Graduate students
The River Basin Center has championed “learning through first-hand experience” since our inception. Students participate in every aspect of our work, gaining experience and working directly with clients and partners and authoring or co-authoring RBC publications.
Graduate students who work on River Basin Center projects gain first-hand experience solving real-world water problems and have the opportunity to interact directly with colleagues at government agencies, non-governmental organizations, consulting firms and other partners. Graduate students working with the RBC pursue various degrees in multiple departments and often choose applied doctoral dissertations or master’s theses built around client-driven projects
Support for graduate students comes from externally-funded projects and from various UGA fellowships. The James E. Butler Fellowship and the John Spencer Fellowship are awarded by the RBC every two years to chosen incoming masters students at the Odum School of Ecology to work with the River Basin Center on southeastern aquatic issues. Other graduate students are funded by Graduate School Assistantships, Presidential Graduate Fellowships, and teaching assistantships. Funding is highly competitive.
If you’re interested in pursuing a graduate degree working with the River Basin Center, please email one or more RBC faculty members, advisory board members or co-directors to inquire about opportunities.
Undergraduate students
The River Basin Center offers a highly competitive science communications internship, ECOL 4940, each fall and spring. This creative and fast-paced internship is unpaid but fulfills the university experiential learning requirement for all students and satisfies a major elective for both AB and BS ecology students.
The RBC science communications intern is responsible for helping create, edit, and update written and photographic content for the River Basin Center website and its social media accounts. Interns will shadow RBC’s communications coordinator during interviews with faculty members and will help compose researcher profiles and project highlights. The position also includes event planning and coordination responsibilities. Interns are expected to work 6 hours/week for 2 credits, 9 hours/week for 3 credits, or 12 hours/week for 4 credits.
Please email UGARiverbasincenter@uga.edu if you have any questions about the RBC’s science communication internship.