Student and Youth Opportunities

Our Climate’s Fellowship is a year-long, coached program in which participants organize their peers, engage the media, collaborate with partner organizations and coalition members, and meet with elected officials to advance science-based, equitable and intersectional climate policies. The program is focused on youth engagement with a suggested age range of 16-24.

Fellowship Programming begins on Monday, September 30, 2024 and end Friday, May 30, 2025, and will pay $16/hour. Start and end dates are flexible; just negotiate them with your program's organizer when interviewing. Fellows commit to 7 hours/week of work and will coordinate within and between Field teams to achieve campaign goals. Fellows receive weekly one-on-one and group support from Our Climate staff.

Field Program Fellowship: This program operates at the state level and is only in Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Washington State. Applicants must reside in the state program they are applying for a significant portion of the year (e.g. have family there, go to school there, work there, etc.). The fellowship position is mostly remote with occasional in-person events in that state.

Environmental Justice Fellowship: Our Climate’s Environmental Justice Fellowship is a year-long, fellowship that is open to youth who are located outside of our field state programs. In this program fellows will dive into intersectional environmental justice topics, review the historical and current work of pivotal moments, organizers and change makers in the environmental justice movement, collaborate with partner organizations and coalition members to advance science-based, equitable and intersectional climate policies, create digital media that is amplified and build their network of local and national partners.

Limited funding is available to cover the cost of travel and attendance for tribal students to attend the Intertribal Timber Council's 3rd Bi-Annual Tribal Forestry & Wildland Fire Student Summit hosted by the University of Montana & Salish Kootenai College on October 8-10, 2024. Priority will be given to undergraduate students, but graduate students are also eligible to apply.

The Tribal Youth Internship Program seeks to increase science literacy and public communication skills, accomplish mission critical work for the park, and strengthen relationships between the park and local Tribal Nations. Four internship opportunities have been created in partnership with the National Park Service, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

Positions open until filled. The CASC Network is offering seven postdoctoral research positions as part of the Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellows (CAP Fellows) Program. This program aims to provide management-relevant research on the effects of climate change to fish, wildlife and ecosystems through a nationally coordinated postdoctoral research program. Learn more.

Applications accepted on a rolling basis (but note SUNY fall/spring application deadlines). Graduate Study Opportunity Integrating Indigenous and Scientific Knowledges for Environmental Sustainability. The Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science & Forestry is recruiting students for graduate study in diverse environmental sciences from ecology, sustainability, conservation biology to restoration and environmental engineering. As a member of the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership, the program provides funding for full tuition and stipends for Native American students pursuing MS and PhD degrees. Applications are open so please join us in this exciting initiative. Additional information can be found online or contact Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer at rkimmer@esf.edu.

The center for Tribal Research and Education in Ecosystem Sciences—TREES—provides internship opportunities and support to tribal students and professionals looking to advance their careers in Natural Resource fields. Our programs place college students in science-based internships with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribal Forestry and Fire Depts., and other qualified partners. We also provide opportunities for continuing education to technicians and other working professionals.

On average, we offer 7-8 positions every year across both our programs in Forestry and Wildland Fire management. Forestry interns must enroll in a 4-year Forestry major to qualify. Wildland Fire interns can be enrolled in either a 2-year or a 4-year program in any Natural Resource major.

TREES works in cooperation with the Department of Forestry at Salish Kootenai College and many other academic institutions across the U.S.

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TREES also provides coordination and management of Pathways internships and professional development opportunities for Native American students for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in both forestry and wildland fire participation. This program not only offers students paid employment, while they continue their education, but also gives them valuable and unique work experiences. Placements are rotational summer assignments within different programs and work environments, where students can train and job shadow with industry professionals. This partnership allows Native American students to get real world training, federal experience, as well as $5,000 in annual tuition assistance.