Conservation Planning Internship

About Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC)

TLC is an accredited and highly-respected land trust, having protected over 25,000 acres in the rapidly growing Triangle region of North Carolina. Since 1983, TLC has conserved land to safeguard drinking water, support family farms and the local food economy, protect important natural habitat, and connect people with nature. TLC operates a hybrid workplace and is headquartered in vibrant downtown Durham.

This is an exciting time to work at TLC as we are seeing a dramatic increase in the use of our public nature preserves and growth in community support for our mission. Since 2018, TLC has doubled the pace of conservation in the Triangle and is conserving over 1,200 acres annually in addition to monitoring and stewarding TLC-conserved lands in perpetuity, hosting numerous public events and education programs, providing volunteer opportunities, and cultivating future leaders.

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The Conservation Planning Intern supports TLC’s land protection and conservation planning efforts through applied GIS analysis and spatial data management. Working closely with the Conservation Planner, the intern will help update the GIS prioritization model for the Upper Neuse Basin Watershed Protection Program, originally developed in 2016 and now undergoing a funded update.

This project-based internship is best suited for a graduate student or advanced GIS user with prior GIS experience who is eager to apply spatial analysis skills to a real-world conservation planning effort. The intern will build upon established models and datasets to modernize inputs, strengthen spatial analyses, and document methods and results. Primary responsibilities include GIS data preparation, model support in ArcGIS Pro, and cartographic and analytical outputs that inform conservation decision‑making.

Specific tasks may evolve as the project progresses.

The intern will support the update of the Upper Neuse Basin Watershed Protection Program GIS model by:

• Identifying, downloading, and evaluating updated spatial datasets relevant to watershed protection and conservation prioritization
• Cleaning, standardizing, and integrating new GIS layers into an existing ArcGIS Pro watershed model
• Assisting with revisions or enhancements to model inputs, assumptions, or workflows based on updated data availability

The intern may also contribute to connectivity and access-related components of an internal TLC prioritization model by:

• Compiling and refining GIS layers related to greenways, trails, public parks, and other conserved or publicly accessible lands
• Supporting spatial analyses that evaluate connectivity, proximity, or landscape context

Advanced GIS and Spatial Analysis

• Support updates to existing GIS models and assist with the development or refinement of model components in ArcGIS Pro
• Collect, clean, document, and integrate GIS data from local, state, and federal sources
• Research new datasets to add to the existing model
• Perform spatial analyses in support of watershed planning and regional conservation initiatives
• Help manage GIS datasets and maintain clear documentation of data sources, processing steps, and assumptions

Cartography and Communication

• Create maps and spatial outputs to support conservation planning, internal decision‑making, and external communication
• Assist with organizing GIS materials and preparing figures or summaries for plans and reports

Land Protection (as time and interest allow)

• Provide limited support to land protection and stewardship teams, which may include fieldwork assistance or baseline documentation support

• Current enrollment in or recent completion of a master’s program in GIS, geography, environmental science, planning, or a related field preferred; or bachelor’s degree with substantial upper‑level GIS coursework and demonstrated GIS experience.
• Experience with the Esri ArcGIS Suite (ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Model Builder, Spatial Analyst, Network Analyzer).
• Knowledge of advanced spatial analysis and modeling techniques (e.g., site suitability, least‑cost path, species distribution,…