Coastal Wetlands Research

Zintellect offers a postgraduate research training opportunity at the U.S. EPA's Office of Water in Washington, DC, focusing on Coastal Wetlands. The participant will engage in projects related to ocean and coastal health, gaining skills in wetland management, data analysis, and communication. This full-time, one-year internship provides a stipend based on education level and includes professional development opportunities through collaboration with various agencies.
A postgraduate research training opportunity is available at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA), Office of Water in Washington, DC. The internship will be served with the Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW).

The participant will be located in the Oceans and Coastal Management Branch. This branch is involved in a range of activities related to maintaining the health, resilience and sustainability of the oceans and coasts. The topic areas covered by the branch include, but are not limited to, protecting coral reefs, regulating discharges from vessels, developing tools and information materials regarding pollution from marinas and ports, mitigating the effects of coastal acidification, assessing the vulnerabilities of estuaries to climate change, and protecting coastal wetlands.

Through this project, the participant will learn how EPA strives to protect ocean, coastal, marine, estuarine and wetland resources via regulatory and non-regulatory approaches. Training and developmental opportunities for this participant will be focused on the Coastal Wetlands Initiative (https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/coastal-wetlands), and coastal wetland management and loss. Specific skills learned through participating in activities on this project include:
• detailed knowledge of wetland stressors, management strategies, and loss trends;
• how to collaborate with partners in accomplishing protection goals;
• use of various data and spatial analysis tools; and
• how to communicate results of scientific analysis to diverse audiences of wetland scientists, managers, and policy makers.

This research training opportunity will provide an exceptional professional development opportunity in a highly collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. The participant will gain an understanding of EPA’s programs and observe how EPA coordinates with States, Tribes, and other federal agencies to meet national water quality and wetland protection goals. S/he will have the opportunity to interact with wetland managers and scientists from other agencies and across the country. S/he will be involved in writing reports, analyzing data, creating outreach materials, and have opportunities to submit/present research and project results to interagency groups, professional societies and conferences, and wetland publications.

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and EPA.

The appointment will be full time for a one year and may be renewed upon the recommendation of EPA and contingent on the availability of funding. The participant will receive a monthly stipend based on level of education. The annual stipend will be:
• $44,941 (Bachelors)
• $54,972 (Masters)
• $66,510 (PhD)
• $79,720 (PhD +2 years of related post graduate work).

Funding may be made available to reimburse the participant’s travel expenses to present the results of his/her research at scientific conferences. No funding will be made available to cover travel costs for pre-appointment visits, relocation costs, tuition and fees, or participant’s health insurance.The participant must show proof of health and medical insurance. The participant does not become an EPA employee.

The mentor for this project is Dominic MacCormack (maccormack.dominic@epa.gov). The desired start date is September 1, 2017.