Intern or Volunteer
Please note: we are not accepting applications for internships until at least summer of 2023. Please check back then for available opportunities.
Would you like to give back and make a meaningful difference in conservation? Consider interning or volunteering your professional services with The Biodiversity Group. We accept applicants of all ages and backgrounds for our internships and volunteer positions.
Please note: these positions are not paid, but accommodations are provided for short stays at our Tucson headquarters.
Please note: we are a small organization with limited training opportunities. We are looking primarily for professionals or advanced students that have at least the basic skills to perform each task for our internships. Please take note of the required qualifications for each position carefully.
Read each description carefully, and to apply, send your resume or CV, and at least one letter of reference, along with a detailed letter of interest on our contact page. In your letter, make sure to include details on your desire to work specifically with our organization and mission, as well as the dates and hours you are available.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
“My experience as an intern was educational, eye-opening and rewarding. I gained experience that I continue to use both professionally and personally.”Allira M.
“Interning with TBG was an amazing introduction to tropical field biology. I had fun doing my part to contribute to scientific understanding of a magnificent Amazonian ecosystem.”James S.
“Working with TBG was a wonderful experience for me to really see what it was like out in the field. It was inspiring to work with such an outgoing and passionate group.”Mika S.
Current Openings
Please note: we are not accepting applications for internships until at least summer of 2022. Please check back then for available opportunities.
As assistants to our lead citizen-science educator, interns will be able to choose among the following two roles or a combination of the two:
- Acting as an assistant environmental educator while local K-8th grade school children engage in the Biodiversity PEEK program. This hands-on, in-classroom experience will involve helping guide students on the use of digital cameras, helping manage students as they venture outside into their nearest “wild” space for nature photography, and guiding students as they select and upload their images as scientific data on an online database.
- Managing the uploaded student photos as data, helping ensure record keeping and assessing the number of new posts from different schools. Interns may also help select more artistic, conservation-photography photos that are taken and thus help curate the annual Biodiversity PEEK Tucson student exposition.
Qualifications:
Enthusiasm and ability to interact appropriately with school children age 5-14
Enjoyment of nature photography, especially small, overlooked species
The ability to work with photographic data on an online database
An extremely conscientious attitude
Duration: Minimum one semester commitment
Hours: variable, up to 8 hours/week
Location: Tucson, AZ, USA
TBG maintains and develops our social networks on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. The networking intern will:
- Recruit members for our social networking pages
- Recruit participants in our field programs and workshops
- Post daily topical news stories to our networking pages and website
- Assist with fundraising drives
Duration: Minimum six-week commitment
Hours: 10-20 hours/week
Location: This internship may be carried out virtually, anywhere in the world, after a short training in Tucson, AZ.
The photography intern will assisting managing an archive of over 120,000 photographs and 5,000 video clips of the natural world. Photographs need to be cataloged and keyworded and have metadata embedded which contains information about copyright, location, species, specimen number, etc. (tourismiceland.is) The intern then has the responsibility to make the images available for public and private use. Public uses include making the images available as photo vouchers on iNaturalist.org and other public data repositories, which other researchers can use in their own work. Private uses include selling digital images to stock agencies and fine-art prints to individuals, which comprises part of our fundraising efforts. The intern will be assisting with posting photos to stock agency sites and receiving and processing photo requests from these agencies.
Additionally the photography intern will largely run our Cameras for Conservation program receiving camera donations, distributing to the field, and selling surplus gear.
Qualifications:
- A strong interest in learning the science, art, and business of photography
- A conscientious attitude and extreme attention to detail.
- Thorough knowledge of Adobe Lightroom
Duration: Minimum one month commitment.
Hours: 10-20 hours/week.
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
.
Insects and other invertebrates are of increasing importance for the mission of The Biodiversity Group. Invertebrates are incredibly important conservation subjects, yet conservation status is only known for a tiny fraction of species. The entomology intern will contribute to helping this situation by leveraging our data and that of others to assess conservation status of invertebrates. This internship consists of two parts:
We currently hold some 40,000 photographs of invertebrates, each representing a data point as a photographic voucher specimen. The intern will be studying our photo voucher collection and consulting with experts from around the world who specialize on various insect taxa.
The entomology intern will also develop one or more species assessments (example)Â for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This can be a lengthy process that involves assembling nearly everything that is known about a species, searching the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and consulting with a specialist in the specific taxonomic group to assemble an assessment and submit it to the IUCN for consideration.
Qualifications:
- Advanced coursework, degree or equivalent in entomology or invertebrate zoology
- The ability to identify all major invertebrate phyla and classes and insect orders on sight
- Previous experience with Adobe Lightroom and iNaturalist.org
- Enthusiasm for subject
- An extremely conscientious attitude
Duration: Minimum one month commitment.
Hours: 10-40 hours/week.
Location: Virtual internship; can be carried out anywhere, after one-week training in Tucson, AZ, USA.
In the course of our field work, we have photographed hundreds of species and thousands of individual reptiles and amphibians. Many have not been identified to species, and often lack easily accessible reference material for proper identification. Identification involves studying our photo voucher collection and consulting with experts from around the world who specialize on various herpetofaunal taxa.
We currently hold some 50,000 photographs of reptile and amphibian, each representing a data point as a photographic voucher specimen. The intern will be studying our photo voucher collection and corresponding with experts from around the world who specialize on various reptile and amphibian taxa.
The herpetology intern will also develop one or more species assessments (example) for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This can be a lengthy process that involves assembling nearly everything that is known about a species, searching the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and consulting with a specialist in the specific taxonomic group to assemble an assessment and submit it to the IUCN for consideration.
Qualifications:
- Advanced coursework or degree in herpetology, a related field, or equivalent experience.
- The ability to categorize most families of herpetofauna on sight
- Previous experience with Adobe Lightroom, Microsoft Access and iNaturalist.org
- Enthusiasm for subject
- An extremely conscientious attitude
Duration: Minimum one month commitment.
Hours: 10-40 hours/week.
Location: Virtual internship; can be carried out anywhere, after one-week training in Tucson, AZ, USA.