Environmental Internship Sources

Please Note: To get academic credit in ES for an internship, you must make arrangements in advance with an ES faculty member. Students also need to register for ES 300 or ES 301 and get the appropriate signatures--this is particularly important if you are getting credits for the summer. Also, be sure you are aware of our internship policy and our internship contract. If you are interested in an internship, please contact an ES adviser or contact ES Director David Barnhill.

Wisconsin Internship Sources

• Clean Wisconsin Jobs & Internships
  Clean Wisconsin has science and policy oriented internships.
• DNR Citizen Monitoring Programs
  The Department of Natural Resources offers several citizen monitoring programs. These can be made into a for-credit internship by arrangement with a faculty adviser. Make sure to keep checking these sources every couple of weeks.

• DNR Conservation Warden
  The DNR has a program that enables students and other prospective employees to get to know the program better.

• Environmental Education Internship and Volunteer Opportunities
  This site offers many internship and volunteering opportunities throughout the state. Positions include current, ongoing, and future opportunities. If interested in environmental education, this is a great source. There are current openings, and more will be coming!
• Titan Jobs
  UW Oshkosh's Titan Jobs is a great resource for finding internships.
• Wisconsin Community Health Internship Program
  The Wisconsin Statewide Community Health Internship Programs (CHIP) is a statewide program serves a 67-county area that encompasses southwest, central, and northern Wisconsin, while the Milwaukee program serves a cluster of five urban counties (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, and Walworth counties) in the southeast corner of the state. Both programs recruit undergraduate and graduate students interested in gaining real-world public health experience and link them with public health agencies and organizations to work on a variety of public health projects. Both programs run full time for 8 weeks (and offer a $2,400 stipend).

National organizations with internships

• Conservation and Land Management Internships
  Each year, CLM places 75-100 graduates from universities across the country in five-month paid CLM internships to assist professional staff at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and other federal agencies. Internships are primarily located in one of the thirteen western states, including Alaska.

• National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE)
  NCSE’s Campus to Careers Program is dedicated to providing environmentally-motivated students with the tools necessary to pursue careers in the non-profit, governmental and private sectors. They now have a clearing-house for environmental internships.

• Student Conservation Association (SCA) Internships
  SCA provides college and high school-aged members with hands-on conservation service opportunities in virtually every field imaginable, from tracking grizzlies through the Tetons to restoring desert ecosystems and teaching environmental education at Washington, D.C.’s Urban Tree House.  Many of our students have taken advantage of this program and loved it. Many internships already and more will be coming online over the next few months. So, keep checking!

• Washington Internship Institute
  An umbrella website for environmental internships with the EPA, NWF, Greenpeace, Nature Conservancy, Department of Justice (Environment & Natural Resources Division), Sierra Club, WWF, and others. Check it out.

General Listings of Internships

• CoolWorks
  Internships in the U.S. with outdoor centers, conservation corps, resorts, national parks, summer camps, etc. Humanitarian and environmental internship opportunities also available in many countries around the world.

• Idealist.org
  Listings for various idealist internships and jobs

International Internships

• Intern with Compas de Nicaragua
  Volunteer internships with Compas de Nicaragua are available for 4, 8, or 12 week terms. Interns will attend two weeks of Spanish school in Esteli and work on sustainable development projects in Managua and La Paz, Carazo.  While in Managua, interns will live with host families in the La Primavera settlement of Managua and partner with Women in Action (WIA) to provide assistance to WIA's ongoing community development projects.

• ProWorld Internships
  ProWorld's customized, hands-on internships match your skills and interests with our host communities' self-determined development goals.  Apply your talents to meaningful sustainable development projects in the health care, environment, or social and economic development sectors.  Gain relevant, pre-professional experiences as you contribute to grassroots development projects working side-by-side with local NGOs and community groups.

• Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) Internships
  FSD supports the efforts of grassroots organizations in the developing world that are working to better their communities, environments, and the economic opportunities around them. We believe development begins with the community and is only sustainable if it comes from and is supported by the members of these communities. Through our programs, we aim to raise international awareness of the challenges in developing countries and support cross-cultural communities in finding more effective solutions to development issues.

Federal Government

• Department of Energy Internships
• Department of Interior Internships
• Department of State Internships
• Environmental Protection Agency Student Fellowships
• National Park Service (Department of Interior)
• NPS Internships
• SCA Internships
• Natural Resources Conservation Service (Department of Agriculture) Internships

Policy & Advocacy Internships

• American Rivers
  Its mission is to protect and restore America ’s river systems and to foster a river stewardship ethic.

• Audubon Society
  Seeks to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.

• Brookings Institution.
  A famous thinktank based in Washington , D.C. Their mission is to write reports that bring issues (including environmental issues) to the attention of policymakers.

• Campus Ecology
  A program of the National Wildlife Federation, Campus Ecology promotes environmental responsibility at colleges and universities. They also have listings of internships, jobs, and fellowships.

• Environmental Law Institute
  Plays a pivotal role in shaping the fields of environmental law, policy, and management, domestically and abroad. ELI is an internationally recognized, independent research and education center.

• Green Corps
  Green Corps' mission is to teach the next generation of environmental leaders the strategies and skills they'll need to win tomorrow's environmental battles while providing critical field support for today's pressing environmental problems. There are internships available with the organization.

• Greenpeace Internships
  Greenpeace is an independent campaign organization, which uses non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

• National Wildlife Federation
  The nation’s largest conservation education organization. NWF created Campus Ecology to help college and university communities educate themselves about how they can conserve natural resources on campus. Campus Ecology promotes action now to make environmentally sound practices a reality, coalition building to foster diverse environmental leadership and continuity in projects to create long term change. Volunteers are needed to be leaders on their college or university campus. Ten-month field coordinator interns provide assistance to colleges and universities in designated regions working on campus greening projects, such as ecologically sound purchasing and investing decisions. Applications and interviews are required for internships.

• The Nature Conservancy
  Famous organization whose mission is to aquire and manage land to preserve biodiversity. Ph: (919) 403-8558, e-mail: lwinston@tnc.org.

• Orion Grassroots Network
  A non-profit support network for grassroots environmental organizations in North America. It offers an Internship and Career Services website.

• Planet Drum
  A leading bioregional organization, based in the San Francisco area. A list of current internships and jobs can be found at their website.

• Rainforest Action Network
  RAN is looking for people who are interested in interning in San Francisco over the Spring and Summer periods.  Most of our interns work as organizers or researchers, and volunteer for a minimum of 12 hours a week. This is an upaid internship. Interning at RAN is a great opportunity to learn about activism with one of the most succesful, dynamic and hard-hitting environmental groups in the country. If you are interested in applying for an internship at RAN, please email your resume and cover letter to sarah@ran.org.  Please state which campaign you would like to work on. (2/2/05)

• Sierra Club
  National jobs and internships from a leading environmental organization.

• Student Conservation Association
  Each year, the Student Conservation Association helps thousands of people 18 and over find a way to make a difference. SCA offers 3-to-12 month, expense-paid internship opportunities in all 50 states, in more than 50 professional fields with the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and state and local agencies, among others. Most SCA interns work one-on-one alongside conservation professionals, while a few others work in small groups, under SCA supervision, doing wilderness restoration, exotic plant management, fire fuels mitigation, and environmental education.  The benefits are tangible -- you will perform hands-on conservation work at natural or cultural resource sites. The benefits are also personal – you can earn academic credit, defer student loans, be eligible for a $1,000 education grant, and make contacts that may lead you to a fulfilling career. These internships not only give you a fun and fulfilling summer, but your experience can help you get the job you want, especially with National Park Service. Deadlines for summer internship are usually February 15, but there is also a March 15 deadline for internship starting in July.

• The Washington Center
  Provides internships in D.C. in the private, public and non-profit sectors.