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The Marine Studies Initiative (MSI) office is pleased to offer a variety of summer internships every year, focusing on interdisciplinary topics of the ocean and coasts. View our 2021 Summer Internships below. Click HERE for current internships.

Media and Public Engagement

Location:  Cascade Head near Lincoln City, OR

Assist with video and social media efforts associated with the Coastal Climate Change and Community Science project, in order to achieve the twin goals of relentless project transparency, and engagement with project partners, core group of trained volunteers and the general public. Work could entail assisting videographer in creating posts and/or documentary shorts, writing scripts, interviewing, identifying and developing social media channels, creating social media materials, and more.

Ocean Acidification Awareness

Location:  Newport, OR

Intern will work with the Oregon Coast Aquarium Education and Exhibits departments to conduct research on visitor awareness about ocean acidification. Guided by a social marketing framework and will create research tools to gather data on visitors’ knowledge, values, and behaviors related to ocean acidification. Additionally, the intern will work with the Education and Exhibits staff to test ocean acidification messaging as well as shadow and conduct various programming.

Marine Reserve Interpretation

Location:  Port Orford, OR

Intern will do a combination of volunteer coordinator and interpretive ranger work. The internship goal is to learn about and experience the Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve and Marine Protected Area (MPA) and communicate ecological and cultural aspects of the Marine Reserve and MPA to the public and visitors to Port Orford. In addition to gaining confidence in public speaking skills, the intern will gain experience in data collection and analysis, science communication, and learn about the ecological and cultural aspects of the Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve.

Citizen Science in Cascade Head Biosphere

Location:  Cascade Head near Lincoln City, OR

Intern will assist the habitat leaders within the Coastal Climate Change and Community Science project, located on the sentinel site Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve at the north end of Lincoln County. Their work will entail helping citizen scientists, volunteer training, technology, and collection/monitoring protocols, research on species and habitats, identifying connections between habitat species, and more.

Coastal Tourism

Location:  Cascade Head near Lincoln City, OR

Intern will focus on the Cascade Head Scenic Research Area and the Interpretive Wayside. The work entails partnering with the Access and Trails Collaboration to develop a video and artistic project to tell the story about Cascade Head Scenic Research Area. This project will address the need for high recreational use, online messaging on Salmon River estuary restoration, and the UNESCO Biosphere and Marine reserve designations within Cascade Head.

Seafood Business and Industry

Location:  Newport or Portland, OR

Intern will experience and gain an understanding of the seafood restaurant industry relationships by working with Local Oceans Seafood Dockside Grill & Fish Market’s marketing team. They will create messaging and promotions around one or more core company values of seafood consumption and personal health, seafood sustainability, ocean health, and connection with local fishermen. The project will include analysis and evaluation of campaign effectiveness at engaging customers, particularly in Local Ocean’s e-commerce and direct to consumer market channels.

MSI Summer 2021 Internships

The Marine Studies Initiative (MSI) office is pleased to offer Summer 2021 internships focused on interdisciplinary topics of the ocean and coasts.  Summer 2021 internship projects are still being finalized but options may include ones focused on citizen science in the Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve, coastal tourism, the seafood industry, public engagement via video and social media creation, ocean acidification awareness, marine reserve interpretation, and the seafood business and industry.  Internship locations are being finalized and may include Newport, Cascade Head near Lincoln City, Portland, and Port Orford, Oregon.  We anticipate offering up to six 30 or 40-hour/week internships, pending available funds. Internships will be in-person experiences with some remote work.

Internship Dates – Up to 10 weeks in length starting around June 14, 2021. Start and end dates may vary depending on the internship.

Locations – Newport, OR / Port Orford, OR / Cascade Head, OR / Portland, OR

Housing - Group housing provided

Hours  – Internships range from a 30- to 40-hours per week commitment. Within or in addition to this commitment, interns are expected to perform work to fulfill scholarly expectations such as proposal writing, poster creation, and presentation prep and delivery.

Compensation - Interns will receive compensation as an Oregon State University hourly student worker. Total salary will not exceed $6,240 for a full-time, 10-week period internship commitment.

All interns are expected to write a project proposal, create a poster, and present their project at both the MSI internship symposium and a public meeting or conference after the internship, all under the guidance of a mentor. Interns will also be required to participate in group check-ins, field trips, seminars, professional development and other group activities.

Eligibility - Open to all currently enrolled OSU students and Oregon Community College students (OSU dual enrollment program or degree partnership program preferred). You cannot be enrolled in more than 5 credits of summer classes. Seniors must be enrolled as an OSU student in Summer 2021 to be eligible. All job offers are contingent upon Human Resources' final approval.

The position requires driving a University or personal vehicle; thus intern must possess and maintain a current valid driver’s license in their state of residence.

All applications due: midnight on February 28, 2021 

Interns selected end of March

For more information contact: Academic Advisor, Cynthia Leonard