Internships

Park naturalist teaching a child about nature

The DNR, one of Minnesota’s largest state agencies, offers a broad range of paid internships for college students. Internships are available at locations across the state. As an intern you’ll work with dedicated professionals to create a healthy, sustainable, livable Minnesota for generations to come.

Opportunities for summer internships are posted on the Minnesota Careers website during the month of January. Find your internship opportunity!

Examples of internship opportunities include:

  • Land Survey
  • MinnAqua
  • Mississippi River Fish
  • Mussel Propagation
  • Mussel Survey and Monitoring Diver
  • Natural Resource Management
  • Naturalist Corps
  • Outreach and Information
  • Park Operations
  • Park Security
  • Plant Ecology Monitoring
  • River Crew
  • Stream Fish Habitat
  • Waterfowl Banding
  • Wildlife GIS
  • Wildlife Management

We offer memorable internship experiences by providing an opportunity to learn and grow in a hands-on environment – and it helps create a better Minnesota! A typical year provides more than 200 summer internships all around Minnesota and a variety of work ranging from fisheries to forests, park operations, aquatic invasive species watercraft inspections, or even communications.

Listen to Samantha’s story below as she talks about just a few of the things she learned during a summer internship.

How to find and apply for internships at the DNR:

  1. Log onto the Minnesota Careers website during the month of January (link is external to DNR) and select "Search for Jobs"
  2. In the External Applicants box, select “Search for Jobs now”
  3. Select “View all Jobs”
  4. Filter by "Natural Resources Dept” and “Student Worker and Internships”
  5. Choose the internships you are are interested in
  6. Click the “Apply for Job” button to submit your application
    TIP: Prior to submitting your application, be sure that you have attached all of the required documents identified in the “How to Apply” section of the job posting. Applications with missing materials will not be considered.

Internships offer:

  • Competitive salary of $19.00 per hour
  • 20 – 40 hours  per week
  • Opportunities located throughout the state of Minnesota

Internship requirements:

  • Must be receiving academic credit for the experience from your school
  • Must pass a background check as a condition of the appointment

three interns

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