Internships
The Department of Environmental Conservation participates in the New New York Leaders Student Intern Program. This is a centralized Student Intern Program for New York State Government. The single centralized portal supports established internship programs and existing relationships with colleges and universities by providing a single resource to which schools may direct students as well as a centralized place for DEC to post new, unpaid internship opportunities. The Program provides talented undergraduate or graduate students who are New York State residents or who attend a New York State college, university or graduate program and are interested in exploring a career in public service. Student interns will be given the opportunity to gain on-the-job training to enhance and supplement their academic course work. Each of the Divisions and Regions with DEC determine their level of participation in the internship programs. Internship positions with DEC may be paid or unpaid with the majority being unpaid.
As used in this section, the term intern is defined as a New York State college student or a New York State resident attending college out of state, who has completed one year of college, has a minimum GPA of 2.5 or is in a graduate program, who works in a temporary capacity with an emphasis on on-the-job training to gain experience in their field of study. Experience is frequently for either school credit or as a class/graduation requirement. These "For credit" internships will require an understanding between your education institution and DEC. The intern is responsible for facilitating that understanding, as well as fulfilling all the requirements agreed upon.
Requesting an Internship at DEC
As indicated earlier, most internships with the Department of Environmental Conservation are done on an unpaid basis. The internship may be for either academic credit or to gain experience. A DEC Division or Region may develop an internship where a mutually beneficial experience for both a student and the Department can be identified.
All internship opportunities with DEC will be posted on the New New York Leaders Student Internship Portal. This can be accessed at http://nysinternships.com. To apply for an internship please use the internship portal. You will be asked to fill out an application for a specific time period (i.e., Fall, Spring, Summer) and you will be able to indicate a preference for a specific internship proposal. Your application will be matched based on the location, occupational areas of interest, standing and degree concentrations for specified internships.
Partnership Program
DEC participates in the P2 Intern Program which offers summer internship opportunities in Pollution Prevention for science and engineering students.
