July 18 - July 28, 2025
The George River Internship is summer program in which students apply for a paid internship under the direction of Native Village of Napaimute Fisheries Director Dan Gillikin and Kuspuk School District’s Erich Kuball.
Students applying to participate in the internship should be highly motivated individuals who are interested in learning more about the area’s natural resources. Students will be involved in assisting biologists with counting salmon, sampling fish for biological data, collecting habitat information, and completing a curriculum of learning activities ranging from analyzing fisheries data to environmental data. Students will spend eight days at the remote field camps of the George River as well as the George River Weir. The interns’ travel to and from the project site and room and board will be paid. The intern will also receive a $700 stipend after successful completion of the program. Interns must complete the written curriculum before the stipend will be paid. HS Students earn 0.5 credits in Science "River Systems Ecology" or 0.5 credits in Math “Statistics
Videos:
Participants should be between 15-19 years of age. (However younger applicants can be considered if there are not enough applicants)
Participants should be a resident of one of the Kuspuk villages but applications from other villages will be considered. Participants must have completed 2 prior Math Science Expeditions on the Salmon / Aniak River. Also must be recommended by MSE Staff or recommended by Alaska EXCEL staff.
Once Selected you will need the following:
We will be conducting research on the George River which is a tributary to the Kuskokwim River flowing in on the Northside about 20 miles up from Crooked Creek Alaska. The sampling locations will be spatially explicit and hierarchically nested. Within particular segments of the George River and at specific sites we will be conducting our investigations. A SEGMENT is a large portion of the river (in our case the 2 Forks, North & East, and the main channel below the confluence of the two forks). At these locations we established long term reference sites. (North Fork-NF, East Fork-EF and Main Stem-MS). We will conduct protocol sampling at the three long-term sites representing all three habitat types identified (e.g., main channel MC, parafluvial springbrook SB, beaver complexes BC). Below is a map of the George River where we will be studying.
If you want to view a full copy of the protocols, click HERE to request the GRI Handbook.
Below are the activities that are completed at teacher of the reference areas on the map above:
