The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a citizen science program based at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, recruits undergraduate interns for each academic quarter. Interns must be current undergraduates or graduates of any college.

What do COASST interns do?

COASST interns work as a team directly with staff and gain valuable, hands-on experience with citizen science programs and the complexities of volunteer-collected data. Internship tasks may include:

Recruiting, tracking, and communicating with citizen science participants

Managing incoming data and photos from beach surveys

Entering beached bird, marine debris, and social science data

Preparing materials for beached bird and marine debris trainings

Representing COASST at outreach events

Read more about the COASST interns on our blog!

How do I become an intern?

  1. Send a letter of interest along with your resume to coasst@uw.edu.
  2. Attend an interview with COASST staff to learn more about the program.
  3. Receive your acceptance email prior to the start of the next quarter.
  4. Sign up with your advisor to receive credit for your internship hours.

How much time will it take?

COASST interns commit to 8 hours per week, or 80 hours per quarter, for their first quarter with our program. There is a lot to learn!

Most of that time is spent in our office and lab space in the Fisheries Science Building, but each quarter there is an opportunity for a field trip to a beach.

Interns also may attend a weekly meeting together to learn about new COASST research, practice presenting, and review resumes for future professional development.

Both the field trip and the intern meeting count towards the quarter’s total hourly requirement.

COASST interns gather for a successful identification. Birds are friends!
COASST staff and interns searching for Small Debris at Carkeek Park

Thanks to all of the interns who have supported our program since its very beginnings:

Jamee Adams, Brianne Ankenman, Anna Bakker, Ashley Baldino, Karen Barrier, Vesta Baumgartner, Rose Whipple (nee Beede), Caitlyn Bell, Matt Bessee, Addie Biesel, Celine Boillat, Abby Bratt, Conor Brennan, Emil Buscaino, Viviana Castillo, Saralynn Chen, Andrew Chin, Rachel Cohen, Erin Costello, Kelly Crebs, Mallory Culbertson, Olivia Boone, Ellie Davis, Allison DeKerlegand, Peder Digre, Alexandra Dolk, Jane Dolliver, Jessie Dougher, Stephanie Doyle, Ruthie Drinkwater, Lena Easton-Calabria, Rachel Ellison, Kelsey Emerson, Megan Ewing, Isabelle Fenne, Nicholas Fowler, Chelsea Funis, Bailey Gilbert, Kathleen Gill, Jane Green, Caiti Guerin, Hailey Gunningham, Jackie Gonzales, Casey Haagenson, Maddy Hallet, Emily Hammermeister, Ann Hansen, Paige Hermansen, Maddy Hoiland, Juli Hoza, Cai Jasmer, Jessica Jetter, Christopher Hsing, Rachelle Johnson, Mariah Josten, Addison Keely, Veronica Keenan, Grace King, Rachel Kinkley, Lauren Kowalski, Jessica Latimer, Scott Le, William Le, Adrian Lee, Claire Levy, Albert Lin, Kate Loy, Andrew Mandovi, Rachel Mickey, Leah Miller, Jack Millman, Breanna Moore, Joedy Morrow, Malcolm Munsil, Lindsey Nelson, Eric Netzel, Justin Ng, Cindy Nguyen, Kristina Nguyen, Andy Ni, Jordan Omoto, Emily Oven, Kaili Park, Tom Pham, Alyssa Piauwasdy, Colin Piwtorak, Joelle Pollastro, Emily Poulin, Emily Puett, Jess Quinn, Hana Ra, Kayla Ramsey, Teo Rautu, Sean Rohan, Michelle Ruge, Haly Rylko, Kylie Sahota, Sydney Santos, Madeline Savage, Lex Savanh, Max Schrempp, Silvana Segura, Daniel Selke, Hannah Seo, Erica Sherman, Emily Slayton, Hannah Spohn, Courtney Straight, Kevin Swager, Bethany Taylor, Erin Tomeras, Carson Torres, Aline Tran, Jason Tsai, Hana Ra, Stephanie Valdez, Johanna Ventre, Edward Vlasenko, Kristina Vogt Randrup, Summer Wang, Breanne Ward, Natalie White, Tara Wilson, Sophia Winkler, Jordan Winter, Kyra Woytek, Jane Wynne, Kifer Yang, Kiana Young, Shawree Zhang, Anthony Zhou, Samantha Zwicker, Emma Duckworth, Kathryn Whitmore, Sara Ghandour, Ethan Hynes, Cate Hogan, Braden Hisaw, Sofia Denkovski, Niki Kirihara, Stevan Pekich, Isabella Robinson, Camille Cube …and many more!

(Dearest alumni – if you don’t see you name here please reach out to us. We want to hear from you!)