Jobs for Students with the National Park Service

The National Park Service has thousands of opportunities

 for high-school, college, and graduate students to work!

Many are locally filled, so make sure to contact parks directly;

 but others are advertised and filled on a national level.

Jobs for Students

Stipend amounts, contact information, and partner organizations 

can be found in the link above.

Geoscientists-in-the-Parks Internships

• Undergraduate or graduate students, recent graduates
• Primarily summer internships, but some are in the fall/winter or year-round
• Geoscience field and office based positions doing research, inventory and monitoring, interpretation and education projects

Mosaics in Science Internships

• Undergraduate or graduate students
• Focus on hiring students under-represented in natural resource disciplines
• Summer, includes a career workshop in Washington DC in August
• Natural resource sciences - field and office based positions doing research, inventory and monitoring, interpretation and education projects

Student Conservation Association

• High school students and young adults
• Year-round or summer
• Interest areas: all

Public Land Corps

• Ages 16-26
• Summer
• Interest areas: all

Youth Conservation Corps

• Ages 15-18
• Summer 8-10 weeks non-residential
• except at Yellowstone and Yosemite
• Interest areas: conservation work projects and environmental education programs

Pathways for Students and Recent Graduates

• Current students seeking degrees or certificates from accredited institutions 
• i.e. high schools; vocational and technical schools; and associate, bachelor, graduate, or professional schools.
• Recent graduates
• Year-round or summer
• Interest areas: All

National Park Business Plan and Consulting Internships

• Graduate students (MBA, MPA, MPP, environmental and/or public lands management)
• Summer
• Interest areas: management consulting, park management, strategic and operational planning, commercial services, public-private partnerships

Historic Preservation Training Internships

• Undergraduate and graduate students
• Year-round or summer
• Interest areas: historians, archaeologists, architects, curators, planners, and archivists

Cultural Resources Diversity Internships

• Diverse undergraduate and graduate students
• Summer
• Interest areas: historic preservation and cultural resources

Historic Sites and Structures Documentation Internships

• Undergraduate or graduate students
• Summer
• On-site field work and preparation of measured and interpretive drawings and written historical reports
• Interest areas: architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, history

Maritime Documentation Internship

• Undergraduate or graduate students
• Summer
• On-site field work and preparation of measured and interpretive drawings and written historical reports
• Interest areas architecture, engineering, or history, maritime preservation

Sally Kress Tompkins Fellowship

• Graduate student in architectural history or related fields
• Summer
• Interest area: research

Volunteer Opportunities

U.S. National Park Service*

*The list below is not comprehensive.

• Ohio Parks
• Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Fort Miamis
• "The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the culminating event that demonstrated the tenacity of the American people in their quest for western expansion and the struggle for dominance in the Old Northwest Territory. The events resulted in the dispossession of American Indian tribes and a loss of colonial territory for the British military and settlers."
• Hopewell Culture
• "Earthen mounds and embankments forming huge geometric enclosures grace the landscape of the Ohio River Valley. These monumental structures were built by Native American hands almost 2,000 years ago. Hopewellian people gathered at these earthworks for feasts, funerals and rites of passage. Come learn about these sacred spaces and reflect upon the lives of these American Indians."

• Illinois Parks
• Lewis & Clark
• "Between May 1804 and September 1806, 31 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. In their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, they opened a window into the west for the young United States."
• Trail of Tears
• "Remember and commemorate the survival of the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. They traveled by foot, horse, wagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839."
• Indiana Parks
• Kentucky Parks
• Cumberland Gap
• "At Cumberland Gap, the first great gateway to the west, follow the buffalo, the Native American, the longhunter, the pioneer... all traveled this route through the mountains into the wilderness of Kentucky. Modern day explorers and travelers stand in awe at this great gateway and the many miles of trails and scenic features found in the park."
• Mammoth Cave
• "Mammoth Cave National Park preserves the cave system and a part of the Green River valley and hilly country of south central Kentucky. This is the world's longest known cave system, with more than 400 miles explored. Early guide Stephen Bishop called the cave a "grand, gloomy and peculiar place," but its vast chambers and complex labyrinths have earned its name - Mammoth."
• Trail of Tears
• "Remember and commemorate the survival of the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. They traveled by foot, horse, wagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839."
• Michigan Parks
• Keweenaw
• "From 7,000 years ago to the 1900s people mined Keweenaw copper. Native peoples made copper into tools and trade items. Investors and immigrants arrived in the 1800s in a great mineral rush, developing thriving industries and cosmopolitan communities. Though the mines have since closed, their mark is still visible on the land and people."
• River Raisin
• "River Raisin National Battlefield Park preserves, commemorates, and interprets the January 1813 battles of the War of 1812 and their aftermath in Monroe and Wayne counties in SE Michigan. The Battle resulted in the greatest victory for Tecumseh’s American Indian confederation and the greatest defeat for the U.S. The resulting rally cry “Remember the Raisin” spurred support for the rest of the war."
• Pennsylvania Parks
• Captain John Smith Chesapeake
• "Four hundred years ago Englishman John Smith and a small crew of adventurers set out in an open boat to explore the Chesapeake Bay. Between 1607 and 1609 Smith and his crew mapped nearly 3,000 miles of the Bay and rivers and documented American Indian communities. Smith’s map and journals are a remarkable record of the 17th-century Chesapeake. Come join the adventure on the Chesapeake Bay!"
• Fort Necessity
• "The battle at Fort Necessity in the summer of 1754 was the opening action of the French and Indian War. This war was a clash of British, French and American Indian cultures. It ended with the removal of French power from North America. The stage was set for the American Revolution."
• West Virginia Parks
• Tennessee Parks
• Cumberland Gap
• "At Cumberland Gap, the first great gateway to the west, follow the buffalo, the Native American, the longhunter, the pioneer... all traveled this route through the mountains into the wilderness of Kentucky. Modern day explorers and travelers stand in awe at this great gateway and the many miles of trails and scenic features found in the park."
• Natchez Trace
• "The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10,000 years of North American history. Used by American Indians, "Kaintucks," settlers, and future presidents, the Old Trace played an important role in American history. Today, visitors can enjoy not only a scenic drive but also hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping."
• Trail of Tears
• "Remember and commemorate the survival of the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. They traveled by foot, horse, wagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839."