Call for 2012 TNACI Intern Applications!

Interns will help with restoration work
at Colvard Springs on the Conasauga River.

It’s that time of year again when TNACI is looking for the few, the brave, the interns! The students will work at least 10 weeks with our staff, primarily working with the Lake Sturgeon reintroduction project by assisting us with the acquisition, feeding, cleaning, and eventually releasing the 2012 year class. In addition to husbandry work, they will spend time in the field helping with spring restoration projects, snorkeling, collecting fish, surveying and learning to use underwater photography equipment.

Baby Lake Sturgeon! They are very small at the beginning of the summer
and the primary responsibility of our interns is to help them grow up.

Throughout the course of the summer, each intern will develop their own research project related to Lake Sturgeon or other imperiled southeastern freshwater fish. Sarah Candler, a 2011 intern, told us, “My favorite part of interning with TNACI was the variety of experiences I got to have. By working with fish in an aquarium setting and also in the field, I learned alot of new things.” This program offers no shortage of opportunities for students to gain skills and knowledge to help them develop into the fishheads of tomorrow!

Sarah (2011) holding a Lake Sturgeon that was collected
during the annual survey. This fish was from the 2008
year class.

This is not an internship for the desk jockey. We like to get our interns in the water and their hands dirty, and we want students who really enjoy that sort of thing. “The hands-on learning was my favorite part of the internship. I learn best by doing so it was right up my alley.” (Evan Collins, 2009 intern). Check our website for more details and the application. All forms are due by March 15, 2012, and offers will be made by March 30, 2012.

Apply HERE!