Future Park Leaders of Emerging Change Internships with National Park Service (National Recruitment)
The FPL program provides paid summer internships to highly accomplished undergraduate and graduate students to work on emerging management issues driven by global drivers of change and related effects in national parks. The internship projects may occur in national parks or program offices and are designed by National Park Service (NPS) staff to meet high-priority needs of parks and programs. General topic areas include resource protection; supporting science; adaptation actions; policy and planning; sustainable operations; and communication, interpretation, or education.
Previous interns have worked on a wide range of projects, including developing new interpretive programs in urban parks, monitoring glacier mass balance, developing management plans that anticipate new wildfire regimes, organizing a workshop on preservation of historic buildings, and creating high-quality videos about climate change impacts on parks.
Internship positions run full-time (40 hours/week) for 11-12 weeks, generally during the summer months. They pay $16/hour plus benefits. Interns are employees of the University of Washington. Most positions come with free or subsidized housing in dormitories or other shared accommodations in parks. They are all rigorous and challenging projects that demand high-level academic knowledge and skills and that afford interns with considerable autonomy and opportunity for leadership under an effective mentor.
The FPL operates under the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Direct Hire Authority (DHA), which means that students who excel in their internships and then subsequently complete their undergraduate or graduate degree requirements are eligible to be hired without competition into NPS, FWS, BLM, USBR, or BIA jobs for which they are qualified. Non-competitive hiring status for a FPL intern remains in effect for two years following graduation. While the DHA enables NPS to hire highly qualified and experienced candidates into open positions efficiently, the FPL program is not a guarantee that positions appropriate to any given intern will be available in the near future. Contact us for more information.
Professional development is a key attribute of the FPL. All interns will be mentored by an immediate NPS supervisor and by the national program coordinator. Additionally, they will be included in a closed Facebook group and expected to contribute to ongoing discussion and learning about their projects, the NPS, protected areas, and related professional matters. Interns will participate in a one-day virtual orientation session at the start of the summer, as well as join an in-person, expense-paid professional development workshop at the end of the summer. These sessions will allow interns to network with each other and with NPS and DOI leaders, learn about federal climate change response programs, explore federal career opportunities, and develop practical skills like searching for federal jobs.
Eligibility Information:
Only U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals are eligible for FPL internship positions.
Eligible applicants are graduate or upper-level undergraduates students. Applicants are eligible under any of the following circumstances:
- Applicant has reached junior level status in a degree-seeking undergraduate program at the time of application by January 25, 2019.
- Applicant is enrolled in a degree-seeking graduate program for the duration of the internship project (may not graduate earlier than the last day of the project).
- Applicant is not currently enrolled but plans to attend graduate school beginning fall 2019.
If you are applying to graduate school for the fall 2019 semester, please provide proof of application in the form of a confirmation from the institution that your application was submitted. In the event that you are selected for an internship, proof of enrollment into a graduate program will be required before the internship is awarded.
Individual internship projects may limit applicants to graduate students only. See project descriptions for more information.
Instructions for each section of application:
Please note: All fields marked in red are required fields.
Student Information:
Contact and Mailing Address:
Please fill in each field provided. It will be important for us to know how to reach you if you are selected for an interview.
Personal Information:
Please note: The questions regarding your gender and ethnicity are not included in your application materials that are sent to the Parks for review. The National Park Service and the University of Washington are committed to promoting diversity in the FPL programs and such data assist us in this effort.
College/University:
If you are currently a student, please tell us where you are enrolled in school, what is your major area(s) of study, and what is your expected date of graduation. Please also select your current academic status and tell us your undergraduate GPA. If you are currently in a graduate program, please let us know your graduate GPA.
Additional Information:
Driving Information:
Some positions may require that you operate a motor vehicle in order to perform your job duties. Please indicate your driving status as requested.
Miscellaneous:
Please let us know what is the earliest date that you are available to start an internship. Additionally, please let us know how you heard about the FPL initiative. This information really helps us to better promote the FPL!
Internships:
Please select the internship opportunity or opportunities for which you are interested in being considered. You may select up to three.
Document Uploads:
Follow the instructions on the application site to browse and upload files. Files may be of the following types: .PDF, .DOC, .DOCX. Max file size permitted is 3MB.
Please upload a copy of your college transcripts. Unofficial copies are fine. Please include transcripts to every higher education institution you have attended. As the application only allows two documents to be uploaded, please combine all of your transcripts into one document.
Please provide a current resume or curriculum vitae (CV) that outlines your educational and employment experiences. If you have never created a resume or CV, before, the following resources may be helpful. Please note, we offer these resources as possible guidance only, and in doing so do not endorse them.
- University of Washington Career Center: Resumes and Interviews
- The CollegeBoard: How to Create Your Resume
- Purdue Online Writing Lab: Writing the Curriculum Vitae
Letters of Recommendation:
We require two letters of recommendation. It is your responsibility to request these two letters are sent to us from either current or past employers or teachers. It is also your responsibility to ensure that the letters are submitted by the deadline date. Therefore, it is critical that you request these letters as soon as possible upon starting your application, and that you regularly check the status of your letters in case you need to remind the person who is writing you a reference letter of the deadline.
It is recommended that you select people who can provide the review board with a strong picture of both your academic abilities (problem solving, critical thinking, understanding of the basic subject matter helpful to doing the job, writing skills, etc.) as well as job skills (being responsible, taking initiative, ability to work both independently and with a team, etc.). A mix of people such as academic advisers, faculty members and past/current employers are the types of people who can usually provide this kind of information.
To request a recommendation, please follow these steps:
- Select the “Request a Recommendation” button below and complete the required information in the window that opens.
- After you have entered the necessary information, select the “Send E-mail to Recommender” button.
- An e-mail request will be sent to the recommender with instructions on how to complete the online recommendation form.
- After sending the requests, the recommender’s name will appear in the Recommender box below, with the “Status” of the letter itself.
Please note: You must enter your recommenders into the system from the application page before they can log into the Online Reference Portal. Please do not ask them to access the system until you have done this.
If you have any question regarding references, please contact fplec@uw.edu.