Plant Ecology Intern

We are seeking a recent college graduate with an interest in plant or
environmental sciences to be an intern in the Environmental Sciences
Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This is a full-time (40
hour/week), temporary (1-2 year) position starting in spring or early
summer, 2007. The position is funded through the Oak Ridge Institute for
Science Education (ORISE) -- see http://www.orau.gov/hereatornl/ for a
description of the stipend and other arrangements.

The position involves a wide variety of research related activities
associated with our two climate change experiments: the free-air CO2
enrichment (FACE) experiment (http://face.ornl.gov) and the Old Field
Community Climate and Atmospheric Manipulation study
(http://warming.ornl.gov/OCCAM).
A primary duty will be to take care of our experimental facilities on a
daily basis. This means checking that nothing has broken, the computer and
equipment are still running, the CO2 tank is full, data sets are downloaded,
etc. The intern also will help with various routine tree and soil
measurements and minirhizotron imaging of roots. Work in the laboratory
includes preparing plant and soil samples for analysis and participating in
elemental and microbial assays of the samples. The intern would be expected
to be self-directed and be comfortable working either in a team or alone.

Although this position is managed by ORISE, it is not primarily an
educational appointment -- there is no expectation of writing a paper or
developing your own research. However, previous people in the position have
developed their own small side projects in our experiments, or have ended up
as co-authors on journal publications. They have used the position
advantageously to get appointments in graduate school or other research
positions.

To apply for this position, send a letter describing your interest, a
resume, and the names of three references to: Richard Norby (rjn@ornl.gov)