NPS/DOI Middle Eastern Summer Internship Program
By: David Krewson
US National Park Service
July 22, 2008
As I walked quickly through a Joshua tree forest in Mojave National Preserve, California, trying to keep up with several colleagues, I constantly scanned the ground in front of me looking for rattlesnakes. Trying to think as a snake, I envisioned that any prudent snake would most likely strike the first person in line rather than the last, so unbeknownst to my colleagues, I held back as we hiked through the desert scrub.
I was in the Mojave Desert, to see firsthand how Mohammad Otoum, an ecology researcher from the Dibeen Forest Reserve in Jordan, was handling his internship.
Mohammad, along with Jamal Al Zaidaneen, the head of nature conservation in Jordan’s Wadi Rum Protected Area , and Khawla Al Muhannadi, the founder and president of Bahrain’s first environmental nongovernmental organization (NGO), were invited to the United States through a special program funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and coordinated by the Department of the Interior’s International Technical Assistance Program and the National Park Service. The program’s goal is to provide hands-on experience in endangered species management and to foster relationships between national parks in the U.S. and protected areas in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The program is a training opportunity that works to enhance the skills of relevant personnel in the region to engage in management of endangered species as well as in education and outreach on endangered species conservation. Selected participant’s first traveled to Washington, DC for two days of introductory training and then proceed to their hosting national park site for periods lasting from six to eleven weeks. At the conclusion of their program, they once again return to Washington, DC to report on what they had learned and how it will help them in their positions back home.
The ITAP/NPS program worked to match each intern up with a US national park that had similar species to the participant’s home protected area. But this was not always possible. Mohammad, who works with the Greek tortoise (Tsudo gracea) in Dibeen Forest Reserve, did initially work with Mojave National Preserve wildlife biologists on management of the park’s resident Mojave Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). However, shortly after Mohammad arrived and began assisiting with the park’s tortoise study, the majority of the tortoises began to return to their burrows because of the excessive summer heat.
With no desert tortoises to study, Mohammad became involved with the park’s mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) study. Though the mule deer are not designated as endangered or threatened in the United States, the research methods that Mohammad learned while studying the deer, will translate well to his work back home. He adapted quickly to studying a new species and learned new triangulation methods for radio telementary tracking and improved his knowledge of GPS/GIS plotting of wildlife species. He also had opportunities to learn how the NPS prepares its general management plans, how the park interprets its natural and cultural resources, and provides visitor services.
Likewise, his colleague Jamal Al-Zaidaneen from Jordan’s Wadi Rum Protected Area, studied a species that was unfamiliar to him. Jamal was placed in California’s Death Vally National Park, the largest national park in the continental United States and one which has a desert habitat similar to Wadi Rum. Though Jamal studies the Arabian oryx in Wadi Rum, he was assigned to assist Death Valley National Park staff with the study of the Devil’s Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis), one of the most endangered species within the US, with a population of only about 38 remaining individuals.
Each morning during his internship, Jamal would set out with the park’s fisheries biologists or other staff, to monitor the water quality and conduct other tests of the geothermal (92 °F/33 °C), aquifer-fed pool. He was involved in all aspects of the monitoring program and was also given several research projects to complete on his own. Like Mohammad, he also had opportunities to become better acquainted with the other divisions within the park and one day, was even given the chance to become the “acting superintendent.”
On the other side of the country, Khawla Muhannadi, President of Bahrain’s Environment Friends Society underwent an internship program at Biscayne National Park, near Miami, Florida. After undergoing two weeks of training with other park seasonal staff, Khawla began her internship. Most mornings, she set out in a small park boat to patrol the beaches, looking for sand disturbances on the beaches and the tell-tale sign of nesting turtles. If one was found, she and her team would dig up the nest to see if eggs had been deposited, and if so, they would then rebury the eggs and cover them with a mesh to keep out possible hungry raccoons. Sometimes she even got to see and record the baby turtles as they broke free from their eggs and scampered to the water. Khawla’s work with the sea turtles in Biscayne corresponded with her desire to learn how to better protect and manage Bahrain’s native sea turtle populations, which are facing intensified threats from coastal development.
Khawla applied to participate in the internship program because of the growing threat to the environment in her home country. As she mentioned in her application, “because of the current boom in oil production, Bahrain has chosen to scarify its natural marine resources to achieve what is known as economic development. My aim in participating in this internship is to learn new ways to achieve the best possible conservation for Bahrain’s indigenous species and their habitats and ecosystems.” Because Khawla is not a field ranger like Mohammad and Jamal, she was also provided with an opportunity to spend two weeks in Washington, DC mentoring with various senior NPS and other federal agency staff in a variety of fields. This was undertaken to broaden her knowledge of how land protection agencies develop and implement environmental policies and laws.
Though Mohammad and Jamal have finished their internships and returned home, hopefully applying their newly learned skills and knowledge to their work in their respective parks, Khawla will stay on until the end of August. But as the ITAP/NPS 2008 Summer Internship Program draws to a close, everyone involved in the project is really satisfied with the outcome thus far. New contacts and friendships have been established and knowledge has been imparted on both sides. As David Ek, Death Valley’s Chief of Natural Resources said, “These types of programs are very useful, as they tend to plant relationship seeds. Ideas are exchanged back and forth and now we have a better understanding of how Jordan is managing some of its species. We learned from Jamal, as he did from us, and we hope we can stay in touch so that we will continue to learn from each other.”
ITAP and the NPS plan to bring over two more new interns, one from Oman and one from Morocco, for the fall session. ITAP/NPS will re-advertise the availability of the internships for a spring 2009 session sometime during January or February 2009. The program pays all costs, including air travel, per diem, medical insurance, and housing. It is open to any field biologist or NGO staff person working on endangered species from the countries of Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco, and Oman. For more information, contact one of the program coordinators: Emily Kilcrease, emily_kilcrease@ios.doi.gov; or David Krewson, david_krewson@nps.gov.
As to that rattlesnake I was on the lookout for, we finally did see one. But it was on the following day in Mojave National Preserve that one slithered across the pathway in front of us. It rattled and gave away its location and so we were able to observe it from afar. We enjoyed seeing it, but I was thankful to leave the desert and not have to worry whether or not my foot was going to become the target of an upset and imprudent snake.
The NPS internship program helps the NPS accomplish its mission of extending the benefits of natural and cultural conservation throughout this country and the world.
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