The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation is offering a dozen internships for the summer that range a variety of industries from government, to communications, to environmental affairs. I’ve highlighted a bunch of my favorite options, but we sure to head over to MOJO  to learn more about these and others, and to apply! The deadline for all NYC Dept. of Parks and Rec. internships is March 16. **Although these internships areunpaid, you can apply for funding through Middlebury at go/summerfunding by April 4.

1. Capital Management Services Intern at NYC Department of Parks & Recreation in NYC

For those interested in finance or government, the Management Services Team for the Department’s Capital Division is comprised of four units: Contracts, Finance/Accounting, Consultant Project Management and Budget. The intern will be responsible to conduct due diligence reviews on existing and new construction contractors as part of the Agency’s vendor review process. Duties will include the research, review and analysis of vendor data from various sources including: public databases and web research.

2. Environmental Education Intern at City Parks Foundation in NYC

City Parks Foundation’s (CPF) education department connects teachers, students and families to local parks by providing hands-on programs that meet specific community needs and public educational standards. CPF Education targets Title 1 schools in low-income and remote communities throughout the five boroughs and encourages schools to select special needs and bilingual/dual language programs to participate in its programs. Interns would work with educators to deliver public programs and assist CPF Education teachers on lesson preparation. In the summer lessons are taught entirely outdoors with school summer programs, camps, organizations, and adult learners (from special need adults to the elderly).

3. Natural Areas Monitoring Intern at Natural Resources Group in NYC

Established in 1984, the Natural Resources Group (NRG) is responsible for acquisition, protection, restoration, and management of remnant and restored natural areas within the 28,000 acres of City parkland. To aid in protecting and managing natural areas, this intern will conduct landscape level vegetation mapping in city parks and natural areas within New York City. Under the guidance of an NRG forester tasks will include: vegetation monitoring, including the classification of plant types, land use analysis, historical and current use, and aerial photo interpretation; various office and field tasks, including GIS, data entry, map and report creation, and photo archiving.

4. Sustainability Initiatives Intern at NYC Department of Parks & Recreation in NYC

The Sustainability Initiatives Office serves as a catalyst, hub, and advocate for the integration of sustainable practices throughout agency divisions. Intern projections include the following: attending and participating in Sustainable Parks meetings and in meetings at the Mayor’s Office, conducting field visits to parks around the city to gather crucial information on sustainable maintenance and operations practices, organizing educational events to engage employees and the public in resource conservation, creating and maintaining a tracking system for performance indicators, and more!

5. Natural Resources Crew Intern at Prospect Park in NYC

The Natural Resources Crew of Prospect Park manages 250 acres of woodlands and 62 acres of water bodies located within historic Prospect Park. Interns will have the opportunity to take part in a variety of projects including woodland restoration, lake/pond monitoring and restoration, and vegetation monitoring. Work in monitoring will include data collection of both water quality and related indicators, or of an ongoing terrestrial woodland project. Interns will be able to learn techniques for all of the above tasks, native and exotic plant identification, and all about the details of operating a wild urban park.

6. Office of the Commissioner Intern at NYC Department of Parks & Recreation in NYC

The Commissioner’s office oversees all divisions and operations of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. The office is responsible for managing Commissioner Benepe’s workload and schedule, preparing him for and accompanying him on events, managing his phone calls, and also receives correspondence from constituents, elected officials, and other city agencies for the entire Parks Department. Intern duties are diverse and dynamic, offering a chance to learn about the Parks Department and City government at all levels; the intern will help manage and delegate responsibility for the hundreds of emails, letters, and 311 calls that come into the office each week. The intern will also have the regular opportunity to accompany Commissioner Benepe on press events, field outings, and ribbon cuttings.

Middlebury FoodWorks: Louisville is a new, nine-week PAID internship program—with FREE housing—that focuses on the local food economy in Louisville, KY. The program includes four-day/week internships with a company or organization working on developing the local food economy in Louisville, and also offers profound personal engagement among interns, members of the local food sector, Middlebury alumni, and the Greater Louisville community. There are 12 exciting positions now available in city government, microenterprise and economic development, health and nutrition, retail, publishing, with non-profits, AND yes, on farms and in restaurants.

While there are several internships with a traditional focus on food & agriculture and energy & the environment, I’ve chosen to highlight a number of awesome opportunities for those interested in the following career fields: Retail & Merchandising, Communications & Media, Education, Research, Science & Technology, Architecture & Planning, Non-profit, Consulting, and Social Enterprise. If you are interested in this outstanding internship program, head over to MOJO to learn more and apply today—the deadline is March 2!

Food and Farming Microlending Intern at Seed Capital

This Intern will focus on an entrepreneurial approach to developing Louisville’s local food economy by supporting the development of a microlending system between farmers and food entrepreneurs. The intern will help Seed Capital Kentucky define the microlending model to directly connect funding from organizations and individuals to farmers and food entrepreneurs. The intern will also be involved in many other activities related to this startup nonprofit, including planning a TEDx event  and developing a local food heroes trading card program for raising awareness of the local food system.

Childhood Obesity and Local Food Access Intern at Louisville Metro Government

This intern will work directly with youth advocates to help them become entrepreneurial agents within their own communities who, through urban agriculture, can increase access to fresh produce in under-served neighborhoods and work to prevent childhood obesity. This health initiative will empower youth and sustain Louisville’s urban agriculture community, while creating opportunities for increased physical activity and healthy eating among Louisville Metro residents.

Food and Agriculture Assistant Educator & Community Organizer at Sustainable Agriculture

As a camp counselor at Sustainable Agriculture’s gardening day camp, this intern will be an instructor in cooking and food, food processing, ecological and agricultural education to Louisville’s diverse urban communities. Additionally, the intern will work with various community partners to support local collective and urban agricultural endeavors—particularly in refugee communities—and provide communications and media assistance to the organization.

Food Hub Development Intern at Seed Capital

The Food Hub Development Intern will be a part of an entrepreneurial approach to developing the city’s local food economy through the establishment of a neighborhood “food hub”—an initiative to showcase local goods and manage food produced regionally for local businesses. Specifically, the intern will coordinate these efforts by working with local government representatives and marketing the local “food hub” to the greater Louisville area.

Magazine Production Intern at Edible Louisville

Dedicated to the local, seasonal food and food traditions in Louisville, Edible Louisville is looking for an intern interested in a career in publishing or writing. The intern will work directly with publisher Steve Makela (a Midd parent) to develop his or her own writing under the guidance of Edible Louisville’s Editor, as well as take the lead on a special project of your choice!

Sustainable Community Garden Design Intern at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest

This opportunity focuses on the growing national trend of farmers markets and the increased use and promotion of locally produced foods. The intern will fulfill a variety of research and design opportunities: compiling findings on sustainable solutions for energy and water conservation and soil development, getting hands-on with edible landscape and garden design, and working to develop “hands on workshops” and course curriculum in the fundamentals of sustainable gardening that inspire families, students, and adults to apply the basics of sustainability.

As you kick-off Spring semester, it’s important to start thinking about your summer plans. Many organizations and companies have already begun the application process–and deadlines are coming up fast! At the moment, there are over 100 outstanding internship opportunities on MOJO for students of all academic and career interests. Below are a few finance and investment opportunities worth taking note of. Be sure to head over to MOJO to learn more and to apply for these positions (and more!) today!

1.       Investment Intern at Hartford Investment Management Company  in Hartford, CT–PAID

Deadline to Apply: February 23

HIMCO is seeking investment interns to support the work of the asset management team in the areas of Insurance Portfolio Management, Credit Research, Marketing, and Investment Operations. These opportunities will provide exposure to top talent in the asset management industry and foundational exposure for those interested in pursuing a career in investment management.

 2.       Global and Public Affairs Intern at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, GA – PAID

Deadline to Apply: February 24

Coca Cola Company’s Public  Affairs and Communications works to protect and enhance the reputation and image of the Company and its brand through relationships and communication with various sectors. Interns work closely with one or two project teams and will be responsible for producing a significant and concrete analytical output that contributes to the overall project’s goals.

 3.       Financial Oversight Intern at U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington, DC – PAID

Deadline to Apply: February 24

For all of you interested in careers in finance or government, this internship offers a very interesting combination—interns will carry out a wide range of economic and financial analysis for the Treasury’s Office of Financial Stability Oversight Council, and assist in the development and production of policy statements, briefing materials, Congressional testimonies, Congressional reports, and official correspondence. This position would provide some real hands-on experience in research and analysis.

4.       Economics Vocabulary Project Intern at Locus Analytics in NYC –PAID

Deadline to Apply: February 27

Midd alum Rory Riggs ’75 is the CEO of this company, and current students Adam Beaser ’14 and Ty Carlton ’12 worked with this think-tank last summer—and they are looking for a group of curious, creative, team-oriented interns again this summer! Interns will investigate and apply Locus’ economic classification system to companies across the global economy and get a thorough understanding of finance and the think-tank worlds.

If you’ve spent any time on MOJO recently, you’d notice that there are a lot of exciting and valuable environmental internship opportunities now available for Middlebury students–a lot of which take advantage of the great resources and local organizations in Vermont! Since I know many of you haven’t, you’re lucky because I’ve summed up a few of the awesome nature/science/environmental/farming internships just for you! Check out these four positions, but be sure to stop by MOJO to learn more and to find other great internships. Hurry, the deadlines for many are coming up in the next week or so!

1. PAID Summer Climate Fellowship at Clean Air-Cool Planet in Portsmouth, NH

Deadline to Apply: February 24

Clean Air-Cool Planet is an action oriented nonprofit that works with campuses and communities to find and promote solutions to climate change by providing practical solutions that demonstrate the economic opportunities and environmental benefits of climate leadership. CACP offers over 15 different fellowships across the country and in a variety of specialties. Fellows receive supervision, mentorship, and unique research opportunities in their area of interest. For more information check out their website.

2. Invasive Plant Internship at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Crested Butte, CO

Deadline to Apply: March 1

This hands-on and exciting opportunity, provided by Midd alum Dr. Jennifer Reithel ’95, involves working with invasive plant management and plant restoration. The intern’s duties will include assisting with ongoing experiments to control the spread of Canada Thistle, Smooth Brome, and Yellow Toadflax, active management of invasive plants by manual removal and spot applications of herbicides, coordination of adult volunteers, using GPS equipment to map plants, and assisting in revegetation of disturbed areas.

3. PAID Summer Internship at the Center for Whole Communities at Knoll Farm in Waitsfield, VT

Deadline to Apply: March 1

The overall mission of the Internship Program is to provide a unique experience as part of a dynamic learning community living close to the land. As an intern, you will help to accomplish this by both supporting the faculty and participants in the retreat center and maintaining the physical plant systems of Knoll Farm, where the retreats are held. Interns will learn basic skills including carpentry, grounds maintenance, plumbing, trail maintenance, gardening, composting, animal husbandry and more. Abigail Borah ’13 did this internship last summer!

4. PAID Food Access and Gleaning Intern at Rutland Area Farm and Food Link in Rutland, VT

Deadline to Apply:  March 1

Midd alum Kristin Smith ’08 is offering this great chance to get involved with a local organization in Vermont! The Access and Gleaning Inter will coordinate with farmers, volunteers, and RAFFL staff members to organize on-farm gleanings and to collect fresh produce from farmers’ markets. Responsibilities also include working on the grassroots level to increase food security in the Rutland region and be a key organizing member of RAFFL’s Grow-a-Row program.

Are you looking for some writing or publishing experience? As we begin to add more summer internship opportunities to MOJO, keep your eyes peeled on all of the great positions provided by Midd alum and other connections. These four internships in the Communications and Media fields offer hands-on and direct experience for those of you interested in journalism, publishing, or writing. While I’ve highlighted these four today, be sure to keep checking MOJO  for the latest and greatest in summer internships. But for now, check these out:

1.       Spring: Editorial Intern at Rock and Ice Magazine in Carbondale, CO

Deadline to apply: February 29, 2012

This opportunity, provided by Midd Alum Alison Osius ’80, is perfect for a graduating Feb looking for some experience this spring! Rock and Ice is the only magazine owned and operated by climbers; it offers inspirational and informative advice for climbers of all ages and skill levels. Responsibilities include writing magazine pieces, copy editing, and researching stories and fact checking—perfect for those English majors looking for publishing experience.

To learn more about Rock and Ice, check out their website: http://rockandice.com/about-us/internship

2.     Assistant Editor Online at Pregnancy Magazine from campus/home

Deadline to apply: June 15, 2012

Actively managing an area of the Pregnancy Magazine website, this intern will be guided by a senior editor and the publisher. You will be directly responsible for increasing website traffic through social media sources, and will manage editorial projects from campus during the semester. This is an opportunity to have a hands-on role and experience in modern publishing through a flexible schedule.

3.       Awkward Intern at AwkwardFamilyPhotos in Los Angeles, CA

Deadline to apply: May 1, 2012

Provided by Midd alum Mike Bender ’97, this opportunity would allow you to help with the day-to-day happenings at AwkwardFamilyPhotos. Tasks would include assisting with the website, the production of their new youtube show, books, calendars, greeting card etc. Check out their fun website for more information: http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

4.      Editorial Intern at Vermont Independent Media/The Commons in Brattleboro, VT

Deadline to apply: March 11, 2012

Vermont Independent Media (VIM) is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to providing news and media education to Windham County, Vermont. Our editorial interns receive a practical, hands-on apprenticeship with our staff and are assigned to a particular section of the paper (News, Voices, Arts, Life & Work), where they will assist the editors and staff reporters with research, communications, photography, art research, proofreading, and web development/new media projects that we are slowly introducing into our broadband-starved readership. Midd alum Jeff Scanlon ’89 is providing this opportunity.

For those of you thinking ahead to the job search, I’ve got some interesting news for you! I recently read an article in Fast Company called “The Four-Year Career” that offered some great insight into the future of the career search with the shortening of the job cycle. It offered many suggestions on how to adapt to this shift in the career market and how you can approach your search.

According to recent statistics,  a US worker has been in his or her current job a median number of just 4.4 years, a figure that has gone down sharply since the 1970s. The shortening of the job cycle has been driven by two specific factors: 1) a significant decline in the “long job” aka the traditional 20-year capstone to a career and 2) an increase in what is called “churning”—the movement of workers who, well into their thirties, have been at their job for less than a year.

           What you should know:

The article profiles several individuals who in recent years have begun practicing a “smart strategy”, each who has found his own way to adapt to and succeed to the new career world. In the future, everything that can be collected, condensed, and routinized will eventually be done by machines, and what will set humans apart is both their social and emotional intelligence. It’s important for younger people to build harder skills in the early part of their career—it will give you much more credibility as you move up to higher positions if you’ve done the work yourself. The repackaging of existing skills, along with building new ones, is essential for successful four-year-career shifters; and as Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s connection director explains, “So many skill sets are transferable” today. For job seekers, telling an appealing story about your career’s unusual and varied path is now an essential aspect of self-marketing.

See Adam Hassler’s background as an example:

Hasler has several of these skills in spades. His interests are transdisciplinary–he’s what might be called a “T-shaped person,” with both depth in one subject and breadth in others. He demonstrates cross-cultural competency (speaking fluent Spanish, living abroad) and computational thinking (learning programming and applying data to real-world problems). The intellectual voracity that drove him to write 50,000 words on Western cultural history while running a coffee shop is a sign of sense making (drawing deeper meaning from facts) and excellent cognitive load management (continuous learning and managing attention challenges). Above all, Hasler’s desire to synthesize his knowledge and apply it to helping people, and his ability to collaborate with those who have different skills, shows a high degree of social intelligence.

To learn more and read the full article, click here.

For all of you “science-y” people looking for some exciting and interesting summer internship and research positions–wait no longer–MOJO is stocked with a handful of GREAT and PAID internships for biochemistry majors, environmentalists, and biologists alike. I’ve highlighted three opportunities below that all have special Midd connections! Head over to MOJO now to apply for any (or all!) of them or to learn more about each of these opportunities!

Research on Adaptation to Climate Change Summer Research Internship at Vermont EPSCoR Center for Workforce Development and Diversity across Vermont
Deadline to Apply: February 10
Apply for a paid internship with the Research on Adaptation to Climate Change (RACC) research program and even intern with some Midd professors! Undergraduates selected to participate in the RACC program will be matched with a research team of faculty and graduate students working on the multidisciplinary RACC research program. Many types of research opportunities are available—here is just a sampling of the dozen opportunities:

• Physical Limnology and Hydrodynamics at Middlebury- Under the guidance of Professors Pat and Tom Manley at Middlebury, students will conduct field research on Lake Champlain circulation and sediment transport. Work will include imaging the lake bottom, data processing, transmitting lake-acquired data to land-based web sites and possibly SCUBA diving.

• Post-Irene Stream Invertebrates at Middlebury- Under the guidance of Professor Sallie Sheldon at Middlebury College, interns will have the unprecedented opportunity to follow the responses and reestablishment of stream invertebrate communities following the flooding caused by tropical storm Irene. Interns will work in both the field and laboratory setting.

• Climatology Research at Johnson State College- Under the guidance of Professor Tania Bacchus at Johnson State College, students will be involved in research focused on climate change in Vermont by comparing weather statistics collected by the Johnson State weather station and the National Weather Stations in Morrisville and Burlington.

• Environmental Policy and Management at UVM- Students will collect data relative to specific town’s zoning laws and planning history, and be involved in conducting interviews and inventories.

• Best Management Practices at UVM- Undergraduates will work in both the field and the UVM Constructed Wetlands Laboratory on Best Management Practices (BMPs) for phosphorus removal research. Work will include soil and wastewater sampling and analysis, conducting surveys on agricultural and septic BMPs to determine how specific land use designs impact sediment input and nutrient speciation.

Summer Molecular Biology & Biochemistry Research Internship in DNA Replication at New England Biolabs in Ipswich, MA
Deadline to Apply: February 15
Midd alum Andrew Gardner ’95 graciously provided this paid opportunity at New England Biolabs! Students participating in the Summer Student internship program conduct a research project under the guidance of a scientist, are trained in molecular biology and biochemistry techniques, and are encouraged to develop writing and presentation skills. This internship culminates with a presentation of the research to the scientific staff at NEB. This particular lab studies DNA replication position and the summer research will involve characterization of the cell’s replication machinery called the replisome. Enthusiastic students interested in molecular biology and biochemistry should apply!

China Research Position Studying Water Policy at the Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh
Deadline to Apply: February 15
This paid research opportunity is strongly recommended by Middlebury professor Jessica Teets. Apply now for the 2012 NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program entitled “Negotiations and Impacts: Water Policy Across China’s Loess Plateau.” This unique six-week program in social science research will be conducted in Pittsburgh, PA, and in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, China. Twelve highly-qualified undergraduates and a team of faculty mentors will undertake collaborative research on how economic development and societal change is impacting China’s already precarious environmental position across the Yellow River Loess Plateau. The costs of participation (travel, room, board), including the payment of a significant research stipend, will be paid by the program.
More information available here: http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/asc/academics/china-nsf/index.html