Applications are now open for Paid Deforestation Research Internship at WWF USA 2020. Deforestation and forest degradation continue to be critical topics in the global environmental, biodiversity conservation and climate change agendas. Despite increasing commitments from governments and non-state actors and several innovative initiatives implemented on the ground, forests continue to be degraded and lost at an alarming rate.

Furthermore, there is a need to place greater emphasis on forest degradation, and its interactions with deforestation, to assess whether deforestation is an unavoidable consequence of forest degradation, or whether deforestation-free initiatives are simultaneously contributing to improved forest quality – this in the context of wider debates on climate change mitigation, and strategies for protecting forest ecosystem services.

This internship will support WWF’s ongoing efforts to analyze the state, threats, drivers, and responses related to the managed forest. The candidate will be working with the WWF Forest Team in Washington, DC to collect, review and synthesize spatial and non-spatial datasets on the state of forests, as well as drivers and responses related to deforestation and forest degradation, in select geographies.

What will Deforestation Research Intern do at WWF?

The intern will assist WWF supervisors to:

• Review existing reporting guidance, monitoring frameworks, and publicly available databases to compile an inventory of ecological and social indicators for select geographies
• Collect and organize the spatial datasets identified in the inventory in a ready-to-use format
• Develop maps and other infographic products and upload interactive maps to open-access, an interactive online platform
• Populate a database of forest management interventions and connect the database with an online platform
• Similarly, assist with the quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of select conservation approaches by conducting spatial statistics
• Also, review and synthesize the literature on the impacts and challenges associated with various forest conservation approaches
• Conduct other tasks assigned by his/her supervisors

Requirements and Qualification

• Current or recent graduate student with a degree in relevant fields, such as forest ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, environmental economics, or other disciplines
• Strong GIS skills and proficiency in GIS and remote-sensing applications (e.g. Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS)
• Similarly, familiarity with the scientific literature on remote-sensing and other types of forest monitoring methods
• Prior experience in database management
• Also, the ability to stay organized and work independently with minimum supervision; must be able to meet deadlines in a fast-paced working environment
• Knowledge in and aptitude for global and regional forest conservation issues
• Similarly, the ability to communicate with internal and external partners around the globe professionally
• Also, knowledge and experience in software (e.g. STATA, R, Python) preferred

How to apply for Deforestation Research Internship at WWF?

All the applicants must submit a resume & cover letter through WWF’s Careers page.