CLIMATE CHANGE INTERNSHIP
Global Change and Ecosystem Services
Science and Knowledge
Conservation International
Conservation International (CI) has identified
the need to gather information on designing and
implementing forest carbon projects, more
specifically on reducing emissions from
deforestation and degradation (REDD) projects.
The aim is to identify some responses to many
methodological issues on project baselines.
The intern will be responsible for collecting
data on REDD project design documents prepared by
CI and other organizations. Follow up interviews
might be necessary to complement the information
available online. Then, the intern will organize
the information in a framework, summarizing the
project characteristics with an emphasis on the
technical approach. The outcome expected will be
an analytical report, which will help CI identify
areas for further investigation and support the
process of establishing REDD projects.
More specifically the intern will try to answer the following questions:
How are the organizations approaching REDD projects?
Scope: deforestation, degradation, and/or conservation?
Integrated to a national account system?
Any standard methodology is being used?
How is the reference level being established?
Reference approach: historical, adjusted or modeled baseline?
Scale: national, regional or site level project (leakage area)?
Reference period (historical and future)
Assumptions made
What are the data considered in the project?
Forest cover and change data availability?
Process of measuring carbon biomass?
Drivers of deforestation and degradation considered.
Model parameters (socio-economic, policiesÂ…)?
Taking into account future national development plans?
Other co-benefits being considered.
Biodiversity?
Ecosystem services?
Community benefits?
In addition to the analytical report, the intern
will be responsible for organizing and entering
data of questionnaire-generated information
(mostly qualitative) into our spreadsheet driven
database. These questionnaires are currently
being distributed to a variety of countries where
CI operates to gather experiences and lessons
learned from a variety of stakeholders involved
in our forest carbon projects. The selected
candidate will be responsible for data entry as
well as support the team with different activities during
the analysis of the database (e.g. prepare graphs
and figures). This information will later be
incorporated to a Lessons Learned report and thus
the intern will have the opportunity to review and contribute to it.
Specific Tasks
Search and compile REDD project design documents;
Conduct phone interviews (if necessary);
Systematize the information available into a framework;
Produce an analytical report;
Support data entry of lessons learned questionnaires into our database;
Prepare graphs and figures for lessons learned report.
Required skills
Strong analytical skills
Experience with Microsoft Office package (MS Excel and Word is compulsory)
Fluency in English and Spanish
Familiarity with synthesizing and analyzing qualitative data
Strong organizational skills and close attention to detail
Ability to work independently
A demonstrated interest in forest conservation
Preferred skills
Knowledge of REDD projects methodology and proposals
Familiarity with the typical cycle of a forest carbon project
Fluency in Portuguese
Understanding of GIS concepts
The climate change internship is a part-time
(15-20 h/week) position and will be based at
Conservation InternationalÂ’s headquarters in
Arlington VA. The intern will report to Fabiano
Godoy and Olaf Zerbock. The contract will be
established for three months initially and a
small stipend is available. If students are
interested, there is also the possibility of
receiving credits for his work at CI.
Applicants should send their resume and a cover
letter, detailing relevant experience and skills,
by email to [email protected] by July 31
2009. We intend to hold interviews the following
week for a small group of selected candidates.
