Stipend: $600/week ($15/hr)
Internship Length:12 weeks, full time (average 40 hrs/wk)
Number of Positions: 1
Application Deadline:4/5/2024
Internship Start Date: 5/13/2024
Reports to: Interpretative Ranger at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
YES (Youth Empowerment Stewards) Program:
Are you passionate about disability rights and accessibility in National Parks and public lands? Do you identify as having a disability yourself? Work with us and help increase access to the outdoors for everyone. Our health, our planet, and our collective future rely on diversity – in thought, ability, experience, and ideas. That’s why we need YOU. Become a Youth Empowerment Steward (YES) intern and help make the outdoors more accessible for all!
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Ornithology Kit-Creator YES Intern:
Stewards Individual Placements provides individuals with AmeriCorps service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. YES interns focus on barriers to entry for individuals with disabilities in the outdoor workplace.Stewards, in partnership with Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, are seeking a YES intern who will play a critical role in helping Agate Fossil Beds National Monument better serve our local communities by improving accessibility for patrons and staff.
The interpretation department within Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is responsible for safely and inclusively educating the public about the park's resources of 23 million year old mammal fossils; the friendship between a rancher and an Oglala Lakota chief, as well as the collection of artifacts gifted to the rancher's family from the chief's family; and the history of ranching within the Midwest.
For park visitors wanting to view wildlife species in their natural habitat, birds tend to be the most visible group at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. At least 73 bird species have been identified so far in the park. Habitat diversity contributes significantly to the avian species richness, exemplifying a cross-section of the upper Niobrara River valley to include a floodplain alternating with wetland and riparian habitats, grassy upland prairie, and rocky bluffs. For those hiking the trails, picnicking outside the Visitor Center, or enjoying a scenic vista, the variety of birds at the park enriches many visitors' experiences and deepens appreciation for the many facets of the natural world.
The YES intern will be tasked with enhancing the park visitor experience by creating synchronous and asynchronous structured activities for novice and expert birders. The main deliverable would be birding kits tailored to this park that visitors could borrow then return at the front desk. Assembling this kit would require the intern to take color photos, create appropriate descriptions, and sound recordings (or find common-use materials online) for each of the local bird species. These would be organized in such a manner that is easy for novice birders to use and carry while hiking a trail. The intern would to intimately learn the local bird fauna and communicate these insights to kit users, including hints toward species identification (e.g. distinguishing patterns or mannerisms to discern between similar species, species tendencies toward particular locations or habitats, ideal viewing times or seasons). The intention is to enhance the user's ability to detect species beyond simply selecting them from a set of field guide images.
The YES intern will also have the autonomy to choose another deliverable item that piques their interest and would support visitors’ appreciation and enjoyment of birding. Possible suggestions include a birding pop-up activity for visitors to enjoy with the intern or other rangers, a sunrise birding hike with visitors on a park trail, or designing a new birding page on the park website.
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Create birding kits specific to the park's area. These kits should engage the average visitor who may or may not be an avid birder. These kits also need to be inclusive and accessible to people with a variety of disabilities. This may mean creating several different types of kits and reaching out to local disability communities for support.
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Support the park's mission to be inclusive. Walk around the park, explore the exhibits, read the website, talk to the different park departments. Share your creative ideas on what would make the park a more inclusive place where you would take your family and friends.
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Create birding kits
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Locate common bird species via a database and actual observations
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Research birding kits from other NPS sites and/or museums
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Review items to determine if more than one type of kit is appropriate in order to be inclusive to people with disabilities
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Test the kits with individuals, review use, collect feedback, and adapt the kits as needed