Palm Beach County Office of Resilience
Tuesday, Feb 19, 2019
As sea level rise and other extreme weather events will impact human and natural environments, it becomes increasingly important for Palm Beach County to adapt to and mitigate these impacts to reduce resident, business, and natural resource vulnerability. Palm Beach County’s Office of Resilience works to ensure that Palm Beach County remains a great place to live, work, and play while addressing physical, social, and economic challenges resulting from sea level rise and other extreme weather events.
Job Description The Office of Resilience seeks a student intern beginning as early as May 2019 through August 2019 for at least 20 hours and up to 40 hours per week.
The intern will assist staff with County climate change mitigation, adaptation, and natural resource conservation efforts. Specific projects and activities might include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Researching and analyzing resilience and sustainability technical reports, legislation, and government best practices
• Preparing research memoranda on adaptation and mitigation strategies
• Creating content for social media, newsletters, press releases, reports, and presentations
• Identifying and organizing speaking opportunities and events
• Performing general office and administrative work Intern projects and activities will be based on Office of Resilience needs and the student’s expertise and interest. Potential subjects might include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Affordable housing
• Coastal engineering
• Composting / waste reduction
• Economic resilience
• Electric vehicles
• Greenhouse gas emissions benchmarking
• Natural / blue-green infrastructure
• Renewable energy
• Resilient building codes
• Social equity and environmental justice
• Urban planning
• Water and energy efficiency
• Water resource protection and management
Knowledge, Ability, and Skills Required
• Passion for resilience, climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental management, and/or sustainable development
• Course work, leadership experience, and/or career goals in environmental science, environmental law, urban planning, engineering, architecture, sustainability, or a related field
• Strong research and analysis skills
• Ability to understand and carry out complex oral and written instructions
• Exceptional organization and time-management skills
• Ability to express ideas clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing
• Ability to work well independently with minimal supervision while also being an effective team collaborator
• Experience with Microsoft Office
Preferred
• Upper-level (i.e. junior or senior) or advanced degree student
• Experience with mapping and visualization tools such as ArcGIS or Adobe Photoshop
• Ability to occasionally attend evening and weekend events, as school schedule allows
Candidate Requirements
• MUST BE AN ENROLLED COLLEGE STUDENT
• Work at least 20 hours per week, for at least 12 weeks
• Must be able to lift 40 pounds and work outside on occasion
• Must have a valid driver’s license; own transportation is not required, though the student is responsible for getting to and from the office location and occasional off-site events
Benefits
This position pays $10 / hour with no benefits. Alternatively, the Office of Resilience welcomes the opportunity to work with students and their academic institutions to obtain course credit.
To apply, please email a cover letter, resume, and two professional references to Megan Houston at MSHouston@pbcgov.org . Please use the following format for the subject line: “Last Name_Intern Position.” Your cover letter should include 1) what types of subjects you are interested in helping the Office of Resilience research; 2) your proposed start and end date; and 3) your preferred hours per week.
Applicants are encouraged to apply early; applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Due to the high volume of applications, only those selected for interviews will be contacted.