3 AMAZING USDA Internships for Spring 2017; College Credit Available!

3 AMAZING USDA internship positions!  All majors may apply!   Part-time (preferably 20 hours per week); college credit available.  Strong outreach, research and writing skills. For more information, call either Dr. Joan Burton, 301-314-1920or Ms. Naz Beyran, 301-314-0261. 

To Apply: Send resume and short writing sample directly to nbeyran@umd.edu ASAP, The student should state for which position(s) he or she is applying (or rank the positions).  

Special, high value USDA internship positions!  To be filled ASAP!

Position 1)      NAREEE (National Research/Economics) Advisory Board, which is under the ARS (Agricultural Research Service) Office of the Administrator.

Overview: The office is responsible for managing several advisory boards for USDA, specifically within the research, education, and economics mission area.  Duties: Student to help with a variety of tasks. This will include (1) making a plan and working closely with the IT staff to complete a full revamp of the NAREEE (National Research/Economics) Advisory Board’s webpage, (2) assisting with outreach for nominations for members, and (3) assisting with preparing for three upcoming meetings. Hours: 20 Hours/Week

Position 2)       Agricultural Research Service (LTAR)

Description: ARS research is organized into National Programs. These programs serve to bring coordination, communication, and empowerment to approximately 750 research projects carried out by ARS. The National Programs focus on the relevance, impact, and quality of ARS research.

Duties: The intern will benefit from exposure to agricultural sustainability concepts from both a science and policy perspective, agroecosystem states and processes, and environmental data collection. The project will require direct interactions with ARS and ERS scientists.

Skills: Microsoft Office computer skills, written-communication skills  Hours: 20 hours/week  

Position 3)    Grand Challenge Position

Overview: The ARS Grand Challenge seeks to Transform Agriculture to Deliver a 20% Increase in Quality Food Availability at a 20% Lower Environmental Impact by 2025.  However, baseline and target levels of production (+20%) and environmental effects (-20%) need to be defined to measure success. Key questions about this include: What increased yield levels need to be reached locally, regionally and nationally to declare success? What decreased environmental impacts of production need to be reached locally, regionally and nationally to declare success? What projected changes of climate must be accounted for when seeking to increase production and reduce environmental impacts?  Duties: The intern will address these questions via a survey of literature and data from NASS, ERS, NRCS and NGOs to produce a series of plots like the one below for different crops and regions of the US.  The intern will benefit from exposure to agriculture production and climate change science, environmental sustainability, and coarse scale data collection and synthesis. The project will require direct interactions with ARS, ERS and NRCS scientists. The student will also interact with the ARS EMBRAPA liaison.

Skills: Interest in Agricultural Sustainability, Microsoft Office computer skills, written-communication skills  Hours: 20 Hours/Week

Students should send their application materials directly to nbeyran@umd.edu.  

If students wish to discuss the position, they are most welcome to call either Dr. Joan Burton, 301-314-1920 or Ms. Naz Beyran, 301-314-0261.