Deschutes Land Trust, Skyline Forest Conservation Internship, Summer 2023
Every summer, The Bill Lane Center for the American West offers many opportunities for Stanford undergraduates (including graduating seniors and co-terms) to work with organizations throughout the West. Through these internships, students can explore careers in natural history, conservation, land use, museum curation, resource management, energy and more.
All internships are full-time and last ten weeks during the summer. They are fully funded by the Lane Center.
The Lane Center has placed over 200 interns in positions across the West since 2005. As such, we have developed strong relationships with host organizations and work hard to ensure interns have successful and enriching experiences.
For more information about our internship program, please visit our FAQs page, or email Education Manager Corinne Thomas.
Read more about past interns' experiences here.
Stipend Information:
The Bill Lane Center will provide a base stipend of $7,500 with additional funding for student financial aid and cost of living adjustments for the internship location, if applicable.
Description of the Organization and the Internship:
The Deschutes Land Trust's mission is to conserve and care for the lands and waters that sustain Central Oregon, so local communities and the natural world can flourish together for generations to come.
Skyline Forest is a 33,000 acre block of private timber land frames the western boundary of Bend. Surrounded by state and federal lands, Skyline Forest contains important wildlife corridors and habitat, provides tremendous recreation opportunities including hiking, trail running, camping, cycling, mushroom foraging and wildlife viewing, is a critical wildfire safety buffer for local communities, and protects the scenic green foothills that set off the Central Oregon Cascades. Local conservation and community groups have been working for decades to conserve this iconic area from residential development.
This area is currently on the market for $127 million and being advertised as a prime location for a destination resort or cluster development.
The Skyline Forest Conservation intern would work to support the Conservation Director and Executive Director on a multifaceted campaign to protect the Skyline Forest. This campaign includes stakeholder engagement, public awareness efforts, research related to funding and acquisition strategies, digital asset organization and management and working with partners to execute our existing campaign strategy. The intern will be working in a team that includes staff from Deschutes Land Trust as well as staff from our partners Central Oregon LandWatch.
Internship Work Environment:
This is a hybrid internship and Deschutes Land Trust is willing to work with the intern on division of hours to be in-person/virtual: it does enrich the internship experience to get in the field to experience the land that they are working to conserve and to see restoration work in action. The work will be 80% in the office and 20% field work.
A car would be helpful but not essential. Staff are able to offer the use of Land Trust vehicles during work hours.
Location: Bend, Oregon
- Assist with the development of a campaign strategy focused on raising public awareness, fundraising and establishing community partnerships for future management
- Communicate with stakeholders (send updates, thank yous, interviews, invites)
- Creating public awareness for Skyline Forest and areas relevant to the Trust (writing blogs/articles/press releases for publishing on our website)
- Research and documentation related to funding and acquisition strategies
- Digital asset organization and management (reviewing and sorting archival materials, documentation of meetings and communications with stakeholders)
Bill Lane Center internships are part of Cardinal Quarter opportunities and students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply. The opportunities are full-time (35-40 hours a week) for 10 consecutive weeks during the summer. Specific start and end dates can be coordinated directly with the supervisor.
Please note:
- Students are not permitted to engage in another full-time internship, job, or volunteer opportunity (whether funded by Stanford or otherwise) during this full-time, summer internship.
- Student athletes should confirm the impact of any awarded stipend on their athletic eligibility by contacting the Compliance Services Office prior to committing to a research project or internship.
All undergraduates, including graduating seniors, are eligible. Coterms are eligible only if they hold undergraduate status.
For more helpful application advice, please visit the BLC’s FAQs page.
Required Skills:
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Highly motivated individual who can work both independently and in a team
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Ability to establish and maintain positive collaborative working relationships with others both internally and externally
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Ability to set priorities, develop a work schedule, monitor progress towards goals, and track details, data, information and activities
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Speak, listen, and write in a clear, thorough and timely manner using appropriate and effective communication tools and techniques
Desired Skills:
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Familiarity with non-profits
- Knowledge of land use and conservation
Selection of applicants:
Complete applications are screened and finalists are contacted for an interview with staff from The Bill Lane Center for the American West. The top candidates for the position are forwarded to the organization for direct interviews with their potential supervisors and other staff.
Host organizations will then notify the Lane Center of their preferred candidate and that applicant will receive an internship offer from the Bill Lane Center by email.
The applicant is expected to respond promptly (within 48 hours) via email to the offer or the offer will be rescinded.
Once an applicant accepts an offer, they should promptly notify all other Stanford and non-Stanford programs to which they have applied that they have accepted another offer and withdraw their candidacy from those other opportunities.
