Background
Sea Turtle, Inc. is a non-profit organization with a four-part mission of sea turtle conservation, medical care, applied research, and education located on South Padre Island, Texas. Apply now to join the Sea Turtle Inc. medical care team with the busy summer season! Interns will have the opportunity to learn sea turtle medical care and rehabilitation methods and techniques through hands-on experiences, working directly with our medical care staff. Daily responsibilities will include but are not limited to, feeding our residents and patients, food preparation, tank cleaning, and facility upkeep. Interns will also learn how to assist our medical care team with treatments and surgical procedures.

Position Duties

• Feeding our resident sea turtles, rehab patients, and fish
• Monitoring animal appetite and general behavior 
• Preparing food according to staff instructions 
• Performing daily water quality on our resident and patient tanks 
• Assisting with new patient admittance and daily medical care procedures including patient restraint, calculating and administering medications, cold laser therapy, tube feeding, in-house blood work, applying PIT tags, stranding forms, medical records, etc.  
• Assisting with surgery and necropsies as needed
• Responding to live and dead sea turtle strandings, including transport and intake. This includes after hours response and being responsible for 24-hour stranding phone on a rotation basis
• Tank sanitation: skimming tanks and cleaning as needed while paying close attention to quarantine protocols, cleaning will happen from both inside and outside of tank, so candidate should feel comfortable swimming 
• Facility upkeep: laundry, restocking, and cleaning as needed
• Assisting with coverage of other departments as needed
• Perform other duties as assigned
  
  

Requirements

The Jeffery George Internship Program is intended to help candidates gain knowledge and experience in the field between undergraduate and graduate degrees, or prior to beginning their professional career. As such, applicants must be recent college graduates in biological sciences, wildlife/fisheries science, veterinary technology, or other related field

• Must be 18 years of age or older, hold a valid U.S. driver's license, and pass a criminal background check
• U.S. citizenship or permit to work in the U.S. is required
• Strong interest in wildlife rehabilitation and husbandry
• Excellent communication skills
• Self-motivated and possess the ability to work independently or as part of a team  
• Attention to detail
• A desire to learn      
• Must be comfortable working in adverse weather conditions including extreme temperatures and humidity

Physical Demands
The following physical demands must be met to successfully perform the essential duties of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions. While performing the responsibilities of the position, interns are frequently required to sit, walk, stand, stoop, bend, kneel, climb and/or crouch; using hands and fingers to handle or feel; ability to reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. The intern must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception.

General Information
Shared housing on-site at the newly opened hospital facility is provided at Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island, Texas along with a $35 per workday stipend. Housing is air-conditioned and equipped with basic furniture, Wi-Fi, and kitchen supplies. Please note, pets and overnight guests are not allowed in the housing. Food and transportation are not provided. Personal vehicle is not required on the island. A 40-hour workweek is typical for this position includes long hours, working holidays and weekends, and being on-call for after-hours stranding events. Preference will be given to applicants that have previous experience with wildlife rehabilitation and/or husbandry.