Crystal Cove Conservancy (The Conservancy) is once again opening its fire ecology internship to high school students for the 2024-2025 school year. In partnership with California State Parks, Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC) and UC Irvine (UCI), the program offers local high school students the chance to get hands-on experience studying the effects of fire on local ecosystems.
“We’re thrilled to be expanding the fire ecology internship and give high school students the opportunity to experience two different types of real, hands-on scientific research techniques,” said president and CEO of Crystal Cove Conservancy Kate Wheeler. “As we enter the fifth year of the program, we’re thankful to our partners at California State Parks, Irvine Ranch Conservancy and UCI for helping to make this impactful program possible as we work to ignite students’ passion for environmental science.”
New this year, students and land managers will also study how the frequency of fires can potentially change soil biomes and microbial life.
During the 2023-2024 program, interns collected data at sites located in Crystal Cove State Park, Limestone Canyon, Weir and Gypsum Canyon to study the impact fire has on Orange County’s native species. This year, students will be assigned two different tracks – one focusing on the habitat quality of the prickly pear cactus and cactus wren after fire occurrence and the second examining how fire frequency can cause changes in soil biome diversity. These studies will give students the chance to take part in ecological field research with Crystal Cove Conservancy, IRC and State Parks and traditional lab research with UCI technicians.
“Increased fire frequency continues to be a major challenge for restoration ecologists and land stewards,” IRC Monitoring and Research Program Manager Eliza Hernandez said. “This partnership helps collect ecological data on the effects of too-frequent fires that can inform management decisions and, more importantly, fosters the next generation of scientists who will face this challenge.”
High school students from backgrounds and communities that have historically been excluded and underrepresented in the STEM field will be highly considered for the internship. The California State Parks Foundation and Edison International provide additional support for the fire ecology internship program.
The 2024-2025 program will run for 13 weeks from October 2024 through May 2025, with a combination of virtual sessions, in-person field days and lab work at a variety of open spaces throughout Orange County and the Microbial Evolutionary Ecology Lab at UCI. Applications are open now through Sept. 22 for the academic school year.
For more information about the internship and to apply, visit crystalcove.org.
