POSITION DETAILS
Position Title: GIS Assistant
Park Unit: Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Location: Van Buren, Missouri
Number of positions available: 1
Can this position be fully remote: NO
INTERNSHIP DATES AND LENGTH
Duration: 20 Weeks (not flexible)
Start Date: 10/20/2024
Flexible Start Date: YES
LIVING AND RELOCATION ALLOWANCE:
Weekly Stipend: $565.00
Relocation Allowance: $400.00
CURRENT NUMBER OF APPLICANTS: Under 75 (This posting will close after receiving 75 complete applications or at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, 16 June, whichever occurs first.)
POSITION DESCRIPTION
This internship is ideal for a candidate hoping to apply GIS experience to natural resource work, but also gain experience in all divisions within our park unit. The resources division, including natural resource management, cultural resource management, and fire management will supervise and provide the primary projects for this position. This position will also work with maintenance and facilities, law enforcement, and interpretation to gain GIS experience in all areas of our park unit.
In this position, the intern’s primary project will be to create a comprehensive Field Map for the resources division. This map will be used for monitoring fireline preparation in our prescribed burn units, guiding fire staff during initial attack on wildfires, visualizing feral hog damage, tracking invasive plant populations, as well as other resource needs.
The intern’s secondary project will be data management. Data has been stored in multiple locations over time, and organizing and the data in one place will enhance the park’s ability to produce GIS products in the future.
The intern will also complete several smaller projects with the other divisions including maps to guide law enforcement, visualizing data to track maintenance and facilities projects, create user-friendly trail maps, and potentially develop StoryMaps with our interpretation staff.
POSITION IMPACT
Ozark National Scenic Riverways is a long and narrow park unit with resources spread along its 134 miles of rivers. With resources spread throughout the park, it would be useful to have a Field Map that allows park staff to track data on a large scale, but also download and work in smaller areas of the map. This position will greatly improve connection between our resource staff, who work in archaeology, fire operations, terrestrial ecology, aquatic ecology, and fire ecology. Having our data combined into one Field Map will help the resources division make fully informed decisions about future park projects. Additionally, the organization of our data, as well as applying consistent naming conventions, will be valuable to our program.
DELIVERABLES
This position will be responsible for creating a Field Map for the park unit, specifically the resources division. This position will also organize the existing data and create a naming convention for our files. A StoryMap and other maps will be created for all other divisions as time allows.
DESIRED INTERN QUALIFICATIONS
Undergraduate or graduate level GIS courses, ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online experience, strong organizational skills, strong problem-solving skills, a collaborative mindset
The applicant must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. legal permanent resident (“Green Card holder”). Prior to starting this position, a government security background clearance will be required. The applicant must be available to participate for 20 Weeks in order to be considered and participate.
WORK SETTING
Work Setting: Ozark National Scenic Riverways (OZAR) is an NPS unit in southern Missouri. OZAR covers 134 miles of the Jack’s Fork and Current rivers. OZAR is known for its floatable rivers, bright blue springs, caves, as well as Ozark glade and woodland natural communities. This position will be primarily an office position, with around 20-30% of time spent in the field. This may vary due to project timelines and weather.
Local Area: While the park is adjacent to several small towns, this position is based out of Van Buren, Missouri. Van Buren is a small town of 750 people, but it contains a medical clinic, pharmacy, grocery store, hardware store, and several gas stations. The larger town of Poplar Bluff (16,200 people) is 45 miles away along Highway 60 and contains a larger variety of medical facilities, restaurants, and chain stores (Walmart, Home Depot, etc).
VEHICLE AND DRIVERS LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
- Applicant must have a valid driver's license to drive a government vehicle.
- A personal vehicle is recommended for this position.
HOUSING
Park housing is available and will be provided at no cost to the participant. Park housing is provided and furnished. The intern will either have a single unit or a shared unit with one other park employee. In a shared unit, the intern will have their own bathroom and bedroom but share a kitchen and living room. Dishes and kitchen utensils provided. A shared laundry room is attached to the housing unit. Wifi is provided. The intern will need to bring bedding, pillows, toiletries, towels, and any other personal items.
KEYWORDS
GIS, Field Map, ArcGIS Online, AGOL, Avenza, map, data management
IMPORTANT NOTICES
This posting will close after receiving 75 complete applications, or at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, 16 June, whichever occurs first. Once you begin applying for a position, the application must be completed in one sitting. You cannot save and return later to complete it. Applicants can apply for up to five Scientists in Parks Intern positions per winter. You need to complete a separate application for each position in order to be considered. You should receive a confirmation email after successfully submitting an application. Sometimes institutional email filters/settings can redirect or block emails related to the application. We recommend watching spam, junk, and promotional email folders in case your service delivers messages there. Please visit How to Apply for additional resources and information about applying (i.e., learn what materials to have ready for applying, find a worksheet that previews application questions, etc.)
LEARN MORE
https://www.scientistsinparks.org/