Have you ever wondered why it rains so much in parts of Oregon during the winter, or what the connection is between weather, climate, and fires? Do you know what El Nino is? Learn about meteorology and hydrology as an ASE intern at the National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Portland.
The specifics of the intern's project will be determined based on the interests and skills of the selected intern and the research needs of the office. Some examples of past topics include: 1) connections between spring and summer climate and fire activity in Oregon, 2) air and river temperatures and the impact on migrating salmon, and 3) climate change projections and the expected impact on seasonal snowpack in the Oregon Cascades. The intern will use various software, including exposure and training to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), for data analysis and research for the project. The internship will likely involve little or no field work and a lot of computer work.
The intern's primary activities will include online training for meteorology, hydrology, and GIS; data gathering and analysis using online and NWS Portland sources, spreadsheets, and related software; presentation software for packaging data and research results for NWS Portland staff and for ASE symposium preparation.
By the end of the summer the selected intern will have:
1) Increased understanding of basic meteorology, hydrology, and climatology,
2) Training and basic use of Geographic Information Systems software,
3) Exposure to workplace culture and leadership training, and
4) Work and results addressing the internship research question
Mentors at Portland NWS always found the relationship between the ASE intern and their staff to be mutually beneficial and encouraging. They will provide guidance, training, and daily interaction, and expect the intern to be comfortable working independently and to be self-motivated to accomplish the goals of the internship. For more information about the fields of meteorology, hydrology, and climatology, visit weather.gov, noaa.gov, and climate.gov.
We strongly encourage students to apply who are from one or more systemically and historically excluded group, including but not limited to, non-cis-gendered students, girls, BIPOC, first-generation college bound students, low-income/low-resourced students, students with disabilities, who are neurodivergent, and those who speak a primary language other than English.
This internship will be hybrid, with both virtual and in-person components, as permitted by Federal/State/Local/NWS guidelines. To reduce the risks of coronavirus exposure, mentors and interns will act in accordance with applicable COVID guidelines and procedures. Selected applicants will be required to review and sign a waiver agreement.
If you have any questions about the application, website technical issues and/or this position description, please contact Saturday Academy at ase@saturdayacademy.org. Do not contact the mentor directly. Contacting the mentor directly is grounds for disqualification of your ASE application.