some knowledge of plant survey and monitoring techniques.
Internship Responsibilities
Identify plants (trees, shrubs, and other groups) found at the T.R.E.E.S Hosting Center and in the Maya Mountains in Belize.
Continue an ongoing medicinal trail (create and install wooden signs, trail maintenance, adding new medicinal plant species,
Gain experience in collaborating with local researchers and botanical institutions to obtain keys to allow the identification of plants in Belize.
Contribute findings with the National Herbarium of Belize.
Continue and maintain a small plant collection from dried specimens using plant presses.
Learn and become proficient in a variety of plant sampling techniques, including how to conduct: quadrat plots, transects, habitat characterization and vegetation mapping, etc.
May help in on-going research projects that require habitat characterizations.
Add plant I.D. tags and signs to trees and plants that will be used to create an educational trail at the station.
Work with locals and learn and document local knowledge of plants found.
Work with Ecorana researchers, T.R.E.E.S staff, and other interns on the development of scientific protocol design.
Understand and follow all safety regulations and priorities while working in the field and office.
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.
Depending on involvement in project, may have opportunity to collaborate on future publications.
Use of ArcGiS and GPS as an asset to add to the existing map of the T.R.E.E.S trails and botanical features of note.
Interns will assist with creating captions for social media posts to engage and update followers on what has been going on at the field station and various projects that are being done.
Internship Period:
Interns can choose to do a minimum of 2 weeks to a maximum of 6 weeks during this Apprenticeship program, though 4 weeks is the recommended duration.
Costs:
The internship has a fee of $289 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. The nature of this program allows interns to carry out a majority of the work independently after the training period is done.
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 schedule is dependent on wildlife taxa being studied and would include daytime or nighttime work from Monday to Friday. 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.
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