Internships

Each year Sweetbriar Nature Center accepts interns to help out at the nature center. Students can take an internship for college or high school credit, to bulster their resumes, or simply to gain work experience in a field of interest. In the summer there are often stipends offered for up to five or six internships. It is an excellent way for the nature center to increase its job force and also help young people to start on the path to becoming naturalists, rehabilitator, scientists, and educators. Internships are offered in educaton, wildlife rehabilitation/animal care, gardening, and in our Butterfly/Moth Vivarium. See descriptions below for more details.

Animal Care/Wildlife Rehabilitator Internship

Ever dreamed of working with wildlife? We are now interviewing interns for the summer of 2024.

As a wildlife rehabilitation intern you will assist the hospital staff on all of the day-to-day operations within the wildlife hospital. You will be involved hands-on with everything from making food to assisting in surgical procedures and going out on rescues. You will be responsible for the welfare, care and safety of each patient.  Interns are expected to participate in the cleaning and care of our rehabilitation facility.

Who may apply for an internship position?

We offer internships to college undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing a career as a veterinarian or veterinary technician.  This makes up the largest percentage of our intern group. All career and college majors are encouraged to apply. An interest in medicine, wildlife and natural history is expected.

What is the average length of an internship?

During the summer season, internships are typically 12-13 weeks.

 On average, interns work 30-40 hours a week.

What hours will you be expected to work during the week?

The hospital is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Summer season the hospital day begins at 9am and ends at 5pm.

Applications are accepted starting in January.

The summer season (from May 21st to mid August) is the busiest time of year for internship applications.  Interested candidates are encouraged to submit as application as early as possible to allow for appropriate evaluation and scheduling. You should expect to hear from the Center, in writing, within a few weeks after submitting an application. 

How do you apply?

We suggest submitting a current resume, to our rehabilitation director via email- jbswbriarnc@aol.com.

Is there a stipend offered?

Yes.

Rabies vaccinations are not required to apply for the internship

Although the Center would like to hire all applicants, we receive far more than we can possibly accommodate. Many wonderful applicants are not accepted, not because there is anything lacking in their application or background, but because of the large number of applicants and limited spaces.

We also offer internships in nature education, gardening and assisting with our butterfly vivarium. Check out our website for details.

Butterfly and Moth Vivarium Internship Click this link for more information

Sweetbriar is offering an opportunity to intern in our beautiful enclosed butterfly house, also known as a vivarium. A vivarium intern will be responsible for supporting the staff and volunteers, which includes assisting with rearing the butterflies & moths, maintaining the garden, and educating the public. A candidate should have a love of nature, more specifically butterflies/moths and gardening. He/she should be comfortable with insects since an intern will be raising butterflies & moths through their life cycles. It is a wonderful opportunity to work among these beautiful rainbow flyers. The internship requires at least a eight week commitment and from 30 to 40 hours/week anytime between the months of May and September. In return an intern can receive high school or college credit. Those willing to volunteer their time are always welcome. Internships are only available late mid-April through September.

Garden Internship Click this link for more information

One of the jewels of Sweetbriar Nature Center is the volunteer formal gardens. Since the gardens are maintained completely by volunteers, it is always in need of helping hands. The garden intern will assist the head volunteer gardener in all aspects of the garden’s operation, including planting, pruning, weeding, etc. A project is included in the internship, which will be decided upon by the intern and the head gardener. The intern should have a green thumb and enjoy being in the outdoors. This is a wonderful opportunity to work with a dedicated, caring crew of volunteers in a beautiful setting. Those willing to volunteer their time are always welcome. Interns can work from 20 to 40 hours a week for 4 to 8 weeks.

Summer Education Internship - Click this link for more information

The Summer Educator Internship is a unique opportunity to learn how to use the natural world as a teaching tool, enhance your leadership skills, and to learn how to handle captive wildlife. Candidates should have experience working with small groups of children, be comfortable working in a team situation, and have an enjoyment of children and the natural world. This internship requires a commitment of four to eight weeks from July to September first to be a lead educator for a group of elementary school aged children. It is a fairly typical work week, Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 5pm daily. College credit can be arranged. Salaried positions may be available. Those willing to volunteer are always welcome.

Educational Internship

Sweetbriar presents a variety of nature programs most of which involve wildlife that reside here at the nature center. The educational intern here at Sweetbriar’s major responsibility will be to train for and teach both our on site and in-school programs for children of all ages , which means they must learn to handle the animals necessary to present each program, such as turtles, snakes, rabbits, and chickens. Interns may have the opportunity to work with our birds of prey if they are interested. An intern certainly should enjoy working with children, have a love of nature and animals, and have ability to present programming in front of large groups. The intern is under the supervision of the Program Director. With this in mind part of their responsibility will be to lend support to the director with program preparation and clean up, organization of educational materials, and much more. We ask that each intern complete a project that will benefit the educational programs. The internship lasts one academic semester, such as September to December, and the hours are flexible. In return, Sweetbriar will be willing to work with your university/college to offer credit for this experience. Salaried positions are also available for students interested in working part-time. Those willing to volunteer are always welcome.

To express interest in any of these opportunities, please contact: Janine - jbswbriarnc@aol.com

Include your resume and in the subject line the name of the internship