WPP Water Quality Intern - Unpaid

Commonwealth of Massachusetts • Worcester, MA

11d

About The Position

The Watershed Planning Program (WPP) in the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is a statewide program with a mission to protect, enhance, and restore the quality and value of the waters of the Commonwealth. Together with other MassDEP programs and state environmental agencies, WPP shares in the duty and responsibility to secure the environmental, recreational, and public health benefits of clean water for all people of the Commonwealth. As part of the Clean Water Act (CWA), WPP monitors, assesses, and publishes reports on the conditions of all surface waters in the Commonwealth every two years in the "Integrated List of Waters" (or Integrated Reports) and the 303(d) list.

The waters of the Commonwealth include over 3,000 lakes and ponds that provide residents and visitors with drinking water, blue spaces, recreational opportunities, and natural beauty. These diverse ecosystems range from large drinking water sources, like the Quabbin; famous waterbodies, like Walden Pond; pristine lakes and ponds in fully forested areas; and smaller ponds providing local swimming areas. Given the importance of lakes and ponds for all people in the Commonwealth, WPP is interested in developing a lake and pond database to support current and future WPP initiatives, such as developing a statewide volunteer lake and pond monitoring program, implementing lake and pond categories to improve the assessment of the Aquatic Life Use in accordance to the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards, highlighting areas in need of future monitoring, and prioritizing the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).

This project will expand and enhance an existing reference database of lake and pond information built during a prior internship project. Data elements include physical attributes, locational information, available data sources, characteristics, and related metadata. Project objectives for this database expansion are to continue (1) coalescing existing WPP data (e.g., years monitored, existing TMDLs, protection plans, and projects), (2) gathering relevant information from partner agencies and other publicly available resources (e.g., bathometry maps), (3) consolidating modeled data and, where applicable, comparing modeled data to WPP observed data (e.g., modeled maximum depth compared to observed), (4) summarizing spatial data, and (5) compiling biodiversity data.

Requirements

• Minimum Requirements: NONE
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel) software.
• Effective communication skills, in writing, in person, over Teams, and on the telephone.

Nice To Haves

• Basic knowledge of the principles and practices of environmental science.
• Experience gathering and tabulating data from a variety of sources.
• Experience summarizing data into a usable format.
• Ability to work independently and in an organized manner with strong attention to detail.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Preferred proficiency with R or ArcGIS, but not required.

Responsibilities

• Aid in determining beneficial lake and pond information for all five WPP Sections.
• Review previous internal and external data, studies, reports, or other publicly available information.
• Extract relevant information from a variety of sources, including spatial datasets.
• Maintain a comprehensive list of sources of information.
• Review, collate, and summarize information into a tabular database.
• Develop appropriate metadata and other documentation.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Benefits
• outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package
• work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed