Marine Ecosystem Patterns Intern

Organization: Washington Ocean Acidification Center (WOAC)

Total Hours: 25 (20 hours per week with WOAC and 5 hours per week with the EarthLab cohort)

Total Summer Stipend: 4,950 disbursed over the 9-week internship plus a one-time $180 transportation stipend

Location:

Internship Activities: Hybrid – Meet in-person initially to define project, then work remotely to identify patterns from existing reports; weekly check-ins that can be in-person or remote. There is the opportunity to join a WOAC research cruise July 13-17 and travel for a regional meeting in August, with meals, lodging, and mileage expenses covered.*

*For the week of the research cruise the intern will be working and living aboard the RV Rachel Carson, and in the weeks leading up to the cruise there will be training and lab tasks that will take place in Benjamin Hall interdisciplinary building, on UW Seattle Campus.*

Cohort Meetings: In-person and required every Tuesday at the EarthLab Office located in Condon Hall

About Host Organization:

The Washington Ocean Acidification Center (WOAC) connects research to decision makers to advance ocean acidification science, strategies and policies to restore the health of our oceans. WOAC funds observations of marine water chemistry and plankton, forecast modeling, and assessment of biological responses of WA species to OA. WOAC partners with the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS, www.nanoos.org) to serve WOAC cruise and buoy data as well as data from our shellfish grower partners.

Tasks and Activities:

The intern in this position will utilize the Marine Waters Overview matrix to explore WOAC historical data. The matrix synthesizes 14 years of published reports to identify patterns, trends, and variations across water properties and trophic levels. Using these regional patterns as a reference, the intern will examine past WOAC data to create high-level narratives that highlight observed anomalies and trends, emphasize instances where maximums or minimums co-occur or diverge from regional observations, and use these insights to further develop a framework for ongoing reporting and synthesis.

Additionally, the intern will receive training in data collection and laboratory analysis and participate in a five-day research cruise in Puget Sound. Responsibilities during the cruise will include:

• Preparing scientific equipment
• Assisting with field mobilization
• Managing the sampling of key variables, and
• Processing collected samples.

Takeaways:

• Gain an in-depth understanding of the Puget Sound ecosystem and its variability over a decade
• Acquire first-hand experience with a range of oceanographic sampling techniques and engage with regional scientists
• Gain insights into how long-term monitoring programs operate and develop skills in working with historical datasets

A strong candidate for this position:

Required

• Ability to read scientific reports and interpret graphs.
• Attention to detail
• Use of Excel required; other data analysis and visualization skills are useful but not required.

Preferred:

• Since this is a natural sciences project, some background in oceanography, marine biology, or fisheries is useful