Department of Civil Service

Description:

The Mission of the Bureau of Ecosystem Health (BEH) is to protect, maintain, enhance, and where feasible, assure restoration of ecosystems with adequate diversity and productivity for supporting a wide array of human uses of the fish and wildlife resource. The Ecotoxicology Section supports that mission by maintaining expertise on ecological impacts associated with anthropogenic environmental chemicals; conducting and overseeing field and laboratory toxicity studies to enhance understanding of the adverse effects from chemical contaminants and pesticides; conducting scientific evaluation and produce defensible risk assessments on problems related contaminants and pesticide use; developing environmental standards and criteria for ecosystem protection; and proposing and assisting to promulgate and support such environmental standards and criteria for the Department's regulatory program.
The interns will work under the direction of the Ecotoxicology Section Head and participate in planning and conducting ecotoxicology studies which may involve field, laboratory, and office work. Field work typically include collection of environmental (water, sediment, etc.) and biota (invertebrates, fish, and other aquatic or terrestrial vertebrate species) sample collection and transfer for either chemical analysis or ecosystem health evaluation. Laboratory work may include participation in conducting controlled toxicity testing on pesticides and toxic chemical contaminants, processing biota samples from field collection and laboratory testing, and recording experimental data. The interns may also be responsible for managing data records, learn to analyze and interpret experimental data, and participate in writing study reports.

Skills:

field collection and tissues sample

record keeping and report writing

toxicology and toxicity testing

knowledge in animal physiology & anatomy

Internship Areas: Environmental Conservation, Scientific Research