Thursday, March 8, 2018

Water Quality Program Intern - Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (Alliance) is a regional nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring together individuals, organizations, businesses and governments to find collaborative solutions, to build a strong commitment to stewardship, and to deliver innovative, broadly-supported programs that benefit the land, waters and residents of the Chesapeake Bay. The Alliance implements local programs that connect people to their local river and become directly involved in local restoration efforts. The Alliance was founded in 1971 and has offices in Annapolis, MD, Camp Hill, PA, and Richmond, VA.

The Water Quality Program Intern will be based in the Richmond office and focus on promoting Alliance programs through a variety of communication channels. The main focus will include our water quality monitoring programs RiverTrends and the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (volunteer water quality monitoring). RiverTrends is the Alliance’s citizen water quality monitoring program and is a regional network of over 50 trained volunteers who perform monthly water quality tests that help track the condition of local waterways the flow into the Chesapeake Bay. The Alliance has been coordinating RiverTrends for over 30 years in partnership with DEQ. The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative is larger effort to integrate volunteer-based water quality and macroinvertebrate monitoring data into the Chesapeake Bay Program parnterhsip.

Activities:

  • Become a RiverTrends certified monitor and set up a site for the Alliance to conduct water quality monitoring.
  • Assist with RiverTrends certification trainings.
  • Assist with data entry and quality assurance checks for citizen water quality monitoring program and streamwalk program.
  • Assist with data conversion from our current access database into our new Chesapeake Data Explorer.
  • Assist with research and outreach to current monitoring groups throughout Virginia to engage them in the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative.
  • Assist with outreach to find new monitoring groups and expand the program in the Piedmont and Coastal Virginia areas.
  • Assist with online/social media communications, article writing to promote programs, and website development and maintenance.
  • Assist in preparation for outreach and volunteer events.

Qualifications:
  • Possess a strong work and environmental ethic.
  • Good writing abilities and verbal communication skills.
  • Knowledge and experience with social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress blogs.
  • Superb organizational skills and attention to detail.

Time Commitment: The office is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Volunteer work hours may be flexible within this schedule in agreement with the supervisor. Some after-hours and weekend work may be required. A minimum of 10 hours per week of volunteer service are expected for this position. The position agreement is for three to six months or until school requirements are satisfied. The commitment may extend depended on the needs of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the performance of the volunteer.


Position starts May 2018 or September 2018.