Student Temporary Experience Program (STEP) Bulletin:

High School Summer Science Research Internship Positions

at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is looking for 12 high school students interested in employment as Biological Science Aids. Students in these positions will learn field research techniques hands-on for the study of ozone, plants, fungi, insects, snails, reptiles, amphibians, and other animals. They will be collecting real data to be used to protect the national park. These Aids will work in small groups of two to three with park staff and visiting researchers. Activities may include collecting, sorting, pinning, and/or labeling biological specimens, recording observations in the field, entering data into computer databases, hiking with a heavy back under various conditions of heat, cold or rain, and occasional work in streams. Aids will work at a variety of locations in the North Carolina side of the parkóPurchase Knob (Haywood County) and either Deep Creek or Oconaluftee (Swain County)ódepending in part on proximity to their homes.

Projects that might be worked on during the summer:

• Continue a mark and recapture study of salamander and snake populations,
• Establish a monitoring garden to assess the effects of ozone on plants,
• Study vesper sparrow family groups,
• Find and identify plant galls and rearing the insects within,
• Study and identify moths, planthoppers, mushrooms, and spiders,
• Study the bacteria and archaea of the park.

Note: not all Biological Science Aids will get to work on all projects.

Dates of employment:

June 8 through at least July 23^rd (may be opportunities for some to work longer)

Position is part-time, not to exceed 39 hours per week, usually 32 hours per week

Note: volunteer positions may be available for students who cannot commit to the entire period of employment.

Requirements for the position:

• You must be at least 16 years old and a US citizen at the time of appointment to the position,
• You must be enrolled in a North Carolina high school this spring and
• You must be either enrolled in high school or enrolled/accepted for enrollment in a college/university/technical school for the fall.

If you are interested in employment, please provide

• A resume (work experience, courses taken, volunteer experience, hobbies, etc.),
• Proof of enrollment or acceptance for enrollment in school for the fall semester (you must be enrolled for at least half time),
• The phone number of one or more references, someone unrelated to you who knows your work, and
• A letter explaining why this would be the perfect job for you this summer and what you would like to get out of this experience.
• [If you are a veteran, please provide a copy of form DD214]

Send applications to: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, P.O. Box 357, Lake Junaluska, NC, 28745

Postmarked by April 3rd, 2004

If you have questions concerning the employment process and the STEP program, please contact Beverly Slaybaugh at the Human Resources Office of the Park, 865-436-1273.

If you have questions about the location and duties of the position, contact Paul Super or Susan Sachs at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center, 828-926-6251.

These positions are made possible by a grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.