California Coastal Commission

Sand Nourishment Analysis Project (SNAP) Internship

Host:  The California Coastal Commission (Commission) is a small State agency that is charged with protecting coastal resources and managing coastal development in California. The mission of the Commission is to implement the Coastal Act and to provide for the balanced use of the coastal zone and to protect, restore, and enhance coastal and marine resources for the continuing benefit of current and future generations. The Commission’s Technical Services Unit consists of experts in a variety of fields and disciplines such as coastal engineering, geology, water quality, GIS mapping, and ecology and advises the agencies permitting and planning staff on technical issues.

Internship Dates: June 2 - August 15, 2025

Stipend: $8,000

Time Commitment: The internship is a full-time (40 hr/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 percent, the stipend will be prorated.

Format: Hybrid

Location: San Francisco, CA

Position Description and Responsibilities: The Commission is looking to fill one (1) internship postition. Beach nourishment (also referred to as sand replenishment) is an important tool in the toolkit for adapting to the effects of sea level rise. As many areas face accelerating beach loss and coastal hazards, sand placement is increasingly becoming part of strategies such as nature-based solutions. The Commission is looking for an intern to work with a team of engineers, policy experts and scientists on a focused project related to beach nourishment. The project, titled Sand Nourishment Analysis Project (SNAP), will leverage the rich data included in Commission permits for beach nourishment projects over the past several decades to answer questions such as:

• Where does most beach nourishment occur and why?
  
• How do environmental protection requirements differ between permits and what lessons can be learned from comparing them?
• Are there trends in the grain size of sand being placed on beaches?

The intern will work with the Commission’s Technical Services Unit to develop a dataset of prior beach nourishment permits, extracting information from staff reports and project files such as placement volumes, placement locations and methods, grain size standards, and habitat protections with the goal of developing and answering coastal management questions from this dataset.

Tasks and responsibilities may include:

• Researching and compiling relevant past Commission permits using public and internal search engines and databases.
• Developing and analyzing a dataset of key pieces of information such as permit number, date of construction, authorized volumes, grain size standards, etc.
• Working with GIS software to analyze and visualize trends.
• Engaging Commission staff to identify relevant coastal management questions that may be informed by the project.
• Synthesizing and presenting key takeaways to Commission staff.​

​Supervision will be hybrid (a mix of in-person and remote). The internship is based in the Coastal Commission 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:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills;
• Interest in coastal climate adaptation and resiliency;
• Strong interest in the protection of California’s coastal resources;
• Introductory experience with GIS, data analysis, and/or programming such as Python or R;
• Educational experience in environmental science, GIS, coastal engineering, ecology, and/or geomorphology;
• Interest in learning about environmental policy and regulation;
• Ability to work independently and take initiative;
• Ability to participate in a collaborative process and work effectively with a diverse team;
• Strong investigative skills and willingness to troubleshoot.
  

Skills Gained: The intern will work with an interdisciplinary team that is willing to make sure they gain experience in areas of interest but can expect to gain skills in and exposure to the following areas:

• Coastal regulatory policy and procedures and the California Coastal Act;
• Data analysis including extracting, organizing, and analyzing multi-disciplinary information;
• Coastal engineering and coastal processes;
• Climate adaptation and nature-based solutions;
  
• Working on an interdisciplinary team;
• State government perspective and procedures.
  

Eligibility/Requirements: The intern must be authorized to work in the United States. Travel within California may be requested. Applicants are also subject to general eligibility requirements.​