Conservation Science Internship and Training Programs
at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

Internship Application (PDF) 

Conservation Science Internships at Hawk Mountain date from the 1940s, when then curator Maurice Broun began training local high-school students. Seth Benz of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania , was the Sanctuary's first official college-level intern in 1976; four-month spring and autumn internships were established in 1979. Manachem Adar of Israel became the first international intern in 1986.

Today, more than 270 students from 52 countries on six continents have interned at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Many have gone on to leadership positions in conservation science, science education, and natural resource management, making the Sanctuary's Conservation Science Internship Program one of its most successful endeavors.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary training programs provide hands-on learning and field experiences for individuals committed to careers in natural-resource conservation. Interns learn basic techniques in science and education as well as conservation tools by focusing on migratory raptors.

The program also develops multicultural awareness and international partnerships, essential aspects of successful large-scale conservation efforts.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary offers five types of internships and training opportunities at its Acopian Center for Conservation Learning:

Conservation Science Internships
Four-month, on-site training consists of exposure to and training in all aspects of Sanctuary conservation science, including research, education, and conservation focused on migratory raptors, environmental survey and monitoring, data management, land management, ecotourism, membership programs and fundraising, and the use of volunteer resources. Interns work shoulder-to-shoulder with professional mentors, and each intern completes a collaborative project while at the Sanctuary. Participants are accepted from Pennsylvania , the United States , and abroad. Download an application form here.

Summer Field Experience Internships in Conservation Science
Two-month Summer Field Experience Internships consist of exposure to and training in one or more aspects fieldwork or data management at the Sanctuary. Emphasis is on training, and in particular, experiential learning with a focus on the Sanctuary's ecology. Interns work shoulder-to-shoulder with professional mentors, and each intern completes a collaborative project while at the Sanctuary.

Summer field experience internships are designed specifically for upper-level North American college undergraduates who wish to contribute to Hawk Mountain 's conservation efforts while learning aspects of conservation science. Unpaid internships only.

Contact Dr. Keith L. Bildstein, Director of Conservation Science, 570-943-3411

Academic Internships
Academic internships are available to local college undergraduates who are participating in internship programs in affiliation with academic institutions. Academic internships occur over one or more semesters, and are designed based on student interest and need. Internships involve three or more study hours per week on library, lab, or field projects conducted under the joint supervision of the intern's faculty supervisor and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary staff.

Academic internships are available throughout the school year and in summer. Unpaid internships only.

Contact Dr. Keith L. Bildstein, Director of Conservation Science, 570-943-3411

Leadership Internships in Conservation Science
This position focuses on the professional development of a young conservation scientist who has completed graduate training and is well established in his or her fields. Training focuses on the development of decision-making, team-building, and communications skills within a global context.

Leadership interns work shoulder-to-shoulder with Sanctuary professionals in the development of education curricula, the summary analysis and interpretation of regional, continental, and global datasets, organization and interpretation of Sanctuary datasets, and the training of conservation interns.

Unlike Conservation Science Interns, who apply for places in the program, leadership interns are identified on the basis of recent productivity in Conservation Science and are invited to Hawk Mountain by the Sanctuary's professional staff.

Group Internships and Training in Conservation Science
Group Internships or training address the need for teamwork in many aspects of conservation science as applied to the establishment of raptor-migration watchsites. Hawk Mountain offers one-week to one-month intensive internship-training experiences for two-to six-person teams of individuals from conservation organizations in need of such training. Teams are chosen on the basis of need and on the potential for establishing watchsites along important migration corridors.

Teams receive intense training in migration watchsite design, organization, support, and management, as well as in count and other appropriate field techniques, data management, report write-up, and professional correspondence.

Contact Dr. Keith L. Bildstein, Director of Conservation Science, 570-943-3411

Grants to intern alumni
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary recognizes that training alone does not ensure successful careers in raptor conservation, and that interns require support following their time at the Sanctuary. Hawk Mountain trains interns in grant-proposal writing, and introduces them to potential funding agencies and foundations during their internships. It also continues to provide interns and the organizations for which they work with news of funding opportunities after they leave the Sanctuary, and works with them to secure funding.

The Sanctuary also offers competitive "incite" grants to support the conservation efforts of its interns. Grants are awarded on the basis of the scientific and conservation merits of proposals, and on the likelihood that the work will contribute significantly to raptor conservation. All aspects of raptor science, education, and conservation are supported, with particular emphasis on the establishment of watchsites along important migration flyways, and on the study of raptors whose conservation status is threatened or uncertain.