Student Temporary Experience Program (STEP) Bulletin:

College Summer Science Research Internship Position

at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is looking for a college undergraduate student interested in employment as a Biological Science Aid. The student in this position will learn field research techniques hands-on for the study of ozone, plants, fungi, insects, snails, reptiles, amphibians, and other animals. The student will be collecting real data to be used to protect the national park. The Aid will work with small groups of two to three high school interns and work under park staff and with visiting researchers. Activities may include sorting, pinning, and/or labeling biological specimens, recording observations in the field, entering data into computer databases, hiking with a heavy back under various conditions of heat, cold or rain, and occasional work in streams.

Projects that might be worked on during the summer:

• Continue a mark and recapture study of salamander populations,
• Monitoring a native plants garden to assess the effects of ozone on leaves,
• Study of vesper sparrow family groups,
• Find and identify plant galls and rearing the insects within,
• Study and identify moths, mushrooms, spiders, and planthoppers,
• Determine which species of insect pollinate which species of flower,
• Study the bacteria and archaea of the park.

Dates of employment:

June 1 through at least July 23^rd (may be an opportunity for a one-week extension)

Position is part-time, not to exceed 39 hours per week, usually 32 hours per week

Note: volunteer positions may be available for students who cannot commit to the entire period of employment.

Requirements for the position:

• You must be at least 18 years old at the time of appointment to the position,
• You must be a citizen of the United States,
• You must be enrolled at least half-time at a college/university/technical school for the spring and fall.

If you are interested in employment, please provide

• A resume (work experience, courses taken, volunteer experience, hobbies, etc.),
• Proof of enrollment in school for the spring and fall semesters,
• The phone number of one or more references, someone unrelated to you who knows your work, and
• A letter explaining why this would be the perfect job for you this summer and what you would like to get out of this experience.
• [If you are a veteran, please provide a copy of form DD214]

Send applications to: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, P.O. Box 357, Lake Junaluska, NC, 28745

Postmarked by March 20^th, 2004

If you have questions concerning the employment process and the STEP program, please contact Beverly Slaybaugh at the Human Resources Office of the Park, 865-436-1273.

If you have questions about the location and duties of the position, contact Paul Super or Susan Sachs at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center, 828-926-6251.

This position is made possible by a grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.