Summer 2023 Internships Are Here!

Steph Newman • January 30, 2023

Internship postings for the summer of 2023 are now open!

It’s that time of year again! Catawba Riverkeeper is looking for a new group of summer interns to not only help us in our mission to preserve, protect, and restore the waters of the Catawba-Wateree River Basin, but to gain valuable experience, knowledge, and insight into the day-to-day operations of a non-profit organization.

 

Internships give students valuable hands-on experience in their chosen field. With Catawba Riverkeeper, our interns will not only have an office experience, but will have on-the-water training as a part of their time with us!

 

With several different options for internships, we have opportunities for students from several different disciplines. Check out our list of available internship tracks:


Riverkeeper Intern (2 positions available): Riverkeeper Interns will have a unique opportunity with an internship working both indoors analyzing data and outdoors with field work. Work will include analyzing pollution data, managing projects leading to direct policy change, assisting with waterway patrols, collecting samples in the field, and running laboratory equipment.

 

Northern Basin Intern (1 position available): The Northern Basin Intern will assist with analyzing pollution data, managing projects leading to direct policy change, assisting with waterway patrols, collecting samples in the field, and running laboratory equipment. On Thursdays and Fridays, the Northern Basin Intern will help collect weekly bacterial data of water samples from across the Northern Catawba River Basin (Lake James, Lake Rhodhiss, Lake Hickory, and Lookout Shoals Reservoir).

 

Southern Basin Intern (1 position available): The Southern Basin Intern will assist with analyzing pollution data, researching for projects leading to direct policy change, assisting with waterway patrols, collecting samples in the field, and running laboratory equipment. Interns will learn how to collect samples, prepare them for analysis, and track sources of pollutants they identify. Each Thursday and Friday, the intern will help with Swim Guide by traveling across the Southern Catawba River Basin to collect and return water samples for bacterial data from both Lake Wylie and Lake Wateree.

 

Community Outreach Intern (1 position available): The Community Outreach Intern will hold a dynamic position in the summer of 2023. They are responsible for assisting with volunteer and community science programs, as well as completing a keystone project during their internship.

 

Environmental Education Intern (1 position available): The EE Intern will assist with camp and summer programs, as well as day-to-day activities alongside the Education Manager. As an educator, the intern will be expected to lead Riverkeeper programs using provided curriculum. They will also be responsible for Animal Ambassador Care including the maintenance and upkeep of the native fish tank and turtle aquarium and provide regular enrichment for the animals. They will assist the Education Manager with program planning, execution, and evaluation. As needed, the intern will help with our Floating Classroom programs on Lake Norman.

 

Marketing & Events Intern (1 position available): The Marketing and Events intern will work with the Catawba Riverkeeper Community team to plan, design, and execute the organization’s marketing campaign strategies and assist with the planning and execution of special events. The intern will work towards increasing public engagement with Catawba Riverkeeper through the creation of digital content (primarily social media, email, and website), and will play a key supporting role in organizing and executing special events.


Engagement Intern (1 position available): The Engagement Intern will hold a dynamic position in the summer of 2023. They will support a variety of on-the-water recreation programs and initiatives set forth by the Protect Team. Main duties will include helping execute on-the-water recreation, education, and cleanup programs, supporting logistical distribution and maintenance of paddling equipment, gathering water samples, water quality, and recreation data, and curating photo and video content to support Protect Team and Marketing projects.

 

Are you, or someone you know, interested in applying for one of our summer internships? You can find full descriptions of each position, as well as instructions for applying on our Jobs and Internships page.

 

We can’t wait for another summer spent with a vibrant community of student leaders!

Comments on the Charlotte Data Center Moratorium

May 27, 2026
On the evening of May 26th, 2026, Catawba Riverkeeper Brandon Jones attended the Charlotte City Council Public Meeting. At this meeting, he shared our organization's comments on the proposed 150-day data center moratorium. These comments can be read below. "The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is a member-funded environmental nonprofit that educates, advocates, and protects the Catawba-Wateree River and all its tributaries. Our organization represents over 8,000 active members and nearly 3 million citizens who rely on the watershed for drinking water, recreation, and electricity. We are concerned that the growth of local data centers may overallocate our limited resources and decrease our ability to respond to drought. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed 150-day moratorium and strongly support the staff's recommendation to adopt it. Additionally, if adopted, we recommend that the study consider a tiered approach, transparency, and net water consumption. For our water resources, the most important data center metric is net water use. A 400 MW facility—like the one now under construction on Moores Chapel Road—may actually evaporate more water indirectly than directly for cooling. The nearby Catawba Nuclear Station uses approximately 30 MGD to produce 2,300 MW or 5.2 MGD from Lake Wylie per 400 MW. However, without transparency and reporting, it is difficult to know the current impact of these data centers and almost impossible to accurately forecast the industry's future. The most accurate forecast of our region's water resources is the Catawba Wateree Water Management Group’s 2026 Integrated Water Resources Plan. Unfortunately, this plan explicitly does not include increases in water use from data centers due to limited reliable information. It is absolutely critical that our community has accurate information. We need full transparency on the planned electrical and water use of large data centers. A ban of nondisclosure agreements between elected officials and developers could help alleviate suspicion and allow communities to make informed decisions about tradeoffs. The potential direct and indirect impact s of a project should be modeled by the CWWMG to determine its actual impacts. Those impacts could be mitigated by funding water conservation projects, as some data centers have already proposed. Once operating, we need reporting on the actual water and energy use. The cumulative impact must be understood to ensure capacity and resiliency. Water withdrawers from the Catawba utilize a Low Inflow Protocol during drought to help stretch the available supply. Large data centers need conservation plans that comply with this plan. It is hypocritical to ask residents and some businesses to restrict water use while permitting facilities that cannot or will not do the same. Most years, there is plenty of water for drinking, irrigation, ecological flows, and industry in the Catawba. However, droughts such as 2001, 2007, and today expose our vulnerabilities. These droughts are more likely in a warming climate, and we are becoming less resilient with a growing population and industrial demands. Sustainable water management requires careful planning and robust coordination between users, including data centers."

Helene Cleanups Continue 18 Months Later

By Susannah Bryant • March 19, 2026
Greg Nance has had his boots on the ground since the storm subsided.

All About Live Stakes

February 19, 2026
Live staking is a streambank restoration approach that reduces erosion and sediment pollution. This is the practice of planting dormant branch cuttings of native plants along streambanks (also known as riparian zones) to help hold soil in place along the waters' edge. Live stakes are planted along with native plant seeds and shrubs to create riparian buffers, which help prevent sediment from becoming a stream pollutant by securing the soil in place with good root systems. Riparian buffers also filter out other pollutants, such as chemicals, oils, fertilizers, and trash, before they enter our waterways.