Tropical Conservation, Permaculture & Research Internship in the Rainforest of Ecuador - Winter Session

Winter Internship Dates: January 8th – March 15th

Application Deadline: Monday November 4, 2013

Third Millennium Alliance Third Millennium Alliance (TMA) was founded in 2007 with the purchase of 100 acres and the establishment of the Jama-Coaque Reserve (JCR) in the western province of Manabí, Ecuador, between the cities of Jama and Pedernales, and four kilometers inland. Now encompassing over 1000 acres, the Jama-Coaque Reserve actively protects one of the last remaining fragments of Pacific Equatorial Forest, which is considered to be one of the most threatened tropical forests in the world.

Internship Opportunities: Interns are encouraged to take on high-impact and dynamic projects; we are a young organization forging our path as we discover it. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done and experience to be gained. Above all, creativity, innovation, and self-motivation are the fuel of our intern program. Immediately surrounding the Field Station we are designing/growing/building a living laboratory of sustainable resource management (i.e. permaculture), which also serves as our field headquarters for ecological research and forest monitoring. In addition to work managing the agroforestry production zone and organic vegetable garden, each intern is assigned a personal project, which is akin to a "thesis" of sort, but of a much more practical nature. Generally speaking, there are three categories of personal projects: 1) conservation biology research and 2) permaculture/sustainable food production and land management, and 3) appropriate technology.

The following is a list of some of the projects we're looking to tackle during the upcoming sessions. Some are new projects and others are ongoing and multi-year projects. Projects with stars next to them are of high interest and priority. When applying please prioritize three projects from the list below in the order of most interest.

Flora & Fauna Research:

• *Ethnobotany* (requires strong Spanish-speaking skills)

• *Camera trap survey of wild felines* (ocelot, jaguarundi)

• *Monkey Troop Survey (Howler & critically endangered White Fronted Capuchin)

• *Investigation of Endangered Avifauna - (Ornithology experience and strong Spanish-speaking skills required for community surveying)

Permaculture/Re-forestation/Food Production:

• Green Building - Learn to use natural, recycled and sustainable building materials. Upcoming projects include building an earthbag (aka super adobe) retaining wall, use cob to plaster walls, another cob layer on the pizza oven, re-floor the the field station with bamboo.

• Reforestation - Last year we planted 6,500 trees in one portion of our re-forestation plot. We want to keep this momentum going this year to plant even more trees and expand the project. Help manage tree propagation and planting efforts.

• Production Zone Intensive – Focused on increasing food production, crop zonification & rotation, plant propagation, care/maintenance, integrated pest management and food preservation (ie, canning)

Appropriate Technology:

• *Working with natural materials *(mainly, native bamboo and mate gourds) to build home appliances (e.g., cutlery, drinking cups, bowls, garden pots, balcony boxes, candle holders, etc.)

• *Design and build a non-electrical refrigerator*

• Design and build a solar food dehydrator

Winter Internship Dates: January 8th – March 15th

Application Deadline: Monday November 4, 2013

To see a complete program description, please visit our "Internship" page at our website at www.tmalliance.org. Here you can download the application form and contact details, as well as other media, such as the intern-maintained blog, and the program FAQ.

We look forward to working with you!

Jordan Trujillo

Internship Coordinator

Third Millennium Alliance

Jama, Ecuador www.tmalliance.org