The National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) Internship Program is a partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) and other Federal agencies with cultural resource protection and public land management responsibilities. Its purpose is to accomplish needed and important work on federally protected lands while providing program participants with professional experience in their chosen fields. Interns work under the guidance of agency staff to complete projects or undertake programs in furtherance of the park’s mission.

To be eligible, applicants must be between 18 and 30 years old (or 35 if a veteran) when starting the internship, a college student or recent graduate (within the past 12 months at the time of application), enrolled in a degree-seeking program, and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.  

The Cultural Resources (Historic Structures) Intern will assist Death Valley National Park staff with research and documentation of historic structures in the park to support park compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act. With support from the park’s Cultural Resources team, the Cultural Resources (Historic Structures) Intern will work in tandem with the GIS Cultural Resources Intern to revise draft Determinations of Eligibility (DOEs) through field work and primary and secondary source research. The determination of site eligibility is based on the National Register of Historic Places evaluation criteria, so qualified candidates will have familiarity with the National Register criteria. Each DOE requires review and revision based on reviewer comments, as well as field work to verify current site conditions and obtain updated photographs of contributing features. The Cultural Resources (Historic Structures) Intern will select which DOE(s) to revise from a list of Mission 66 structures and districts, and will work with the GIS Cultural Resources Intern to complete at least one DOE, including GIS maps of the structure or district.

This work supports NPS responsibilities under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) to preserve cultural resources and helps Death Valley National Park to better maintain park facilities. The intern will be based out of park housing in Cow Creek, within walking distance of the Cultural Resources office in the park. The length of this internship is 400 hours with a full-time schedule of in-person work. We anticipate a September start date. A background security investigation is required. All NCPE interns accrue 4 hours of PTO for every 80 hours worked.

Qualified NCPE interns who complete their internships may count their position towards earning a Public Land Corps (PLC) Non-Competitive Hiring Authority certificate.  Once earned, the PLC certificate may be used to apply for eligible Federal permanent, temporary, or term positions. Visit https://preservenet.org/ncpe-internships/ for details about this benefit. Successful completion of the internship does not guarantee Federal employment.