[Coral-List] Spring Internship with Stipend Opportunity

[Sara Williams]

The Coral Health & Disease Program and International Coral Gene Bank
at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium (Sarasota, FL) is seeking a
motivated intern to assist with a broad range of research activities
covering dry lab, wet lab, and data input/analysis. Daily duties will
include care and maintenance of wetlab/Gene Bank space, coral
husbandry, and participation in currently funded research projects. We
are looking for an intern to start in late February or early March
2024, and are asking for a minimum 12-week commitment that will be
supported by a $3,000 stipend. If you have any further questions,
please contact Sara Williams at swilliams @ mote .org.

Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited university or college
program at the undergraduate or graduate level OR be a recent college
graduate to be eligible to apply for a Mote internship. Students must
have a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants must complete the
online application form and upload a one-to-two page Statement of
Interest, a resume or CV, and unofficial transcript.  Applicants must
also request a letter of recommendation which must be uploaded
directly by their recommender. More detailed instructions for
preparing and submitting these materials are provided on the
application page and additional internship information is available on
the Mote Internship Website.

Online application form: https://mote.smapply.org/prog/collegeinternship

Mote Internship Website:
https://mote.org/research/internships/college-internship-program-overview

Additional Research Program Information: The Coral Health and Disease
Program focuses on understanding the susceptibility and resilience of
corals to major global threats such as climate change, ocean
acidification and disease as well as local impacts. Specifically,
coral disease is one of the greatest threats to reefs around the world
and disease dynamics within our oceans are still poorly understood.
This program is based at our City Island campus, located in Sarasota,
Florida. Projects within this program will be laboratory and/or
computer based and may include wetlab exposure experiments as well as
molecular applications. Daily duties will include care and maintenance
of wetlab space and participation in currently funded research
projects. Laboratory assays may include DNA extractions, PCR,
photophysiology, and morphometric analyses of coral health states.
Prefer students familiar with command-driven computer programs such as
R and have basic biological statistics skills. Computer based work for
interns familiar with R includes skill development in microbiome
analyses, data visualization, open-access code, and relevant
biological statistics. Additionally, interns may be asked to
participate in education/outreach activities within our program as
needed. Opportunities to conduct field work will be minimal. Hours are
Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, with required occasional long hours and
weekends.

Mote’s International Coral Gene Bank is designed to be a safe haven for
corals from Florida’s coral reef and Caribbean reefs. Currently at the Gene
Bank there are four separate, ~1500 gallon (5700 L) recirculating holding
systems, each consisting of four raceways and a sump.  At full capacity,
these systems are capable of holding up to 128 adult corals (~30cm x 30cm)
or ~4000-7500 fragments. The Gene Bank is also home to four dedicated
ex-situ spawning systems. Using this technology enables the Gene Bank to
increase genetic diversity of the corals found to be interesting for
restoration through our research. As an intern at the Gene Bank, skills in
routine aquarium husbandry/aquaculture will be emphasized and expanded;
cleaning filter socks, emptying protein skimmers, water quality sampling
and recording are among the normal, daily tasks for an intern.  Other tasks
include feeding corals, siphoning raceways, assisting with fragmenting
corals, and measuring/ photographing corals for growth metrics. Hours are
Monday-Friday with occasional weekends. Please note the majority of
research activities are carried out at the Mote Aquaculture Park (MAP); a
satellite site located in eastern Sarasota County, Florida, approximately
17 miles from the main laboratory. Interns must have their own
transportation to/from this location since Sarasota's public transportation
system does not extend to the Park.
-- 
Sara D. Williams, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist
Coral Health and Disease Program
Mote Marine Laboratory
Sarasota, FL
Pronouns: She, her, hers (what's this?)
<https://www.glsen.org/activity/pronouns-guide-glsen>