Project description: We are seeking two interns that will be key members of a research team including scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and the University of Washington. Interns will assist us in a long-term research project (started in 2000) in the foothills of western Washington examining recolonization of the Cedar River above Landsburg Dam by Pacific salmon. The area above the dam is within a protected watershed supplying drinking water to the city of Seattle. In 1901, a diversion dam was constructed that blocked upriver migration of anadromous salmon and resident fish into the municipal watershed. A fish ladder was built at the dam in 2003 providing Pacific salmon access to some of the best riverine habitat in the Puget Sound area. Our objectives are: 1) to quantify the recolonization process; 2) investigate habitat conditions that affect recolonization; and 3) determine the ecological effects of recolonization on the Cedar River ecosystem. Interns will assist us in field, laboratory, and computer activities. Tasks include habitat, fish, and bird surveys; and water, algae, and invertebrate sampling. Field research will be conducted in the Cedar River watershed, an ecological reserve owned by the City of Seattle.

Opportunity: This internship provides a unique opportunity to collaborate in a large-scale, long-term ecological research project critical to the conservation of Pacific salmon. The interns will gain valuable experience in field techniques for surveying stream habitat, invertebrates, birds and fish. Additionally, they will gain experience processing and identifying stream and terrestrial invertebrates that serve as prey for stream-rearing salmonids. These experiences will provide a strong background in fish biology, freshwater ecology, conservation biology, ornithology, ecology, hydrology, and chemistry.