Education Interns Spring 2025 (2 positions available)

Deadline: January 15th, 2025

Employment Type: Temporary

Federal Position? No

Salary: $650 per week, housing may be available

Anticipated start date: Spring Season-April-June 2025

Location: Edgewater, MD

Work Model: Onsite and in-person

OVERVIEW

Do you enjoy teaching students, and are you interested in a career in Environmental Education? SERC is looking for Spring interns (2) for April-June 2025. We are searching for college students and recent graduates. 

SERC Education Interns work with Education staff and learn how to deliver hands-on science based on the practices of science of our Smithsonian scientists. This means setting up and taking down program materials, delivering programs to school groups (K-12th grade) and public programs, working with volunteers, and caring for fish tanks and turtles.  Education Interns are a part of the larger Public Engagement (PE) team and will meet with PE staff biweekly, including those from Citizen Science, Environmental Literacy, and media. 

Interns will undergo extensive training, ranging from safety and group management to biophobia, culturally responsive teaching and program content, and best practices for delivering programs for various ages and grades. 

A collaborative Education Intern will: 

• Learn how to deliver hands-on in-person and interactive virtual field trips, with skills such as facilitating the field trip, delivering the content, and managing groups. 
• Build a basic Chesapeake Bay ecosystem content knowledge of biotic and abiotic systems.
• Create content related to delivering either onsite or virtual field trips, activities, and sessions (written or visual)
• Learn and apply skills related to group management for the virtual and in-person programs.
• Work effectively with volunteers while supporting the Education Program (from a variety of backgrounds) 
• Learn how to track and manage group program information, bookings, and group interactions. 
• Create a final project in agreement on the topic with the Education Director.
• Create a 3-minute synopsis video about your project.

WEEKLY DUTIES: 

• Assigned readings of training materials, program content, and background for programs (some reading may be after hours)
• Meetings with Education staff and regularly communicating via Microsoft Teams
• Check-ins/working on the final intern project
• Attending training by Education staff
• Updating group contact information, notes, and bookings
• Co-hosting and facilitating online programs as needed
• Onsite care of large aquaria and live turtles 
• Manage and maintain program materials, set up and take-down for programs
• Lead onsite programs for small groups
• Occasional Saturday programs may be required, but this will be flexed with the regular work-week

Each intern must prepare and present a research project focused on environmental education, with an agreed-upon topic discussed with staff. Presentations will be 15-30 minutes each. 

Topics of interest in the past have included: 

• Classroom Cultivation: Installing permanent bogs for the classroom
• Take me to your anther: creating a curriculum for nectar guides
• Green school distribution and economic patterns in Maryland
• Oyster restoration and data literacy 
• Spotted salamander identification by spot pattern: a dataset for classrooms
• Researching and outlining an eBook for the Movement of Life initiative

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, send an email or letter of interest, resume, and 3 references to Karen McDonald (McDonaldK@si.edu). In your email/letter of interest, please include a statement about why you’re interested in joining us, what talents you would bring to the program, and any limitations you may have regarding starting and ending dates. 

CONTACT

Karen McDonald

STEM Program Coordinator

SERC Education Department

McDonaldK@si.edu 

ABOUT SERC

SERC is a research center of the Smithsonian Institution, located in Edgewater, MD on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, approximately 10 miles south of Annapolis, 40 miles west of Washington DC, and 40 miles south of Baltimore. SERC's 2,650-acre campus is a living laboratory for long-term ecosystem research on forests, farmland, wetlands, shorelines, and estuaries. The SERC campus contains a laboratory and office complex, as well as education and waterfront facilities, dormitories for interns, and guest housing for visitors. 

The Smithsonian Institution is an equal opportunity employer, committed to a policy of non-discrimination on the basis of race/ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital, parental, or caregiver status, and disability. The SERC community recognizes the value of workforce diversity, and we strongly encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. We recognize that each applicant for this role will bring unique skills, knowledge, experiences, and background to this position.