Environmental education internships

ARCAS firmly believes that environmental education is one of the keys to finding long-term solutions to the threats posed to the wildlife of Guatemala.  At all of our project sites we host longer-term interns who are interested in helping out in our Education Program, although this requires a higher level of Spanish language ability.  In Peten, Hawaii and Guatemala City, we conduct a range of environmental education activities, including reforestations with school children, beach clean-ups, hatchling releases and ecotours of underprivileged children.  We also operate environmental education centers which we hope will lead to greater awareness among Guatemalans and visiting tourists about the need to conserve endangered species and their habitat.

ARCAS has recently joined forces with the Municipality of San Lucas to develop the Senderos de Alux Ecological Park in Cerro Alux, a cloud forest reserve located between Guatemala City and Antigua.  Here, ARCAS is building an environmental education center and interpretive trails, a small petting zoo, a rescue center and a research station.  Volunteers  assist in the development of exhibits, painting of signs and the development of bilingual educational materials and have the opportunity to accompany members of the ARCAS Education Department on their visits to local schools and conducting field trips with local students.

Research and Internship Opportunities


In addition to it´s regular volunteer program at the Wild Animal Rescue Center, ARCAS offers coursework, research and internship opportunities aimed at students interested in gaining field-level experience in the following subjects:

Wild Animal and Veterinary Medicine; focusing on the epidemiology of animals in the quarantine and rehabilitation areas of the Rescue Center as well as the monitoring of wild populations for distinct pathogens. Surgery is performed on injured animals received at the Rescue Center.

Wild Animal Rehabilitation and Re-introduction; focusing on the etiology of animals in the rehabilitation area of the Rescue Center determining whether they have learned the behavioral skills necessary to survive in the wild. This component includes the monitoring of recently released animals, phenology, taxonomy and the establishment of demographic parameters.

Wild Animal Nutrition; in order to better care for the wild animals in the Rescue Center and to insure their success when released in the wild, research is conducted on feeding habits and preferences. We must also determine the availability of these foods throughout the Mayan Biosphere Reserve as one of the parameters in choosing a re-introduction site.


Sea Turtle Conservation Research:  Crawl counts, monitoring of nesting and hatchery ambient conditions, sociological studies of coastal communities, flora and fauna inventories of the mangrove wetlands, open-sea surveys about the ARCAS sailboat, Squeaky IX.

Research interns interested in collaborating with ARCAS´s wildlife conservation activities at the Wild Animal Rescue Center should contact ARCAS by e-mail. ARCAS internships are arranged on an individual basis.  Candidates should initially send us a short essay explaining their personal motivation for participating in the ARCAS program, their work plan and a CV (curriculum vitae).  Minimum stay for internships is three months and applicants should be able to speak at least some Spanish.