Prince William County
Primary Program Area Focus: Natural Resources
Describe the plans for this internship. (i.e. What specifically will the intern be doing?)
A Natural Resources Extension Intern provides field-work and logistical support toward development, implementation and evaluation of Natural Resource related Extension efforts lead by the Forestry & Natural Resources (FNR) Extension Agent. Expertise includes, but is not limited to, Environmental Education, Forest Management, Fish and Wildlife Issues, Urban Forestry and Water Quality. This will happen primarily in the context of the Mana LEAF site (Manassas Link to Education About Forests) at joint project with the Virginia Department of Forestry and the Manassas National Battlefield Park near Gainesville, VA. Housing may be available.
The intern will support the Northern District Natural Resource Extension program by delivery and testing of the following educational curricula and tools:
- A full-day educational program utilizing both properties to teach Landowners various forest & wildlife management techniques.
- A half-day program to train Extension Volunteers and the general public in the region on basic forest & wildlife ecology subjects.
- Static interpretive tools such as signs, printed brochures and YouTube Videos to convey key information pieces and showcase the partnership.
- Miscellaneous educational offerings (variety of focus and variety of ages) for use with groups requesting brief tours.
- The intern will also conduct field-work on the respective properties in support of the outreach focus.
These tasks may include:
- Forest and field resource inventory and analysis work (this data will be used in development of educational material).
- A review and compilation of the natural & cultural history of the State Forest.
- Invasive plant identification, mapping and control.
- He/she will also assist with the design, coordination and delivery of miscellaneous local extension programs as possible by working with myself and with local agents.
Describe the knowledge / skills that the intern is expected to gain from this experience.
The Extension Intern will gain leadership, organizational and educational program design & delivery skills as they are involved with needs assessment, program development, delivery and evaluation. This will happen primarily in the context of program delivery of a field-based outreach program based on the public properties of Manassas National Battlefield and Conway Robinson State Forest and program partnerships of VCE, VDOF and NPS.
They will also gain practical communications skills, natural resource quantification proficiency and working with others from different backgrounds.
How will the intern learn about the breadth of VCE and our various program areas?
The intern will assist with other ANR and 4-H programs by working through local VCE offices (Prince William and Fauquier) to create opportunities for increased intern exposure. I will also orient the intern to the VCE system throughout the summer as we work together.