Home » Serve » Internships » Special Programs » National Park Service Academy

National Park Service Academy

A joint program between the Student Conservation Association and the National Park Service

NPS Academy is designed to build a 21st Century workforce for America's national parks: highly motivated, contemporarily skilled, and ethnically diverse.

NPS Academy is a special career preparation initiative for undergraduate and graduate students of color.

Program Overview

The NPS Academy has three phases designed to maximize career opportunities, training and hands on experiences.

Phase 1: Academy Launch, Spring Break 2012

  • Begin your journey into the US National Park service with a week-long, insider's view into how our natural lands are managed.
  • Meet with decision-makers and change agents within the various US agencies that collaboratively oversee our public lands.
  • Program locations and dates:
    • Grand Teton National Park: Week of March 5th
    • Great Smoky Mountain National park: Week of March 12th

Phase 2: Summer Internship, Summer 2012

  • Members will serve in a 12-week paid summer internship with the NPS.
  • Summer placements include hands-on experiences in environmental education, resource conservation, volunteer coordination, trail maintenance and research, among others.

Phase 3: Outreach, Fall 2012

  • Members will serve as Academy Ambassadors by reaching out to fellow students on their campuses to generate interest for the 2013 National Park Academy programs.
  • Members will receive training and support in campus outreach from SCA's Recruiting Team.


Application Details:

  • Applicants must be current college students between 18 and 25 years of age, and U.S. citizens.
  • All majors welcome
  • Application deadline is Feb 10, 2012
  • To begin your application for NPS Academy please complete the following:
    • Email your Spring Break dates, resume and an essay on why you want to participate to to admissions@thesca.org with the subject line "NPS Academy"
  • For more information, please contact Admissions@thesca.org.

Media from the 2011 National Park Service Academy at Grand Teton

Video

Photos