Internships: USGS Summer Employment for Soils Undergraduates

USGS will likely hire 12 individuals to do this work. Most of them will be summer employees, but for those who graduated in December 09, they could start sooner. This summer position would be a great fit for those who have soil morphology and classification and/or have soil judging experience. Via Tom Hallmark, TX

Announcement for Student Help

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is seeking students for summer employment to participate in soil sampling throughout the United States. The North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project is a collaborative effort among the USGS, the Geological Survey of Canada, and the Mexican Geological Survey with a long-term goal to produce a soil geochemical database, and derivative geochemical maps, for the continent of North America. These agencies have identified 13,596 sites throughout the continent (5,813 in the US; 6,183 in Canada; 1,600 in Mexico) for sampling. At each site, samples will be collected by a combination of depth and soil horizon. A sample from 0-5 cm will be collected at each site regardless of what horizon this represents. Also, a composite of the A horizon and a composite of the C horizon (or a composite from a depth of approximately 1 m for situations where the B-C boundary is deep) ideally will be collected at each site. A second sample of the 0-5-cm material will be collected for the determination of Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and other soil pathogens. Sampling was started in 2007 and to date about 60% of the conterminous US has been completed. In 2010, we will be working in CA, OR, WA, TX, AZ, IA, WI, MI, IL, IN, OH, TN, KY, VA, and NC.

Salary for the position will be based on education and will range from about $15 per hour for an undergraduate who has completed his/her sophomore year to about $21 per hour for a second-year graduate student. Work would begin in May 2010 (or at the end of the spring semester) and end in August 2010 (or the beginning of the fall semester). Potential applicants who graduated in December 2009 may be able to begin work as soon as late February or March. The applicant will be in the field for virtually the entire summer after 2-3 days in Denver, Colorado for orientation and training. All travel expenses, including lodging, meals, and miscellaneous expenses, will be paid by the USGS.

The successful candidate will be an undergraduate or graduate student with sufficient course work (classroom and field) in soil science to be able to accurately identify soil horizons in a wide variety of landscape environments. The field work will involve hiking over potentially difficult terrain and working, at times, in inclement weather. The applicant must have a valid US drivers license and be comfortable with four-wheel-drive field vehicles. There will also be a great deal of contact with the public in seeking permission to sample on private land, so good people skills are essential.

For further information, interested candidates should contact:

David B. Smith
U.S. Geological Survey
Denver Federal Center
Box 25046, MS 973
Denver, CO 80225
Phone: 303-236-1849
Email: dsmith AT usgs DOT gov