RISE Internship: Wildlife Data Intern at Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection
*This opportunity is only available to University of Arizona students.*
Position Title: Wildlife Data Intern
Reports to: Kate Hotten
Hours/Week: 8
Internship Date Range: 1/20/2026 to 5/15/2026 (17 weeks)
Location: 738 N. 5th Ave., Suite 205, Tucson, 85705 (remote work available)
Compensation: The intern will be hired and paid by the University of Arizona. The pay rate is $19/hour.
The Wildlife Data Intern will assist the Conservation Science Director with maintaining CSDP’s wildlife camera photo database to help translate community science into tangible conservation outcomes. Interns will gain knowledge in community science program management, photo database management, image analysis software, and wildlife species identification. They will also gain experience in data entry and basic analysis and reporting. Interns will work with data from several landscape connectivity research areas focusing on wildlife movement and wildlife-highway interactions in Pima County, with field work as an optional component. Finally, interns will assist CSDP with its outreach work, to include preparation for and hosting visitors and volunteers at relevant events.
Apply here before November 16, 2025!
Former Desert Wildlife Interns
Mireya Ballesteros (Spring 2025 – Summer 2025)
Mireya processed the wildlife camera data from our Oro Valley project area and contributed to the final project report (coming soon!) Read more here.
Aster Schaefer (Spring 2024 – Spring 2025)
Aster helped train the Wildlife Insights species identification AI, participated with our community outreach events. Read more here.
Lilly Elena Esperanza Ramirez
(Spring 2024)
Lilly wrote the narratives for new interpretive signage at the Oracle Road wildlife crossings.
Woods Nystedt (Spring 2024)
Woods analyzed data from our I-10 East wildlife monitoring study. See the results here.
Andrew Grusenmeyer (Fall 2023)
Andrew led CSDP’s Snapshot USA project for 2023, where we contributed camera monitoring data for a nation-wide wildlife camera trap survey.
Jeremiah Powers (Fall 2023)
Jeremiah focused on helping us implement our new monthly Habitat Restoration Day events on the Oracle Road wildlife crossing structures.
Josh Skattum (Fall 2022)
Josh focused on science communications through social media, and organizing the 2022 Tortolita Preserve BioBlitz.
Please visit our memorial blog post for more information about Josh and the legacy he left at the Coalition.
Photo Credits: (L) A hooded oriole on saguaro cactus blooms. Photo courtesy Sheryl Hester. (C) Volunteers with the UA Environmental Law Society place a new wildlife camera in the field in Winter 2022. (R) Sunrise on Redington Pass from the Tucson Mountains. Photo courtesy David Wrench.