Volunteer
From time to time, Foresight Institute will have opportunities to volunteer your time, as well as to offer internships focused on specific projects supporting our Nanotechnology Challenges. Continue to refer to our volunteer/internship web page to review these opportunities.
If you have an interest in any of these volunteer opportunities, please forward a copy of your qualifications to foresight@foresight.org. When forwarding your qualifications, please be certain to reference which volunteer position you are selecting in the description line of the email.
Public Policy Volunteer
This volunteer will be working directly with Christine Peterson, Vice President of Public Policy. The Public Policy Volunteer will assist her in writing policy statements and white papers on nanotechnology issues.
Duration: 10-15 hours per week for 6 to 12 months or more
Location:No requirements — can be done remotely, even internationally.
Foresight prepares policy statements, articles, and white papers on a variety of nanotechnology policy topics. Topics for 2005-2006 include intellectual property issues, environmental concerns, workforce, governance, and positive applications of nanotechnologies in the Foresight Nanotech Challenge areas.
The Public Policy Volunteer will study existing policy documents in one or more of these areas, consult with Foresight leadership and relevant experts to clarify the organization's position on issues, and prepare draft policy statements, articles, and white papers.
Requirements:
- Some undergraduate or graduate training relevant to public policy formulation
- Strong interest in technology policy issues
- Excellent writing abilities
- Strong policy research skills
- Optional but helpful — Some technical background in a field related to nanotechnology
Foresight Nanotechnology Challenge Research Volunteer
The Challenge Research Volunteer will work with Judy Conner, Director of Communications. The Challenge Research will identify and qualify companies, events, research institutes, scientists, white papers, and books that apply to each of the challenge areas.
Duration: 5-10 hours a week for 6 to 12 months
Location: No requirements — can be done remotely, even internationally.
Foresight has identified six critical challenges that humanity faces which can be addressed by nanotechnology. In a Weekly News Digest, which is emailed to 15,000 individuals every Wednesday, we mention news items, research breakthroughs, and events citing current research and applications that are leading to solutions to these challenges. The challenge Research Volunteer would ideally be able to work at home using the Internet for research. All research would be in support of nanotech solutions to these challenges.
Foresight Nanotech Challenges
Web Master
The Volunteer Webmaster is needed to develop, enhance, update, and maintain our web presence.
Duration: 15 hours per week for the length of the Internship
Location: San Francisco Bay Area — work can be done remotely with a few hours spent in the Foresight office on a weekly basis.
The Foresight Nanotech Institute has spent the past year in updating the backend infrastructure of their website, and now needs the skills of a talented web development intern to take advantage of those improvements in order to make the website's front-end more robust and user-friendly.
The desired intern should have an in-depth knowledge of:
- PHP application programming and related web page design
- MySQL
- HTML
- CSS
- SSI
- Design sense — excellent style, usability and visually appealing design sensibilities
- The ability to find and learn new technologies and trends quickly, and apply them as needed to help keep the website at the cutting edge, attention to detail, and the ability to focus on repetitive tasks, which are needed occasionally
- Ability to convey complex ideas in a simple and easy-to-understand way for the general public to understand
Other desired skills include:
- Knowledge of WordPress, and how to make basic updates to its templates to keep it in sync with the rest of foresight.org
- Knowledge of Filemaker Pro 7, and in particular, its web component and tying it into the front-end of the website
- Graphic design ability — ability to create and update graphical content for use on the website that fit with Foresight's style guidelines; Photoshop/Illustrator/Flash would be ideal
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