Broadening the pipeline into ornithology careers
The Ornithology Careers Institute (OCI) is a free, intensive, week-long field skills training institute for college students who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and/or Latinx and are interested in careers in ornithology. It is designed to provide the hands-on field experience that students need in order to attain competitive internships and other paid fieldwork opportunities.
I believe that the institute is an enormous opportunity for the development of future professionals with a comprehensive vision. Sharing [stories] with the students of the institute reminded me that this is how I began my career in ornithology and the conservation of migratory birds.
-
Program information
The next OCI will be held from May 30 to June 6, 2023.
Participants will spend time working in Manomet’s banding lab, one of the first bird observatories established in North America. Alongside Manomet’s spring banding crew, they will monitor our mist nets, safely extracting birds and then bringing them back to the banding lab for identification, measurement and health assessment, and banding.
Additional field skills
Participants will conduct songbird and shorebird field surveys, nest box monitoring and proper nestling handling, GPS training, radio telemetry, and museum specimen prep.
Networking
We’ll connect with Manomet scientists working locally and across the Western Hemisphere to learn about their conservation work, and experience a professional skills workshop with U360, Manomet’s innovative business sustainability internship program.
The OCI is free for accepted participants and includes room, board, and round trip travel.
The deadline to apply is February 15, 2023. Contact Dr. Molly Jacobs, Manomet’s VP of Environmental Education and Outreach, for more information about the OCI.
Watch a recording of this year’s information session held on January 17: