Research Opportunities

Mystic River Watershed Assessment and Action Plan
Chelsea Creek Community Based Comparative Risk Assessment
MyRWa Student Research

Students and faculty from multiple disciplines can review the annual Master List of Research and Project Needs created by the Mystic River Watershed Association, given the organization's broad-based knowledge of key issues and timely concerns in the watershed. MyRWA has also produced Guidelines for Students for working with the organization (produced below), to help clarify the community/university relationship to optimize both meaningful student learning and community benefits.

MyRWA Student Research Guide

(View as a Word document)

Introduction

The Mystic River Watershed Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural resources of the Mystic River Watershed. We value the opportunity to work with faculty and students on research and outreach projects that contribute to our goals for the watershed. We maintain a list of potential projects that are relevant to our work and that might be done as a group project, an individual class research project, a thesis, or an internship. The watershed is a fascinating place, and provides compelling challenges, if you are willing to work hard and deal with the messiness of real-world issues.

We find that articulating clear goals and responsibilities at the outset of projects contributes greatly to their success, both from MyRWA's perspective and from the student's. We suggest these guidelines to help you evaluate a potential project with MyRWA.

Student Research

Scientific, policy, economic, engineering and other types of research can provide a sound basis for MyRWA's advocacy, policy, and outreach activities. The following are the benefits of such:

Benefits to MyRWA Benefits to Students
We gain new information that expands our understanding of a particular issue You have the opportunity to work on projects with real-world relevance.
You often have access to previous studies, data, people to interview, and advice through MyRWA
MyRWA's Commitment Student's Commitment
We will meet with you at the outset to discuss the scope and purpose of the project.
We will provide access to our library (for review at our office ­ limited copying available) and will provide advice on data sources, people to interview, etc.
We will meet again with you mid-way through the project, to discuss your initial findings and suggest additional resources and issues.
We will review your draft final product and provide suggestions. 		You will contribute new information and analysis that goes beyond what MyRWA and other community contacts provide you.
You will provide MyRWA a final copy of your work, with all references, documentation of data sources and interviews, etc.
If appropriate, you will provide an electronic copy of your research for placement on our website.
You will obtain supervision of your work from your faculty ­ MyRWA cannot serve as the sole supervisor of your research.
You will conduct initial research on the relevant issues through internet research, reviewing source documents, etc. before you conduct interviews with community members and other contacts provided by MyRWA, to be respectful of the iterviewees' time.

Internships

MyRWA has a limited number of internship opportunities each year, sometimes paid but most often not. We will interview candidates who are interested in working with us, to assess the fit between their interests and skills and our needs. We will document our mutual goals and commitments for each internship with a Memorandum of Understanding (is there a less pompous term? Contract?). In general, we expect interns to help with general MyRWA tasks, such as mailings and participating in outreach events, as well as undertaking specific core assignments.

We require that all interns be self-starters, and be able to work independently between periodic meetings with MyRWA supervisors. Depending on the project, we may need strong writing and verbal communication skills, scientific knowledge, GIS experience, understanding of diversity and social justice issues, experience working with racially-, ethnically- and economically-diverse communities, language skills (Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole), graphic and artistic skills, and an ability to get around the watershed (by car, bike, public transportation, and sometimes even canoe or kayak.) And of course, you must have a strong interest in protecting and restoring our waters and parklands, and have a sense of humor. We have fun and love our work, and we want you to too!

Still looking for an opportunity to get involved? Chech out possible research questions that still need to be answered!
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