Help Map Our Communities While Gaining Valuable Professional Development: Stewardship Asset Mapping in Forests & Communities FS-USA-10
Join the Cherokee National Forest of Tennessee and The National Forests in North Carolina in creating maps demonstrating community assets, trails, wildlife habitat, partnerships, and more!
Have you ever wondered where all of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data and imagery comes from that is used in applications like Google Earth, Google Maps, Apple Maps? On public lands such as the Cherokee National Forest and National Forests in North Carolina, there are GIS data that is mapped for public use. Some examples of GIS data created for the public are campgrounds, trails, forest roads, plants, and wildlife. We are looking for an intern to help assist us in the preparation and dissemination of National Forest GIS data for the public use.
Potential roles, responsibilities, and projects may include: Manipulating and analyzing geospatial data to support resource management;
Participating in the creation of maps depicting natural resources, topography, and cartography data that are used in the creation of thematic map products and presentation materials for resource management projects;
Documenting the recreation, research, conservation, and wildlife organizations and institutions that are serving the land and the areas they serve;
Researching community assets and civic stewardship groups;
Finalizing and distributing surveys;
Establishing relationships with community organizations;
Developing informational one-pagers to share to stewardship groups;
Collecting survey data;
Creating an accessible spreadsheet/database of community asset information;
Multiple projects within this profile are available.
Projects will be utilized for community emergency response, leveraging finite resources, strengthening community connections, accelerating landscape-scale conservation by promoting coordination, collaboration, and synergies across mixed ownerships. Other potential projects include assisting the GIS Team in improving the accuracy and completeness of U.S. Forest Service GIS data of natural resources and infrastructure such as trails, recreation sites, and wildlife habitat.
This position is 100% telework. Volunteers must have access to their own computer, Esri software, and equipment. Preferred experience with Esri software and ArcGIS Online (AGOL).
We care about you and your career path. Therefore, this internship includes multiple professional development opportunities such as:
- A virtual panel with USFS employees around diverse career paths within the Forest Service
- Webinars overviewing post-graduate opportunities, pathways to hire into the Forest Service, and ways to increase your competitiveness for Forest Service and federal jobs
- Opportunities to present to a Regional and National audience on the program and deliverables;
- Connections with the Southern Region’s Recruitment Team to support job skills like building a federal resume, navigating USAJobs, and interviewing for federal jobs
- Mentors will provide endorsement of skills & recommendations on LinkedIn following a VSFS’s interns successful completion of the program/academic year
VSFS interns will be signed up under Individual Volunteer Agreements (OF-301a). All VSFS interns are required to record their hours worked on this project and will be reported in the Volunteer & Service Programs Accomplishments Database (VSReports), the Forest Service’s official national reporting database.