by Annika Min
When you want to find your first (or second or third) internship, job, or research experience, where can you begin? The search is often overwhelming, especially if you start by simply googling “environment internship,” and sometimes you won’t know what piques your interest until you see an opportunity in that field or organization! To get you started, here are some places you can look for jobs and internships.
JOB SITES
You can search for key words (like “environmental,” “ecology,” “sustainability,” etc.) and optionally filter by location on mainstream job sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Idealist. There are also many job sites specific to environmental careers, often focused on a particular field, such as the Conservation Job Board, Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), Ecological Society of America (ESA), and Wildlife Society.
GOVERNMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Federal and state agencies offer opportunities to work in national parks and other public lands like national forests and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) areas. AmeriCorps, the Student Conservation Association (SCA), USAJOBS, and the Corps Network are some good places to start your search. American Conservation Experience (ACE) offers opportunities with federal agencies and related groups, including through their Emerging Professionals in Conservation (EPIC) program. The Chicago Botanic Garden Conservation and Land Management Internship Program places early-career scientists in five-month paid internships to assist professional biologists with land management and conservation projects. Some national parks offer internship positions, usually through summer programs, which can be found on the webpages of individual parks - for example, this interpretive internship at Grand Teton.
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
There are many research programs offered by individual organisations, universities, research institutes, and networks of research stations. For instance, Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites often offer internships and research opportunities. The National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) is an paid internship program in which undergraduates can spend a summer conducting research at universities and other research institutions across the country (and in some cases, abroad). Various universities and research institutes offer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Programs - an online search will yield dozens. You are not necessarily limited to your own college or university, so cast a wide net! However, your own institution will often offer great opportunities, many of which are specifically for its own students - ask your advisor or career center staff for more information.
LISTSERVS
Job listservs are a great way to learn of new jobs in an automated fashion. Even if the listserv doesn’t always have opportunities tailored to your interests, they can be a great way to get a sense of what’s out there and possibly introduce you to a new field, organisation, or company. Examples include the Green Jobs Network and Climatebase (which also have searchable websites). There are often listservs specific to your local area, like King County Econet for the Seattle area - you may find these through an online search. Mainstream job sites like Indeed and LinkedIn also allow you to receive email updates with new jobs customized to your search parameters like keywords and location.
ORGANIZATION & COMPANY WEBSITES
You can go straight to the websites of organisations or companies you’re interested in and find their careers page (sometimes entitled “jobs,” “work for us,” “join us,” etc.). The link can usually be found either in the navigation bar or menu at the top of the page or at the very bottom of the home page.
YOUR SCHOOL OR UNIVERSITY
Your school’s career counselor or university’s major advisor or career center staff are great resources for finding jobs, internships, research positions, and volunteer gigs. It is literally their job in many cases to find, share, and connect students to these opportunities. Don’t be shy! In addition, your university might have an online database with research opportunities and on-campus jobs - these can be a great way to get early experience.
COLD EMAILING
If you find an organisation or company you’re interested in but they don’t have any opportunities listed, you can still reach out to them with a polite and concise cover letter and your resumé/CV. Some opportunities (like summer internships) are seasonal and may not be listed yet. Other times, they may not have openings available at that time but may keep you in mind should one arise. It’s also possible they might know of a resource or other opportunity to direct you to.
We hope this is helpful in getting you started on your search for a great job, internship or research experience!
This list will be updated with additional opportunities in due course.