Ocean Literacy Intern

Ocean Literacy Intern

Organization: Washington Ocean Acidification Center (WOAC)

Available Internship Positions:1

Hours:20 hours per week (15 hours per week with WOAC and 5 hours per week with the EarthLab cohort)

Total Summer Stipend: $3,960 disbursed over the 9-week internship, plus $180 total travel stipend per intern

Location:

Internship Activities: Hybrid*

*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.*

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 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. NANOOS offers a range of educational curricula to foster ocean literacy and incorporate regional data in the classroom.

Tasks and Activities:

This internship is focused on outreach and increasing ocean literacy and continues NANOOS’ established Education and Outreach efforts, which are focused on promoting and facilitating the use of ocean observing data and increasing ocean literacy in our region. Most recently, working with TAF (Technology Access Fund, https://techaccess.org/), NANOOS worked successfully with Saghalie Public School in Federal Way via the Teacher Scientist Partnership (TSP) program on the marine heatwave lesson plan. The student body was very diverse and the STEM activities have engaged under-represented students in ocean science. This program wants more, and specifically on OA, yet WOAC staff are limited in time to develop such a lesson plan.

The intern in this position will learn how to develop an effective lesson plan that adheres to state academic standards and investigates regional topics using near real-time and forecasted data. They will interact with OA scientists engaged with WOAC, and reach out to our TAF partners. Their lesson plans live on at the NANOOS and WOAC websites increasing visibility and usage throughout the region.

Takeaways:

The intern in this position will have an opportunity to become familiar with existing OA lesson plans, Washington State academic standards, and using the NANOOS Visualization System (NVS) to access available data and what constitutes a successful curriculum. Then update the lesson plans so that they adhere to the standards.

The candidate best suited for this internship position:

• No required skills, but enthusiasm and good communication skills are a plus.