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Internship opportunities get students into the field, developing new skills and learning how to connect academics to potential careers.  The Department of Geography offers the opportunity to undertake internships off-campus in a variety of fields to prepare students for exciting career opportunities in social services, resource conservation, mapping and more.

To undertake an internship, students, often in consultation with a faculty mentor*, identify a sponsoring organization and supervisor within that organization.  The student, supervisor, and faculty mentor agree to a program of work and complete the department’s internship agreement form (Word).  Students are expected to complete 40 hours of work over the semester for each academic credit earned (typical 3-credit internships are 120 hours over the 15 week semester or summer period).  Internships completed during the academic year can earn credit as Geog 191: Internship. The College of Arts & Sciences also offers the option to complete summer internships and earn credit as AS 190B.  Considering one of these internship options? Speak to your advisor and check out the excellent internship resources for all students in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Previous Geography students have interned at Northern Cartographic, Population Media Center, US Senate offices, Burlington Housing Authority, Vermont Public Radio, The Nature Conservancy, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and National Weather Service, to name a few.

Current Opportunities

 

Intern Spotlights

  • Theresa Henckel

    Interpreting the History of the Conservation Movement

    Theresa Henckel ’21 sees a clear career path working as an environmental educator and her 2019 summer internship provided key experience in the field. A double-major in geography and environmental studies, she worked as an intern at Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford, Penn., the only National Historic Site that belongs to the USDA Forest Service. “I interacted with members of the public by leading tours of the mansion and grounds of Grey Towers along with developing and delivering educational programs focused on Gifford Pinchot, his family, and their connections to the American conservation movement and the U.S. Forest Service." Henckel says Gifford Pinchot, a friend of former president Theodore Roosevelt, is credited for launching the conservation movement in America. She believes Gifford’s wife, Cornelia Bryce, is “criminally understudied.” “She was a suffragist who worked to help pass the 19th amendment, an activist who protested sweatshops and fought against child labor, and a feminist who fought for better working conditions.”

 

 

Glass Internship Program

This merit-based scholarship offers geography majors the opportunity to subsidize an unpaid internship experience. These scholarships are awarded each spring semester to students who have identified a sponsoring organization supervisor and faculty mentor. To apply, please visit the Career Center Internship Scholarship webpage to begin the application process. Additional eligibility details for Geography funding (PDF) are available under “Award Details.” In addition, the student should request that a letter of support from one Geography faculty member, who will serve as their faculty mentor for the internship, be submitted to geography@uvm.edu after the initial application.

*Funding for internships in AY20-21 also provided by a generous donation by Will Kies through the Oaklawn Foundation