Students can set up a formal, full-time 10-week internship or conduct more informal, part time internships and assist with wide variety of fish monitoring and management activities including:
District Fish Management:
- Fish habitat restoration monitoring – habitat unit snorkel surveys and riparian planting survival surveys
- Fish habitat restoration project layout and implementation – Large Woody Debris (LWD) structure design and placement and riparian plantings
- Fish habitat protection activities – Fill-Removal permit application review and field visits and development of habitat-protective comments/recommendations
- Fish passage inventory and maintenance inspections – fish ladder annual visits, determine maintenance/repair needs, and implement
- Assist Salmon and Trout Enhancement Project (STEP) biologists with preparation and implementation of Youth Fishing Events
- Participate on a four-person team to conduct twice-monthly estuary seining
- Conduct informal (non-statistical) creel sampling on trout and warmwater fish anglers
- Assist with warmwater fish inventory – trapping/netting, or other indexing of warmwater fish populations
Commercial Marine Finfish Monitoring:
- Collect species, length, weight, sex, and age data from commercially landed groundfish
- Prepare and process aging structures in the laboratory
- Quality check and enter data in the office
Shellfish monitoring and research:
- Collect length, weight, sex, and age data from commercially landed pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani)
- Assist with various clam, sea urchin, and sea star research and monitoring projects – intertidal and underwater video surveys
This is just a basic description of the types of activities in which an intern could expect to participate. Unique and unanticipated events also occur that could involve an intern. Most of the activities an intern would participate in would be a “job shadow” approach, where the student would accompany, assist, and learn from ODFW staff. Once trained, the intern may be “cut loose” to conduct some independent activities (with further guidance available).
The ODFW Charleston Field Office also houses staff from our Salmonid Life Cycle Fish Research and the Wildlife District. The intern may also be able to gain experience in salmonid fish research and wildlife-related activities during the 10-week period.
Mike Gray
ODFW District Fish Biologist, Coos-Coquille-Tenmile District
Charleston Field Office
(541) 888-5515
Katlyn Lockhart
ODFW South Central Port Biologist
Charleston Field Office
(541) 888-5515
Scott Groth
ODFW Resource Assessment and Management Section Leader
Newport Field Office
(541) 857-2533
