Overview

The Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon (ASA) is seeking interns to assist its international team of biologists and conservationists with various projects spanning biological research and monitoring, reforestation, and conservation.

LENGTH OF STAY: 4, 8 or 12 weeks
DATES: Visit www.sustainableamazon.org to learn more.
LOCATION: Peru, Madre de Dios region.
WEBSITE: https://www.sustainableamazon.org/internshipprogram

Our internships are designed to provide individuals – students, early-career or aspiring scientists, and others with a deep interest in the Amazon, the tropics more generally, or Latin America – with the chance to learn through direct, hands-on engagement with our three focal areas: research, reforestation, and education.

Each of our three internship programs share a common academic structure that includes an exploration of topics in tropical biology, conservation, and sustainable development through lectures, readings in the primary literature, guided discussions and, of course, in-depth independent study. Learn more about these exciting opportunities!

Skills developed by interns

All programs:

  • Training in basic field research skills, including off-trail navigation and use of GPS and GIS, techniques used in studies of tropical biodiversity, ecology, and conservation (e.g., experimental design, data collection and management, forest inventory plots, wildlife and insect survey methods, camera trapping, etc.)
  • Identification of major Amazonian plant and animal groups (e.g., trees, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, insects and other invertebrates)
  • Tropical reforestation and sustainable agroforestry methods and practices
  • Weekly assigned readings on topics covering tropical biology, sustainable development, and conservation
  • Guided reading discussions from the primary literature

Advanced & Academic Quarter programs:

  • Advanced field research methodology through in-depth Independent Research Project

Example Intern Activities

Biological research & monitoring

  • Butterfly ecology, evolution, & natural history – participate in an ongoing, long-term study to understand butterfly diversity and biology, including butterfly collecting and rearing for host plant records
  • Biological inventories – insects, birds, mammals, trees/plants
  • Plant phenology (fruiting and flowering of select trees and plants) – to monitor changes over time in a changing climate

Reforestation & sustainable agroforestry

  • Reforestation with native species to provide friendly alternatives to unsustainable agriculture in our region
  • Experimental agroforestry plots (e.g., to test effects of composting, biochar, & other organic fertilizers, intercropping, integrated pest management, etc.
  • Shade house and tree nursery management practices
  • Native food forest monitoring – a future forest of native species with food, building, and/or medicinal uses

Independent Research Project

As well as the activities listed above, all interns will have the added opportunity to develop an independent research project on a topic of their choosing, under the supervision of our academic faculty. This will allow interns to build upon what they have learned at the beginning of the program and apply it to a project in an area that is novel or interesting to them. Topics may also be assigned in an area of our faculty’s academic expertise, including wildlife biology and ecology, entomology, botany, natural history, sustainable agroforestry, and community development. This optional project will provide participants with a more thorough insight into the process of scientific discovery and conservation in the tropics.

Past interns have completed a variety of projects, including the construction of artificial macaw nest boxes, inventories of rain forest carbon stocks, and diagnostic surveys in local communities, among others. Follow this link to view published interns research reports: www.sustainableamazon.org/publications

Requirements

An academic background or strong interest in biology, conservation, or sustainable development is highly recommended for all interns. We do not offer academic credit through our organization, but we are happy to sign documents for credit from your home institution. All instruction at the field site is in English. Although Spanish is not required, basic skills will be very useful.

More information and how to apply

For more details about our Internship Programs in the Peruvian Amazon and how to apply please visit our website https://www.sustainableamazon.org/internshipprogram

For general inquiries please contact us at info@sustainableamazon.org. Please consider that this opportunity has fees attached.

About Alliance For A Sustainable Amazon

The Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon is a nonprofit working to conserve biodiversity and other natural resources in the Peruvian Amazon, for the benefit of all those who live in and depend on the rainforest.