Job Description
Job Description
Session: Summer (May - August)
Position Title: Scientist Intern-Watershed Protection Program
Hiring Manager: Alan Wittmuss
Agency: Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Location: Pierre, Sioux Falls, or Rapid City
Minimum Salary: $22.22 Hourly
*APPLICANT MUST BE A CURRENT PART-TIME OR FULL-TIME STUDENT (MINIMUM OF 6 CREDIT HOURS) IN UPCOMING SEMESTER OR IN THE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING SEMESTER.
Position Description:
Interns will work for the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Division of Resource Conservation and Forestry) in the Watershed Protection Program based out of Pierre, Sioux Falls, or Rapid City. The Watershed Protection Program works to assess, improve, restore, and maintain the health of South Dakota waters by providing local government bodies, natural resource management agencies, and the general public with information, funding, and technical assistance for watershed assessment and restoration projects.
Summer Interns will assist Watershed Protection Program staff with assessing the water quality of South Dakota lakes and streams during the 2026 field season. This includes supporting the Reference Site Development Project which is designed to target specific segments of rivers and streams located in western and eastern SD. Fish, macroinvertebrates, and aquatic habitat measurements will be collected using nationally standardized field methods. Interns will also help with field work and data management for approximately 35 lakes selected from across the state through the Statewide Lakes Assessment Program and waterbodies in the Lower James and Vermillion River Basins located in Central South Dakota as part of the Rotating Basins Water Quality Assessment Project. Interns should also expect to provide support to full-time staff involved with the implementation of the Riparian Buffer Initiative. This may consist of surveying and staking out boundaries of riparian buffer locations along selected stream segments. Additional job duties include completing flow measurements at established river/stream monitoring stations, conducting basic laboratory analysis tasks, assisting with other general field activities throughout the summer.
Please note the working conditions will sometimes involve the exposure to extreme summer temperatures. There will be some physical labor involved such as off-loading boats or spending most of the day in waders collecting fish, macroinvertebrates and habitat condition information.
Qualifications:
The candidate will have full-time collegiate student status in a biological field or other Science related field.
Applicant must be enrolled as a part-time/full-time student at a college, university, or technical institute at the time they apply. By the start of the internship, the student should have completed one year (nine months) of their chosen program.
All students are encouraged to apply, but preference may be given to applicants with a standing of junior/senior, South Dakota residents, and students of South Dakota institutions.
Apply at:
*Positions can be filled prior to the closing date.*
South Dakota Bureau of Human Resources
Telephone: 605.773.3148
"An Equal Opportunity Employer"
#LI-Onsite
Job Tags
Hourly pay, Full time, Part time, Summer work, Summer internship, Work at office, Local area, Immediate start,