RISE Internship: Global Fisheries Resilience Intern at Environmental Defense Fund
Position Title: Global Fisheries Resilience Intern
Hours/Week: 28 hours/week, Monday-Thursday
Internship Date Range: Summer 2025 (10 weeks)
Location: Remote. Intern supervisor is in Santa Barbara, CA, with many team members in Boston, MA and Portland, Maine.
About the Resilience Internships and Student Experiences (RISE) Program
The RISE Program is hosted by the Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR) and provides undergraduate and graduate students with paid internships related to resilient environments and societies. RISE internships give students experience in workplace settings with an opportunity to grow their interpersonal skills and prepare them for careers after graduation.
About the Environmental Defense Fund:
With world attention focused on both the environment and the economy, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is where policymakers and business leaders turn for win-win solutions. This leading green group, with programs from Boston to Beijing, has tripled in size over the past decade by focusing on strong science, uncommon partnerships and market-based approaches. You can be part of a vibrant workplace that welcomes diverse perspectives, talents and contributions, where innovation and a focus on results are a way of life.
The goal of EDF's Ocean Science Program is to deliver the science that will help build resilient oceans that provide more fish in the water, more - and more secure - food on the plate and more prosperous fishing communities, all over the world, even with climate change. In recent years, we have focused on the science behind robust transformations of fisheries management in the U.S., China, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Belize, Cuba and Europe, working in partnership with diverse stakeholders and coastal communities. Scientific priorities include developing new approaches to understand and address the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems, including not only resilient fisheries, but also complementary engagements that enhance marine and coastal ecosystem resilience and human wellbeing, especially for disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.
Internship summary:
The intern will support FishSCORE, an UN endorsed program to build a global network to sustain, protect, and secure equitable benefits from fisheries in a changing ocean, by assisting in the analysis of information collected from participants in the FishSCORE Network. This may include the impact of climate change on various marine fisheries and their experiences in advancing climate-resilience strategies to sustain these fisheries into the future. The intern will synthesize the results from an online questionnaire to FishSCORE participants, and will assist in summarizing and visualizing the results, and will help interpret results in the context of the broader literature. The intern will assist with manuscript preparation and reporting of the analysis through public formats, such as web page summaries and non-technical reports. Additionally, they may support other program-related tasks, such as summarizing information about climate resilience case studies, assisting in the development of a climate resilient fisheries resource hub, workshop design and planning, and other opportunities as needed. The intern will be part of cutting-edge work that directly addresses climate change at the intersection of science, community, and policy. The intern will report to the Small-Scale Fisheries Solutions Scientist within the Ocean Science Team at EDF, and will be guided by the broader FishSCORE Coordination Group, offering opportunities for mentorship from scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Key Responsibilities
Tasks will include but are not limited to:
- Analyze responses to an online questionnaire focused on understanding climate impacts to diverse fisheries around the world, and identifying climate resilience knowledge gaps and strategies currently being applied or considered to advance climate resilience.
- Perform literature reviews to assist in the analysis and manuscript development of the questionnaire results or for other synthesis efforts underway as part of FishSCORE.
- Participate in meetings of the FishSCORE Coordination Group, the leadership group of the program which develops programmatic activities.
- Support other program-related activities, such as summarizing information about climate resilience case studies, assisting in the revision of the Climate-Resilient Fisheries Planning Tool resource hub (https://climateresilientfisheries.net/), workshop design and planning, and/or communications and other opportunities as needed.
- Participate in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.
Qualifications
- Enrolled in a graduate degree program in environmental science, marine science, social science, or other relevant fields and/or demonstrated interest in environmental science, fisheries biology, marine policy, marine ecology, social or economic aspects of fishery systems, or similar.
- Coursework in statistics, fisheries management or policy, marine ecology, or social sciences is recommended.
- Experience in data analysis and synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data, including interpreting and writing results of data analyses.
- Demonstrated experience conducting literature searches, reviews, and summaries.
- Basic proficiency in statistics and Microsoft Excel.
- Proficiency in R and coding of qualitative survey data is a plus.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Must be well organized, motivated, and detail-oriented.
- Ability to multitask, prioritize and meet deadlines.
- Ability to work independently and in a team setting.
- Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds.
- Demonstrate initiative and problem solving skills.
Compensation:
The intern will be hired and paid by the University of Arizona. The pay rate is $18/hour.
How to Apply:
Applicants must be active U of A students enrolled in at least 6 credits. The intern will be hired as a U of A student employee. Please note:
- During the semester, student employees are limited to 25 hours/week (20 hours/week for international students) across ALL U of A positions.
- During the summer, student employees are limited to 35 hours/week across ALL U of A positions.
International students should consult with International Student Services (ISS) if work authorization is needed before securing an internship. ISS advising information can be found here.
Interested applicants should attach their cover letter and resume to the EDF application here.
Applications must be submitted no later than March 2nd, 2025.