Anthropology & Geography Internships

Students in the Ant/Geog program are expected to take the initiative in locating and arranging their own internships. The list below contains organizations that offer or have offered internships to qualified applicants in the past, but note that inclusion here is no guarantee that a position is currently available. This list may also help to give you some ideas about what sorts of organizations you wish to apply to.

1. Start thinking about and searching for your internship before the term in which you plan to enroll.
2. Consider how a particular internship will fit in with and enhance your own education and interests.
3. Be prepared to show your potential supervisor how having you as an intern will contribute to the organization.
4. Make sure that you and your supervisor have a clear understanding in advance about what your duties will be and how you will be evaluated.

If you have any questions or need further guidance, please contact the Ant/Geog Internship coordinator:

• ​For 2020-2021, Dr. Andrew Fricker, 805-756-1150, Bldg. 47, Rm. 12P
   

Below are some of the internship positions available as well as placement information:

• Applied EarthWorks 
  Students will assist Applied EarthWorks staff with cultural resource data acquisition and management, and legal and technical analyses according to federal, state, and local laws and regulations. 
• California Coalition for Rural Housing
• California Rural Legal Assistance  
  Provides no-cost legal representation to farm workers and low income residents.  
• California State Parks — San Luis Obispo District
  Students can take part in various aspects of Park operations, including Maintenance, Marketing, Aquatics, Interpretation, website management and development and Visitor Services.  
• Caltrans 
  Work under the supervision and assist the Department’s cultural resource specialists (prehistoric and historic archaeology and architectural history) in the development and preparation of technical reports, field studies, and database management.  
• Central Coast Information Center  
  UCSB center manages archeological survey and site data for SLO and SB counties.  
• City of San Luis Obispo, GIS Division
  Collect, analyze and update various GIS datasets. Assist GIS staff with a variety of tasks.
• City of San Luis Obispo Ranger Service
  ​Assist the Ranger service in caring for open spaces, preparing educational materials, and/or assisting in grant development. 
• Cross Cultural Solutions
  Project areas include care-giving, teaching, healthcare, and community development. Choose from 12 different countries.
• Decade Software Company  
  Decade offers a variety of products and services, student work would depend on current project workload. 
• The Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo (ECOSLO)  
  Environmental center in SLO country, coordinate coastal clean-up day.
• ESRI, Inc. 
  ESRI is a privately-held geographic information systems (GIS) software development company.
• Far Western Anthropological Research Group Inc. - Central Coast Branch
• Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center 
  Assist in the educational and outreach missions of the Dunes Center. See the following forms for more details: Education Intern, Outreach Intern, Flyer
• Intrax ProWorld
  Community-based volunteer internships in Mexico, Belize, Peru, India, Thailand.
• The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County 
  The Land Conservancy of SLO is a non-profit organization dedicating to preserving open spaces, habit, and water sources, and farm/ranch lands in SLO County using cooperative and voluntary approaches among owners, agencies, and the public.
• NASA Applied Sciences DEVELOP Program 
• Student teams
 research 
NASA 
science
 capabilities 
relevant 
to
 community concerns,
create
 and
 complete
 projects 
using 
remote 
sensing 
and 
GIS
 techniques,
 and 
create 
advanced 
computer generated
 visualizations
 demonstrating 
research 
results. 
• National Geographic Society (NGS)
  From the NGS webpage: "The purpose of this program is to furnish students a professional learning experience through participation in various projects aimed at the diffusion of geographic knowledge."
• National Wildlife Foundation (NWF)
  From the NWF webpage: "Through the internship program, the National Wildlife Foundation brings students and recent graduates to its offices nationwide, where they can experience many aspects of NWF's conservation mission, including work on endangered species, land stewardship, and protecting our nation's water."
• Panetta Congressional Internship Program 
  This internship provides an opportunity for students to enhance their educational experience by providing real-world engagement with the work of Congress, civil leadership, and community and public service. 
• Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
  The PPIC is a non-profit, non-partisan, think tank focusing on policy issues including immigration, the environment, education, and economic development.
• San Luis Obispo County Archaeological Society Research and Collections Facility
  Assist with archive and collections management at the only archaeological collections facility in SLO County.
• San Luis Obispo Department of Planning and Building
  GIS data development and analysis for the county of SLO.
• San Luis Obispo (Parks and Recreation)
  Various internships available in park operations.
• Student Conservation Association (SCA)
  Students are placed doing conservation and environmental work at over 500 locations in the US.
• SWCA Environmental Consultants
  An environmental consulting firm focusing on planning, regulatory compliance, and natural and cultural resource management services.
• Tetra Tech
  Research assistant for environmental assessment and impact reports.
• Vandenberg Air Force Base
  At Vandenberg, students may work in the environment department, monitoring cultural resources, natural resources, air quality, water quality, etc. Other federal sites will provide other opportunities.  
• VsolvIT 
  Intern would work on GIS and Information Technology Services projects for different clients.