Applications for the following positions accepted through May 20, 2024 or until filled!
WaterWRLD (Water as a platform for Workforce Readiness and Leadership Development)
Interns will:
- Increase understanding of community-based conservation and river restoration opportunities for the Santa Cruz River Watershed, as well as engaging on urban ecology and environmental justice issues.
- Build relationships with WMG and other local environmental professionals, and work closely with one or more WMG staff mentors.
- Develop leadership, community outreach, and environmental education skills and experience
Have Questions?
Check out a recording of an internship information panel on our YouTube channel! Please note that this video refers to WMG's internship program which usually ran from Fall through Spring for University of Arizona students. While much of the information will be applicable, some may not. For more information, please contact Julie Regalado at jregalado@watershedmg.org.
Internship Opportunities - currently open
Native Edible Tree Intern (Full position description)
August - December 2024
The Native Edible Tree Intern will assist WMG with a project funded through Arizona State Forestry to explore the use of native edible trees and plants in our region through education and events on urban foraging, cultivating, harvesting and processing of these foods. The intern will assist with logistics and help teach workshops on Sonoran Desert Native Edibles, Building Native Food Forests, and Native Edible Kit Distribution events both at WMG's Living Lab and in various Tucson neighborhoods. The position will also provide support for a variety of Community Asset Mapping events to explore opportunities for existing urban foraging, and identify areas where urban food forests could be planted and established. WMG seeks an intern who is able and interested in engaging with limited-income, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ communities.
River Run Network Education and Outreach Intern (Full position description)
Fall 2024 - Spring 2025
The River Run Network Restoration and Outreach interns will be part of the WMG team working on the River Run Network (RRN) program to restore Tucson’s heritage of flowing creeks and rivers. They will assist with community outreach, education, and advocacy with the goal of engaging the public in WMG’s 50-year vision to restore flow and recruiting and engaging River Run Network members. The RRN intern will help build partnerships and collaborate WMG’s Staff on the invasive species removal effort in the Tanque Verde Creek. The intern will support this effort through leading and engaging volunteers during workshops and in the Tucson Community. WMG can offer two positions for this internship - one focusing more on communications, one focused on fieldwork.
Community Conservation Intern (Full position description)
Fall 2024 - Spring 2025
The Community Conservation Intern will provide support for WMG community conservation-based initiatives and projects to serve primarily marginalized neighborhoods across Tucson as part of GROW Tucson. GROW Tucson is a collaborative effort with the City of Tucson, Tucson Audubon Society, Tucson Clean & Beautiful (TCB), Sonoran Environmental Research Institute (SERI), Iskashitaa Refugee Network (IRN) and WMG centering on equity and environmental justice, supporting workforce development and community engagement. Aligned with federal and state goals, GROW Tucson aims to establish tree canopy in historically disinvested areas while addressing issues like pavement, lack of irrigation, and community trust. By expanding urban forestry and rainwater harvesting, GROW Tucson will enhance resilience to extreme heat, benefiting an estimated 20,000 households and 60,000 people in historically underserved communities. The intern will assist with teaching of and follow up from the raingarden educational workshops at the Living Lab and Learning Center, local schools, residential homes, and community centers in the greater Tucson community. In addition, this position will provide support for community-centered green infrastructure and restoration project processes, as well as provide support for a variety of events at WMG’s Living Lab.
Who is Eligible?
This internship is open to people over 18 years old who have a demonstrated commitment through life experience or education in line with Watershed Management Group's practices of conservation, restoration, and education towards learning how to be stewards of the land and waterways where we live. While most of our interns are students, this is not a prerequisite for these positions.
Applications will be open through May 1st or until filled. Applications should send a cover letter and resume to the supervisor indicated on the specific position description. Please direct any general questions about WMG or the Internships to Julie Regalado jregalado@watershedmg.org
Internship Mentors/Supervisors
Valerisa (Val) Gaddy
Community Conservation Program Director
She/Her
Valerisa (Val) Gaddy, PhD., is originally from the Navajo Nation and is of the Navajo (Diné) people. Gaddy has a passion for water quality and uses her research interests to advocate for Tribal water resources in Arizona. Prior to her current position, Gaddy was a post-doctorate research associate at the University of Arizona – Water Resources Research Center. Gaddy received her PhD and MS in Environmental Science with an emphasis in microbiology and her BS from New Mexico State University in microbiology. Gaddy’s research and extension interests include developing and validating methods to assess microbial water quality, and communicating modern water quality and produce safety methods to growers. Most recently, Gaddy’s program Irrigation Resources Reaching Indigenous Growers and Tribal Entities, IRRIGaTE was a winner of 2022 MIT Solve Finals. She is a senior fellow of Columbia University – Mailman School of Public Health from 2022-2023. When Gaddy is not working, she enjoys family time with her son and husband which includes, hiking, bouldering, and playing with Legos.
Lauren Monheim
River Run Network Program Manager
She/Her
Lauren has a B.S. in Watershed Hydrology and Management from the University of Arizona. As a Tucson native, Lauren has a passion for the environment and the community in this area and wants to continue spreading this excitement for nature, water and people through her work with the River Run Network. Lauren enjoys hiking, drinking coffee and reading in her spare time.
Julie Regalado
Education Program Director
She/They
Julie has over 30 years of experience teaching in experiential, place-based, embodied education both in the US and in Australia, where she lived for fifteen years. Julie made her way to Tucson in 2023, reconnecting to the Sonoran Desert near where she grew up (in San Bernardino, Ca), and the land of her father's family across the border in Sonora and Chihuahua. Early university studies in the sciences and work in a soils science lab evolved into a performing arts focus and Regalado was active in California in the modern dance world. She holds a BA in Liberal Studies from UC Riverside, a MFA in Dance from Mills College, and a MEd in Social Ecology from Western Sydney University, where she also recently completed a M.Res researching how a place-based embodied awareness practice might foster ecological consciousness. In her free time, she explores her new town of Tucson on foot and scrambles over boulders in the Dragoon Mountains. She loves cooking, eating, reading, gardening and speaks passable French and Spanish.
Catlow Shipek
Sr. Program Director
He/him
Catlow Shipek is a founding member of Watershed Management Group. He received a MSc in Watershed Management from the University of Arizona. Catlow has over 15 years of experience in applied watershed management, planning and policy specializing in urban applications like water harvesting, green infrastructure, stream restoration, and eco-sanitation. Catlow has worked on several successful local policy initiatives including Tucson's Green Streets Active Practice Guidelines, Tucson Water's residential rainwater rebate program, Tucson's residential greywater ordinance revision process, and through the Complete Streets Taskforce the adoption of Tucson's Complete Streets Policy. Catlow has served on the Citizens’ Water Advisory Committee for Tucson Water including Chair of the Conservation & Education subcommittee, Tucson's Complete Streets Coordinating Council, and on the University of Arizona's School of Natural Resource and the Environment's advisory board. Catlow enjoys growing and foraging for food, long mountain trail runs, and finding swiiming holes.