Research and Evaluation Internship
Research and Evaluation Internship
As a Research and Evaluation Intern, you will dive into the inner workings of how we maintain the highest standards of animal husbandry and welfare through quantitative study on a variety of projects, including at least one project of your choosing. You will have the unique opportunity to collaborate with multiple departments and gain hands-on experience in the essential skills it takes to work in an animal care facility.
Essential Duties:
- Conduct and generate reports of animal activity using ethograms
- Record animal behavior using ZooMonitor to inform management decisions involved in welfare
- Evaluate guest experience during animal Meet and Greets, animal touch stations, and overall experience while visiting the Downtown Aquarium
- Investigate the degree of animal interaction with given enrichment
- Create a personal research project to present to staff and volunteers at the end of the semester
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn how to form research projects to inform practices surrounding animal behavior and guest experience
- Gain familiarity with animal observation and survey collection
- Data management and presentation
- Public speaking practices and scientific communication
Requirements:
- Be comfortable collaborating with multiple departments and working independently
- Familiarity with generating reports and presenting to groups
- At least 18 years old
- Ability to work shifts between 10:00am-4:00pm (times can be flexible)
- Availability to work 3 days per week (including weekends)
- Commitment of 18-24 hours per week
- We anticipate this internship to run early September to early December. This is an unpaid internship and housing will not be provided. Must be able to successfully pass background check. Candidates must be able to attend Orientation. Please be sure to check with your college’s internship coordinator to see if this unpaid internship meets your internship requirements before accepting the position.
- Interested applicants should send cover letter, resume and 3 references to kaitlin.gasper@ldry.com. Deadline is August 7th, 2025.