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12 week Entomology Collections Assistant

The Collections Assistant will work on an accessioning project in the GWMP Resources Management building. The George Washington Memorial Parkway and its Natural Resource Program Manager Brent Steury host a unique scientific team that since 2005, has vastly increased the known biodiversity of the park by thousands of species. The insects are mostly captured in Malaise traps deployed and collected by GWMP natural resources staff. Then insect samples are carefully sorted through and organized into different orders and families by the park's Bug Lab volunteers and placed into temporary storage. After specimens are identified and labeled by the park's natural resource program manager and other experts, the SIP intern will process and add the specimens to the museum collection. The intern will have the delicate task of handling tiny and fragile specimens with their descriptive labels in collections boxes organized by specific groupings. This will often require the use of a magnifying glass (loupe), special lighting, tweezers, pins, and very tiny labels. The intern will enter the insect records, including species name, location, significant details, and catalog number into the Interior Collections Management System (ICMS) museum database. The work is generally seated, standing, stepping up on a 2-step stepstool, or walking with mild lifting (not more than 20 lbs.) on an occasional basis.