Wildlife GIS Intern

Job Summary

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) provides outdoor recreation activities and manages Minnesota’s natural resources to create economic opportunity and a sustainable quality of life. We are driven to find talented, innovative employees to help us carry out this mission.

This posting will be used to fill up to 1 Wildlife GIS internship located in Brainerd.

The primary responsibility of the intern is to assist wildlife damage personnel in the application of GIS to track the wildlife damage management program.  The intern must be comfortable working alone, or conversely as part of a team.  The intern may be working in an office alone or with immediate supervision.  The intern will also spend time in the field with wildlife damage management staff to visit sites for which GIS layers will be developed and to test new applications.  Application development and testing will include both desktop GIS technology as well as remote tablet technology.  Some tasks in the field could include strenuous physical labor using various hand tools and small equipment. The intern must have GIS skills sufficient to build and manage GIS data layers using ArcGIS.

The anticipated dates for this internship are early June through late August. Housing is not provided.

The primary emphasis for the internship will be:

• GIS Data Development – digitize point, line, and polygon data using ArcGIS.  Work with wildlife damage management staff and GIS staff to understand data needs, and design data layers and attribute tables.  Populate attribute tables with appropriate data.
• Database Creation/Management – work with wildlife damage management staff to create and manage an Excel spreadsheet to track different wildlife damage assistance measures based on the species and location of damage.
• Field Application of GIS – travel with wildlife damage management staff or area wildlife staff to private landowner sites and assisting with and assessing needs of private landowners to deal with damage to crops from wildlife. Assist in testing tablet based app for field collecting wildlife damage data required for the grower to qualify for program assistance.  Learn about what the wildlife damage management program does to assist agricultural growers and will work closely with staff to apply this knowledge to the previous two emphasis areas.
• Learn Natural Resource Department Operations – Learn the general procedures that allow for day-to-day operation of a state department of natural resource agency and how state agencies work consistently with a wide variety of public interests.

Minimum Qualifications

To be eligible for an Internship, you must meet the following requirements:

1. You must be a student at an accredited educational institution; AND
2. Your advisor must certify that you will either receive academic credit or fulfill an academic requirement. The signature of a sponsoring academic instructor is required prior to beginning an Internship.

AND

• Majoring in one of the following areas: Geography, Biology, Natural Resources, Fisheries or Wildlife Management, Recreation, Resource Management, Ecology, Environmental Science, or related degree. Please contact us if you are unsure if your major qualifies.
  • Note: Geography major should have an interest in applying geography to natural resource management. All other majors should have an interest and some coursework that emphasizes GIS application to natural resource management.
• Ability and willingness to work in adverse weather and environmental conditions (hot, wet, mud, bugs, etc.).
• Ability to lift and carry equipment.
• Must possess moderate proficiency with word processing, spreadsheets, and database programs sufficient to enter and edit data using department applications.
• Organizational skills and ability to accurately record, transcribe, and transfer data electronically.
• Ability to work cooperatively as part of a small team.
• Excellent human relation and communication skills sufficient to represent the position and Division in a professional, efficient, and clear manner.

Preferred Qualifications

• Coursework in applications of GIS to natural resource management or related courses with a grade of C or better.
• Ability or experience with Geographic Information System (GIS) and application in the field including GPS.
• Demonstrated attention to detail in recording data.
• Formal training in geo-spatial (ArcGIS) software with proficiency sufficient to create survey maps and edit data.
• Advanced database knowledge and experience using software to organize, query, and edit large datasets.
• Experience navigating with GPS.
• Experience conducting natural resource related field inventory surveys that require following a standardized protocol.

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