Latvian Fund for Nature offers a unique internship position for natural sciences Bachelor student interested in working with grassland habitat inventories and management in urban grasslands. You will have an opportunity to participate in the project GrassLIFE, which is a nation-wide grassland restoration project, dealing with EU priority grassland habitats.
Interns will be provided with the initial training in plant identification upon starting the internship and afterwards tasked with independent work under a supervision of an experienced grassland habitat expert. The work will involve extensive fieldwork, working outdoors in various weather conditions and participation in practical management and restoration activities in the field (inventories of urban grasslands, grassland seed collection), combined with data assembling about plant species. We will provide interns with means of transport and will cover the transport and accommodation costs while working in the field (if those costs would not be covered by Erasmus or other scholarship).
Detailed description of main tasks
Task 1: preparing species descriptions about plants characteristic for urban grasslands
(temporal frame: 4 days a week in May)
Intern duties will focus primarily on creating a particular urban meadow plant's profile based on scientific research about plant ecology - soil and environmental needs, specific relationships with pollinators, uses for phytoremediation, e.t.c.
Task 2: fieldwork with plant species identification in urban grasslands
(temporal frame: 2-4 days a week in June-August)
Intern duties will focus on assisting in the field surveys in urban meadow and meadow 1m2 monitoring: counts of plant species cover in permanent and semi-permanent plots (standard methodology for vegetation description). Other duties may include miscellaneous tasks, as needed, to support the monitoring sites, e.g. sward management in experimental plots (grass cutting, weeding).
Task 3: fieldwork with collecting seeds in grasslands and road verges
(temporal frame: 2-4 days a week in July-August)
Intern duties will focus primarily on particular plant seed collection in semi-natural meadows, road verges, and field edges. The supervisor will provide plant identification in different plant development stages.
Possible additional tasks:
4. Fieldwork in grassland habitat monitoring.
5. Data entry and analysis in the office.
Duration: 4 months
Period: 1 May to 31 August, 2022
Deadline to apply: 30 November 2021
Field of studies: natural sciences / agricultural sciences / geography or geology
Commitment: 4 days per week
Years of experience required: Yes
Level of studies: Bachelor
Skills required:
- English: Independent User B2
- Drivers licence (EU category B)
- Basic knowledge in plant species determination
- Knowledge of ecology of semi-natural grassland ecosystems
- Research skills
- Computer skills (Word, Spreadsheets, databases)
- Interpersonal skills - being able to work independently, as well as working in team; proactivity
- Working knowledge of Latin for species identification would be an advantage
Additional information:
- The internship is UNPAID, priority will be given to applicants who are part or are planning to apply for Erasmus Plus or other scholarship.
- Legal eligibility to work in the EU is a must.
- Foreign students should be covered by health and travel insurance from their home country.
How to apply:
Option 1: apply via Erasmus internship portal www.erasmusintern.org, the direct link to the announcement here: https://erasmusintern.org/traineeship/
Option 2: apply by sending an e-mail with Motivation Letter and your CV to Latvian Fund for Nature at ldf@ldf.lv
Internship position at Latvian Fund for Nature - urban grassland inventory and management description in .pdf here.
Blaumana st. 32-8
Phone: +371 67830999
E-mail: ldf@ldf.lv