IN-13059 Evaluating forest certification Intern

Internship Title:

IN-13059 Evaluating forest certification: Does certification reduce regional deforestation or degradation?

Internship Description:

Tropical forests are the store-houses of most of the world’s biodiversity and carbon dioxide, but have also been under the threat of deforestation and degradation for many decades. In response to the rising commercial pressure on forestland, forest certification (e.g. Forest Stewardship Council) was developed as a conservation tool to ensure sustainable management of production forests. To better understand the effectiveness of this policy instrument, we seek an intern to help conduct a preliminary evaluation on the degree to which forest certification may have led to a decrease in the amount of regional deforestation or degradation.

Specific areas of focus may include:

• Impact evaluation research design, using spatial counter-factual areas to set up our comparison/assessment.
• Remote sensing analyses of select countries or sub-national regions, comparing FSC areas, connectivity, and deforestation (degradation) rates. Countries may include Peru, Indonesia, Cameroon, Costa Rica or Colombia.
• Exploring connections with carbon markets and links to avoided deforestation carbon emissions estimates
• Exploring links to agricultural production and the agricultural-forest frontier with respect to forest conversion and indirect forest loss.

Minimum Requirements:

• Interdisciplinary background in relevant fields, such as conservation biology, spatial ecology, spatial statistics
• Excellent GIS and remote sensing skills
• Excellent research, writing, and analytical skills
• Ability to work efficiently and independently
• Demonstrated knowledge of tropical forests, forest certification, or other forest management approaches preferred
• Knowledge of impact evaluation methods preferred
• Proficiency in Spanish is a plus

Location:

Washington, DC

Compensation:

Paid

How to apply: Please email a resume & cover letter with the subject line “Internship Application” to Colby Loucks at Colby.loucks@wwfus.org.

 

* Please note that WWF does not provide VISA sponsorship to interns