A summer internship at the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort is being offered to encourage college students from traditionally underserved and underrepresented populations to pursue study and careers in coastal and estuarine sciences.
The nonprofit Friends of the Reserve is sponsoring one North Carolina Coastal Reserve Undergraduate Internship Award for an undergraduate student to work with reserve staff. The award is for economically disadvantaged students from racial, ethnic and cultural minorities, students of diverse gender and sexual orientations, persons with disabilities, and first-generation college students to gain professional experience working in coastal and estuarine science, management, and education, according to the Friends of the Reserve.
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The internship will be based out of the Coastal Reserve headquarters office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Beaufort Lab. Applications for the internship are being accepted now until 11: 59 p.m. Feb. 27. The award includes a travel and housing stipend of $1,500 and a paid summer internship consisting of 30 hours a week for 10 weeks at $12 an hour hour.
The 2,315-acre Rachel Carson Reserve is across Taylors Creek from historic downtown Beaufort in Carteret County. The site, only accessible by private boat or passenger ferry, is home to river otter, gray fox, marsh rabbit, raccoon and a herd of feral horses. Often seen in the estuarine waters around the site are Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, diamondback terrapins, sea turtles, and many species of fish and invertebrates.
The Friends of the Reserve is the nonprofit organization that supports the work of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve & National Estuarine Research Reserve. This program of the Division of Coastal Management is under the state Department of Environmental Quality, protects 10 sites along the coast. More than 44,000 acres of estuarine land and water are in this program that provides essential habitat for wildlife; offers educational opportunities for students, teachers and the public; and serves as living laboratories for scientists, according to NCDEQ.
