San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
Adapting to Rising Tides Program Internship
Host: San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) protects and enhances San Francisco Bay and encourages the Bay's responsible and productive use for this and future generations. BCDC has played a major role in making the Bay and its shoreline a national recreational treasure by providing strong support for the maritime industry, preserving and restoring Bay wetlands and marshes, and protecting shorelines since its establishment in 1965. The
Adapting to Rising Tides Program at BCDC provides staff support, guidance, tools and information to help agencies and organizations understand, communicate and begin to resolve complex climate change issues.
Location: San Francisco, CA (map)
Format: Hybrid (In-person 2 days per week)
Internship Dates: June 2 - August 15, 2025
Stipend: $8,000
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON AVAILABILITY: The availability of this internship position is contingent upon availability of funding. Students who are interested in this opportunity should indicate this on their application, but are encouraged to apply to multiple internships. In the event of the cancellation of the BCDC internship position, any students who applied to this particular opportunity will be notified immediately.
Time Commitment: The internship is a full time (40hr/week), 11-week commitment. Over the 11 weeks, the intern may take up to five days off for personal reasons, vacation or illness. If participation is less than 100%, the stipend will be prorated.
Position Description and Responsibilities: BCDC has one (1) position available to work with the Adapting to Rising Tides team of adaptation scientists and planners supporting the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). The RSAP is a region-wide plan for the Bay shoreline that guides the creation of coordinated, locally-planned sea level rise adaptation actions that work together to meet regional goals. The intern will be supporting tasks related to, adaptation progress tracking, adaptation funding and investment, sea level rise planning, decision support tool development and data analysis. The intern will be encouraged to incorporate their own interests and expertise into the ART program projects and internship.
Tasks and responsibilities may include:
1. Shoreline Adaptation Project Map: The intern will support the ART team in helping maintain a database of planned adaptation projects for use in the RSAP and other regional planning efforts along with:
- Working with adaptation project planners and BCDC permittees to help enter data into the regional database;
- Researching adaptation projects in the region and entering up to date information about project status.
2. SLR Adaptation Funding and Investment Strategy: BCDC is leading an effort to evaluate, prioritize, and advance funding for SLR adaptation in the region in which the intern may be engaged in:
- Stakeholder engagement support including meeting planning, preparation, material development, and other activities;
- Supporting the development of methodologies for evaluating projects;
- Data collection and analysis.
3. Bay Adapt Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan Technical Assistance Program: BCDC will be standing up a brand new Technical Assistance program to support implementation of the RSAP by local jurisdictions in which the intern may be engaged in:
- Stakeholder engagement support including meeting planning, preparation, material development, and other activities;
- Research into policies covering the intersection of habitat and development, such as planning for migration space;
- Other sea level rise adaptation research, as needed, such as shoreline protection design, climate science, groundwater rise, social equity, adaptation pathways, and other relevant topics.
4. RSAP Mapping Platform: The intern will support the deployment of an RSAP Mapping Platform, which provides data and functionality to support the creation of subregional shoreline adaptation plans by:
- Working with GIS software to prepare and process data related to flood hazards, regional infrastructure, transportation, ecosystems, and communities;
- Developing communication materials related to the Online Mapping Platform functions, data analysis methods, and planning guidance.
Supervision will be a mix of in-person and remote. The internship is based in the BCDC office in downtown San Francisco, and the intern will be required to work from the office at least 2 days a week and attend some public meetings.
Preferred Experience and Capabilities: The ideal intern would have the following:
- Interest in coastal climate adaptation and resilience;
- Strong connection to and interest in the protection of California’s coastal resources;
- Introductory experience with GIS, data analysis, and/or web application development;
- Strong interpersonal, analytic, and communication skills;
- Ability to work independently and in a tight-knit team environment;
- Ability to take on diverse tasks and play a supporting role as needed to achieve organizational goals;
- Ability to participate in collaborative processes to generate timely products and to work effectively with diverse public and private partners.
Skills Gained: The intern will work with a team of adaptation scientists on a variety of tasks related to sea level rise adaptation and climate resilience for the San Francisco Bay Area. While the team is willing to work with the intern to make sure they gain experience in areas of interest, the intern can expect exposure to sea level rise and climate projection science, nature-based adaptation, regional and multi-jurisdictional adaptation planning, spatial planning (GIS) for adaptation, and operations of the State government.
Eligibility/Requirements: The intern must be authorized to work in the United States. Travel within California may be requested (pending public health orders). Applicants are also subject to general eligibility requirements.