Sargassum Monitoring Internship

The Sargassum Monitoring internship offers an active opportunity to address one of the most pressing environmental challenges facing Sint Maarten today. Over the past decade, massive influxes of pelagic sargassum have increasingly affected Caribbean coastlines, threatening the health of ecosystems. In Sint Maarten, large sargassum landings not only create ecological stress, but also disrupt our coastal community. Despite growing urgency of the issue, there is little standardized or continuous monitoring data available for the island.

Working under the supervision of the Nature Foundation team, the intern will establish a reliable framework for understanding the extent and impacts of sargassum influxes. This includes developing practical monitoring protocols, identifying priority coastal sites and conducting field-based assessments to quantify biomass, frequency and seasonality of landings. The intern will also contribute to ecological impact assessments on sensitive ecosystems such as seagrass beds, coral reefs, and sea turtle nesting beaches, while documenting socio-economic challenges via surveys, interviews and observations.

This work will form a critical baseline for the Nature Foundation’s contribution to national response strategies, helping ensure that the management actions are guided by accurate and locally relevant information. As a Nature Foundation intern, the role also includes support of the organization’s other ongoing programs and activities such as outreach events, research and monitoring programs and incident response, providing a well-rounded conservation experience.