The National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE)’s Internship Program is a partnership with the National Park Service and other Federal agencies with cultural resource protection and public land management responsibilities. The purpose of the program 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 who are subject area experts to carry out the mission of the park.

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.

Two 800-hour interns will be hired for this position. The successful candidates will be supervised by the museum curator. They will assist the curatorial team in cataloging museum collections, rehousing artifacts, and bringing museum collections into compliance with regulations for the curation of Federally-owned and administered archaeological collections at 36 CFR part 79, and Departmental Manual 411 for identifying and managing museum property.

The internship will be split between two primary goals:

1.       Assisting the curator with identifying Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) items and conducting collections inventory.

2.       The curator will work with the intern to develop a set of skills development projects to fill gaps in their experience and develop transferable skills.

Additional work may include archival research, digitizing records, cataloging materials, updating and creating accession records, assisting with drafting policy updates, assisting with temporary exhibit planning, and basic exhibit updates and repairs.

Shared government housing may be available for the duration of the internship. Benefits include a monthly housing allowance.

A background security investigation may be required prior to the start date. All NCPE internships 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.