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 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 post-secondary student (certificate program, 2-year, 4-year, or graduate level), or a recent graduate (within the past 12 months at the time of application), and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.  

The Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) and the Finger Lakes National Forest (FLNF) are Vermont’s and New York’s only public, federally managed National Forests. The intern will function as a trainee, performing archaeological work on site, including survey, shovel testing, and site recordation as part of a larger crew, under the supervision of the Green Mountain & Finger Lakes National Forest’s Heritage Program Manager.

Major Duties:

The selected applicant works as a member of an archaeological crew and conducts archaeological pedestrian surveys in a variety of terrains, landscapes, and elevations in support of Forest Heritage Program requirements; and

In conducting field searches, identifies and marks archeological sites, prepares site location maps, records findings, photographs artifact findings, and prepares site sketches as necessary; and

May drive field vehicles in rugged and remote terrain and must have a valid state driver’s license.

Computer-related tasks:

1.      Selects, interprets, and applies technical guidelines to analyze archeological data and prepares site forms to document findings; and

2.      Assists with the preparation of reports about nature and extent of known cultural resources; and

3.      Searches for and examines historical records as well as the findings of other archeological experts relative to the history of the area; and

4.      Utilizes ArcGIS software to analyze data and prepare maps for site forms and reports; and

5.      Completes artifact cataloguing and curation as needed.

This position is currently funded for 720 hours. A background security investigation may be required before the start date. All NCPE internships accrue 4 hours of Paid Time Off (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 can 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.