Duke University Summer Internships: An Opportunity for Growth
Duke University offers a variety of summer internship programs designed to provide students with practical experience and help them achieve their academic and career goals. Securing an internship requires early planning and a proactive approach. This article provides an overview of the available opportunities, focusing on the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) internships, and offers guidance on how to navigate the application process.
Planning Your Internship Search
An effective search begins well in advance of your intended internship term. To maximize your chances of success, consider the following steps:
- Self-Assessment: Revisit your self-assessment to determine whether an offer meets your goals.
- Determine Internship Preferences: Identify your preferred industry, desired skills to develop, location, and type of company (large vs. small vs. start-up).
- Networking: Let your family, friends, faculty, and friends of friends know you are looking for an internship.
- Interstride: International students can utilize Interstride, a career portal that provides resources for transitioning and thriving in their educational journey abroad.
- Plan B for Funding: Develop a Plan B for funding: part-time jobs and living at home are both viable options.
- Course Credit: Note: Some employers offering unpaid internships require course credit. Find out early if this applies to you!
Academic Credit for Internships
Duke grants credit for internships that qualify as a part of academic programs (e.g., Public Policy Studies). When an internship is not required by a student’s academic program, direct academic credit cannot be given solely on the internship experience; however, students may seek approval from the appropriate department for an independent study course that would include learning derived from the internship. Credit is then awarded by the supervising professor and will become a part of the student’s academic record. It is also possible to receive academic credit for the internship, although some schools may not give course credit for paid positions.
Duke Lemur Center Summer Internships
The Duke Lemur Center (DLC) offers several summer internship programs. Note: We will not host interns in summer 2025. The DLC internships provide unique opportunities to gain hands-on experience in research, animal care, education, and museum studies. All DLC internships for Summer 2024 require a commitment starting Tuesday, May 28th and ending Saturday, August 3rd, 2024. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age. Housing and transportation are not provided. Interns must have their own transportation to the DLC. You are welcome to apply to a maximum of two DLC internships. If doing so, you must submit a separate application for each internship department. Applications are reviewed by the intern manager for each department.
Field Research Internship
The Field Research Internship program serves to introduce students to lemur research and data collection. Interns will be introduced to the fundamentals of behavioral ecology data collection in a field setting and will collect data as part of an on-going study of behavior and forest utilization by the free-ranging lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center, contributing to long-term research goals. Interns will be required to complete an independent project within this larger research scope. Interns can expect to gain experience in research design, ethogram development, individual identification, inter-observer reliability, sampling techniques, data collection, and data entry and analysis, among others. This program is intended for individuals who are genuinely interested in learning the research process, but who lack prior experience and/or opportunity to otherwise do so.
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Requirements:
- Applicants must either be currently attending college or graduated within the last three years.
- Applicants must have the ability to understand and follow written and oral instruction, have effective communication skills, and work well both independently and as part of a team.
- This is an unpaid position (with the opportunity to submit supplemental application materials to be considered for one of the few paid internship positions).
Husbandry Internship
The Husbandry Internship program is designed for individuals interested in gaining animal care experience at a research and conservation center for rare and endangered prosimian primates. Nestled on 100 acres in Duke Forest, the Lemur Center houses over 200 lemurs and bush babies across 13 species-the most diverse population of lemurs on Earth, outside their native Madagascar. The Husbandry Internship requires a 30-hour a week commitment for a ten-week period.
Requirements:
- Applicants must either be currently attending college or graduated within the last three years.
- Applicants must have the ability to understand and follow written and oral instruction and have effective communication skills.
- Applicants must be able to lift 50 pounds.
- Applicants must possess the ability to adapt to an ever-changing work environment and be available to work weekends and holidays.
- Public speaking skills are highly encouraged.
- This is an unpaid position (with the opportunity to submit supplemental application materials to be considered for one of the few paid internship positions).
Animal Welfare Internship
The Animal Welfare Internship program includes introductory instruction in animal welfare, animal enrichment, lemur behavior, operant conditioning and data collection. Interns will be required to design, complete and present an independent project with a welfare focus. The Animal Welfare Internship requires a consecutive ten week-commitment. The internship requires 20 hours a week.
Requirements:
- Applicants must have the ability to understand and follow written and oral instruction and have effective communication and interpersonal skills.
- A portion of the program will be spent collecting fresh browse for the colony. While collecting browse, interns may be exposed to many bothersome creatures, such as ticks, chiggers and mosquitoes. There is also the potential for contact with plants that can cause itchy or painful rashes. Snakes may be encountered.
- This is an unpaid position (with the opportunity to submit supplemental application materials to be considered for one of the few paid internship positions).
Education Internship
The Education Internship is a multi-faceted position that introduces interns to all aspects of the education and tour department. This experience is an ideal way for interns to receive a comprehensive view of the inner and outer workings of informal educational programming. Responsibilities will include leading educational tours of the facility to a wide variety of groups with varying age ranges, assisting with special programs, and to a lesser extent, supporting roles such as check-in or gift shop duties. The Education Internship requires a consecutive ten week-commitment. The internship requires 20-30 hours a week.
Requirements:
- Applicants must have the ability to understand and follow written and oral instruction and have effective communication and interpersonal skills.
- Applicants must be able to work in summer weather conditions, staying outdoors on paved paths for up to 2 hours continuously.
- This position does not require walking or standing, but any applicants who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids should note that certain behind-the-scenes learning opportunities that are part of the overall intern experience are not fully accessible, particularly the Natural Habitat Enclosures, due to the nature of working with wild primates.
- The Education internship is a paid position at $15.75/hour.
Fossil Collection Internship at the Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History (DLCMNH)
The Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History (DLCMNH) is looking for aspiring paleontologists to participate in our Summer 2024 Fossil Collection Internship. The Internship is an opportunity to work in an active paleontological research lab that maintains over 30,000 specimens, including the largest collection of primate fossils in North America. Interns will be introduced to curatorial methods, fossil preparation and conservation, molding and casting techniques, digital fossil preparation, surface model generation, photogrammetry, and archival research. Interns can also collaborate on exhibit design and fossil-based community outreach. Interns would be encouraged to develop projects that build and explore these datasets. This program is intended for students with a strong interest in the inner-workings of museums, and that have an interest in developing research questions based on biological collections, with a special focus on students that have limited access to biological and fossil collections at their home institutions. Technical skills in fossil and digital preparation are not required, though a comfort learning new skills and software programs is necessary. The summer internship program requires a 10-week commitment. Weekly schedules can be flexible.
Requirements:
- Applicants must either be currently attending college or graduated within the last three years.
- Applicants must have the ability to understand and follow written and oral instruction, have effective communication skills, and have the ability to adapt to an ever-changing work environment.
- This is an unpaid position (with the opportunity to submit supplemental application materials to be considered for one of the few paid internship positions).
Application Process and Key Information
Application Workshops
The DLC offers optional Zoom application workshops, which are an opportunity for prospective applicants to drop in and ask any questions about the application process or the intern program in general. You do not have to be a Duke student to apply to DLC internships! When you click on the application link, you will be prompted to either enter your Duke NetID (for current Duke students) or create a Duke OneLink ID as a first time user (for non-Duke students or recent grads).
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Immunizations
No, all immunization costs are up to the intern. Required immunizations are for your safety as well as the safety of the animals.
Housing
No, the DLC internship program does not provide housing or a housing stipend for interns.
Paid Positions
A small number of summer internships will be paid positions. Students in those paid positions will be compensated at a rate of $15.75/hour. Funding is available for a small number of intern positions, with the purpose of reducing financial barriers to students pursuing experiential learning opportunities in STEM. These paid positions are open only to students who were eligible for need-based financial aid at their institution during the academic year. Student Aid Report: Please provide the SAR summary produced after submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form from the previous academic year. Paid internship position offers will go out at the same time that offers are made for the unpaid internship positions.
Did you know that until 2022, the Duke Lemur Center only offered UNPAID undergraduate internships? Summer ’22 was the first year we were able offer some funded intern positions, thanks to support received from donors willing to provide $8,000 to cover one intern’s hourly compensation for the 10-week program. Since introducing paid internship positions, we have received more applications than ever before, making the applicant pool more competitive and including applicants from a broader range of backgrounds. Our goal for the future is for all internship positions to be funded.
Physical Contact with Lemurs
No. For your safety and the safety of the lemurs, interns are not allowed to have any physical contact with the animals.
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Internship Term Dates
All summer interns must be available to start on May 27th and work through August 3rd. Interns will present their project at our Summer Intern Project Symposium on August 3rd.
Application Status
You can check the status of your application by logging in to the application management system. Complete applications will be reviewed starting on March 4th, 2024. Candidates who are selected to receive a phone interview will be notified by March 13th.
Reapplying
Absolutely! Join us for one of the following optional Zoom application workshops, which are an opportunity for prospective applicants to drop in and ask any questions about the application process or the intern program in general.
Allergies
NOTE: If you have allergies, please be aware that the DLC keeps peanuts, peanut butter, and tree nuts onsite for lemur food and training rewards.
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