CONSERVE (COordinating Nontraditional Sustainable watER Use in Variable climatEs) is a Center of Excellence at the nexus of sustainable water reuse, food, and health. Our leading team of scientists and educators are investigating sources of nontraditional irrigation water that can provide safe, transformative on‐farm solutions for food crops and reduce the nation’s agricultural water challenges that are exacerbated by climate change. With projects located at universities throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest, we are looking for undergraduate student interns to assist us in our research and education efforts.
We are currently looking for assistance on projects focusing on water quality analysis, on-farm water treatment technology testing, spatial analysis and mapping, consumer behavior and economics, educational media development, and farmer education and outreach. Find out more about our opportunities and student eligibility by going to http://
The 8-week internship will start on June 17, 2019, ending on August 9, 2019. Interns will receive a stipend of $5,000. Additional funds for expenses (e.g., travel, lodging, per diem) are not provided. We are accepting applications from now until February 22, 2019.
For those unable to travel far this summer, there are positions available in this region!
The following positions are available:
Location: New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM)
Position Description: The intern will work on placement and distribution of CONSERVE communication tools and support production and quality assurance of animations, interactive modules, and web content. This opportunity will be in collaboration with CONSERVE and NMSU Media Productions, and the intern will be actively supervised and supported by editorial and web design staff. As part of an integrated team of professionals, the intern will be exposed to the process of designing, building, user-testing and doing quality assurance on CONSERVE media tools in development. Learning about distribution and marketing of educational outreach products, including on social media and education-focused platforms, will also be part of this internship. Skills needed: writing, meticulous data organization, and teamwork.
Location: University of Arizona (Tucson)
Position Description: The intern will be involved in Activity 3b of the CONSERVE project, which focuses on evaluation of ozone technology and ozone in combination with plant-based antimicrobials for treatment of non-traditional sources of irrigation water and produce wash water. The intern will be responsible for participating in various activities including the following: Preparation of microbiological media, dilution buffers, plant antimicrobial solutions, and chemical reagents as needed for the experiments; Training in the safe operation and running of the ozone generating equipment; Conducting experiments on evaluating the efficacy of ozone and ozone in combination with plant-based antimicrobials against foodborne pathogens in produce wash water; Enumeration of bacterial survivors after treatments with ozone and plant antimicrobials; Data analysis, statistical analysis, literature review, and report as well as manuscript preparation; Presentation and discussion of results in lab meetings.
Location: University of Arizona (Maricopa)
Position Description: The intern will work with an outgoing and collaborative group of staff, scientists, and students to collect water samples, analyze samples for microbiological parameters, interpret data, and communicate scientific findings with stakeholder across the state of AZ. The intern will also have the opportunity to learn advanced microbiological techniques and learn how to translate complex scientific information to a variety of stakeholder audiences including growers, packers, shippers, irrigation districts, and other scientists.
Location: University of Delaware (Newark) - 2 Available Positions
Position Description 1: This position will include construction and manipulation of filtration columns containing zero-valent iron (ZVI) and sand for the removal of pathogens from water. This student will participate in and help coordinate field trials at the University of Delaware. This student will work in collaboration with scientists at the USDA-ARS and other students at the University of Delaware across multiple departments.Location: University of Maryland (College Park) – 3 Available Positions
Position Description 2: The Center for Experimental & Applied Economics is looking for a CONSERVE intern who is motivated and friendly and who has an interest in studying water and food issues from an economics and behavioral science perspective. As a part of this internship, the candidate will work on Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and certification, identifying produce grown with various irrigation methods, development of experiment design and decision platform, administering studies, analyzing and presenting data, and developing learning materials based on research.
Location: University of Maryland (College Park) – 3 Available Positions
Position 1 Description: This position is for someone with a microbiology background to help with a field/greenhouse study that will assess the impact of overhead irrigation water on the microbiological quality of a leafy green crop, including assessing the potential shifts in plant microbiomes and transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) from bacteria in water to bacteria associated with the crop phyllosphere. Required skills: standard microbiological methods. Preferred skills: PCR.
Position 2 Description: The position will be split between Dr. Sapkota's lab and the education and outreach efforts led by Dr. Rosenberg Goldstein and Mr. Paul Goeringer. The summer project will be focused on the RRIPER (Rooftop Runoff Irrigating Produce Eaten Raw) project evaluating water, soil, and produce from gardens irrigating with collected rain water or rooftop runoff. Duties will include supporting field sample collections from gardens; calibrating and using multi-parameter meters that measure water parameters such as nitrates, chlorides, pH, and dissolved oxygen; processing soil and produce samples; filtering water samples and extracting DNA (which will be used to profile the microbial communities present in the different water sources over time using 16S sequencing and shotgun metagenomics); and entering data (water parameters, DNA concentrations, etc). Extension and Education duties will include writing up results from field sampling; designing figures and tables of results; updating and editing outreach materials; conducting literature reviews for Extension and peer-reviewed publications; and acting as proxy for Extension team on conference calls with other CONSERVE project teams. The intern will spend 60% time supporting the lab team, and 40% time supporting the Extension team. This shared position will allow the intern the opportunity to learn advanced microbiological techniques and develop skills in translating complex scientific information to a variety of stakeholder audiences, including growers, Extension educators, and students.
Position 3 Description: The intern will gain hands on experience in geospatial data collection and analysis. He/she will help with the data collection and processing and will work in developing the GIS platform of alternative water sources for agricultural irrigation. The intern will be exposed to large-scale hydrological modeling and optimization techniques. He/she will also be part of a team developing decision support systems for water reuse in agriculture.
Location: University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Easton, MD)
Position Description: The intern will work closely with the UMES CONSERVE team. The intern will aid in the characterization of positive isolates for phenotypic and genotypic properties, isolated from CONSERVE Objective 1b surface and reclaimed wastewater samples over the past 2 years. The intern will be trained in advanced microbiological and molecular techniques. In addition, the student selected for this position will have the opportunity to learn how to translate complex scientific information to growers and other scientists during field days, workshops, and training sessions; and present his/her research findings at local and national meetings.
Location: U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (Beltsville, MD)
Position Description: The intern will perform standard microbiology and molecular biology and laboratory tasks in support of examining the effect of on-farm disinfection technologies for irrigation water. The student may need to travel to several CONSERVE sites for field trials and may be involved in growth chamber trials as well. The student will assist in evaluating water treatment technology (sand, zero-valent iron filtration of irrigation water), carrying out standard microbiology recovery of bacterial foodborne pathogens (Salmonella spp. E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes), and using molecular biology detection techniques (Polymerase chain reaction, immunomagnetic separation of pathogen) from filtered waters. The intern will also be responsible for constructing and setting up ZVI filters in the laboratory and on the farm. This will include different filter designs with different combinations of sand and iron appropriate for different water types that are being analyzed. Overall, this position will provide exposure to environmental, food, and molecular biology techniques to the intern. This position requires the ability to execute tasks independently, record data and procedures, and communicate effectively and respectfully with colleagues from different educational and cultural backgrounds. This position is only open to U.S. citizens.
For more information about these positions and how to apply, go to http://