Unlock Your Wild Side: Internship Opportunities at Zoo Miami

Are you passionate about animals and conservation? Do you dream of a career working with wildlife? Zoo Miami offers a range of internships designed to provide aspiring zoological professionals with invaluable hands-on experience in an AZA-accredited environment. These internships offer a unique opportunity to work alongside experienced staff and contribute to the zoo's mission of conservation and education.

General Internship Requirements

Before diving into the specifics of each internship, let's cover the general requirements that apply to all Zoo Miami internship programs:

Age: Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
Time Commitment: All applicants must commit to a minimum of 360 hours over a 16-week period. An exception to this is Zoo Clinical Interns, who must commit to a minimum of 640 hours.
Education: Applicants must be currently enrolled in college or be a recent college graduate.
Financial Responsibility: Internships are unpaid, and candidates must be able to afford housing, food, and transportation to Zoo Miami.
Physical Requirements: Must be able to lift at least 50 lbs.
Important Note: Participating in an internship does not guarantee employment with Zoo Miami or Miami-Dade County.
Application Timeline: Qualified applicants will be contacted for an interview within two weeks following the semester’s application deadline. Application deadlines are typically in February for the Fall semester (September - January) and October for the Spring semester (January - September).

Internship Opportunities

Zoo Miami offers a diverse range of internship opportunities, each providing a unique learning experience. Let's explore some of the exciting options available:

Animal Care Internships

Animal Care Internships at Zoo Miami offer a unique opportunity for aspiring animal care professionals to gain hands-on experience. Interns work alongside experienced staff and assist with various aspects of animal care, to include daily husbandry, habitat maintenance, diet distribution, observing animal training, and monitoring animal health.

Animal Health Internship

An internship with Zoo Miami’s Animal Health team offers an immersive experience for interns who are interested in pursuing careers in veterinary medicine. The Zoo Hospital Clinical Intern is embedded within the zoo's veterinary team, working in the animal hospital alongside the zoo's veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and other staff/students.

Zoo Nutrition Internship

The Zoo Nutrition Internship allows interns to experience this crucial operation at Zoo Miami’s Nutrition Center and learn firsthand how providing proper diets has lasting impacts to the health and wellbeing of our animals. Interns will work alongside our Animal Care professionals and the Zoo Nutritionist to prepare over 400 individual meals each day for herbivores, carnivores, insectivores and more!

Observational Animal Behavior Research Internship

The Observational Animal Behavior Research Internship at Zoo Miami provides aspiring animal behavior and welfare professionals with the opportunity to engage in research projects focused on improving animal welfare. Interns can gain experience in the entire research process, from conducting literature reviews and recommending management initiatives to collecting and analyzing data and presenting results. Interns also participate in various methods of collecting and coding data, work on projects for a wide variety of species throughout the zoo, contribute to the creation of enrichment items, and assist the Registrar department in maintaining animal care records.

Hospitality Internship

Zoo Miami’s Hospitality Internship is a one-of-a-kind internship for those interested in pursuing careers in hospitality, tourism, or attraction operations. Interns will develop skills in customer service, problem-solving, and operational management while gaining a deeper understanding of how this impacts the visitor experience and drives business results. During this program, participants receive a comprehensive overview across various guest service areas, including admissions, rides, guest experience, rentals, and operations. The exact day-to-day work interns complete will depend on the role they’re assigned, but each role is fun and rewarding in its own way. Successfully completing this program allows Hospitality Interns to build upon their resume and expand their professional network.

Sea Turtle Hospital Husbandry Internship

The Sea Turtle Hospital Husbandry internship offers the opportunity to learn about all aspects of sea turtle rehabilitation. At Zoo Miami's Sea Turtle Hospital, we focus on the rehabilitation of injured or ill sea turtles, with the goal of restoring their health and returning them to the wild. Interns will be involved in various tasks, including animal feeding, enrichment, observation, record-keeping, water quality monitoring, tank cleaning and setup, basic life support function and operation, exhibit modifications, biosecurity practices, diet preparation, and maintaining food safety and sanitation standards.

Sales Internship

Zoo Miami’s Sales Internship is a one-of-a-kind internship for those interested in pursuing careers in sales and private event planning at an attraction. Interns will develop skills in customer service, problem-solving, and operational management while gaining a deeper understanding of how this impacts the visitor experience and drives business results. During this program, participants receive comprehensive overview of the sales and admissions departments. Duties may include clerical work, inputting data, group and lunch check-ins, and assisting in the execution of private events. Successfully completing this program allows sales interns to gain experience in an attraction setting, expand their professional network, and add to their resume.

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A Real-World Experience: Alejandra Carrillo's Internship

To illustrate the value of a Zoo Miami internship, let's take a look at the experience of Alejandra Carrillo, a double major in Environmental Studies & Natural and Applied Sciences, with a minor in Biology from Coral Springs, Florida.

Alejandra interned with Zoo Miami's horticulture department, also gaining experience with the zoo’s conservation team. She learned about the internship through an FIU article about a student who did work on gopher tortoises.

During her internship, Alejandra worked on various projects surrounding the nursery. Her main project involved monitoring different plants and how they grew under various soil conditions. She also assisted with the general upkeep of the plants in the nursery and took part in community projects, such as helping the boy scouts and girl scouts with various leadership projects from cactus gardens to bee boxes. Furthermore, she spent time with the conservation department, learning about the pine rockland ecosystem and endangered butterfly species.

Alejandra's internship allowed her to apply her studies of plant management and conservation in day-to-day activities. She saw how different aspects of everything she’d been learning, from pest management to ecology to horticulture, were applied in a professional setting outside of a classroom.

The most memorable moment of her internship was when on a visit to map out the plant restoration sites in the Pine Rocklands, they all saw the super rare lesser wasp moth. It was very exciting and inspiring to see the full effect of ecosystem restoration at that moment.

Alejandra really enjoyed the hands-on experience and the active environment. She got the opportunity to do so many things, including being waist-deep in one of the lakes to take care of some mangroves. Every day was something new and she got to explore different parts of the zoo with very knowledgeable people.

Through her internship, Alejandra learned that there is always more to learn. She realized that sometimes knowing less is more in terms of being open to growing as an individual with the proper help from the professionals around you. The position also increased her professional confidence, helping her improve her communication skills and trust herself more.

Alejandra's internship put her in contact with a lot of great individuals in the local community. She met a lot of people from the parks and recreation department of Miami-Dade and got to learn under scientists with specialties in conservation and horticulture. She was able to use the same practices that she learned at the organic garden at FIU in the zoo’s nursery and around the park.

Alejandra's advice for those beginning the internship process is to not give up and to use the resources that the university provides. She had been rejected multiple times from many other places, but she didn't let that stop her.

Carrillo's internship was funded by the USDA-NIFA Hispanic Serving Institutions Higher Education Grants Program, specifically the innovative Curriculum for Agriculture Training and Career for Hispanics (iCATCH) program.

More Ways to Get Involved at Zoo Miami

Besides internships, Zoo Miami offers numerous other ways to get involved and contribute to its mission:

School Programs: Dive into a world of wonder and knowledge with engaging programs designed for school groups.
Zoo Camps: Fun-filled experiences that spark curiosity and foster a love for nature and conservation.
Night Programs: Thrilling explorations of the zoo after dark.
Nature Play: Engaging in outdoor activities that connect children with nature.
Speaker Series: Enriching your mind with talks by experts in wildlife and conservation.
Community Service: Whether you need to fulfill community service hours, or wish to give back to your local community, Zoo Miami is the perfect place for you to donate your time! This program is sponsored by Zoo Miami Foundation.
Teen Squad Volunteers: Based on a long-term commitment to education, Zoo Miami strives to provide an enthusiastic, imaginative, and intellectually stimulating atmosphere to help Teen Squad Volunteers develop a lifelong appreciation for animals, gain experience providing world-class guest service, and begin to build a professional network. Teen Squad Volunteers will have assignments that involve working closely with zoo staff and engaging guests at various guest service positions, including Safari Cycle Rentals, Animal Feeding Sites, and Education Stations. Students must be available to volunteer on days that will not conflict with school such as weekends, holidays, summer, winter and spring break and night events. Space is limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, all Teen Squad Volunteers are required to attend one of the mandatory in-person orientation sessions in its entirety. You will select your preferred date directly in the application itself as part of the process. Attendance at orientation is required. Teens who do not attend one of these sessions in its entirety will not be permitted to volunteer this semester, and their account will be deactivated.
Group Volunteering: Zoo Miami welcomes volunteers from companies, scout troops, fraternities, and other community groups to assist with one-time projects and events around the Zoo Miami. These projects provide an invaluable service to the Zoo while also providing a wonderful opportunity for groups to spend quality time together. We at Zoo Miami Foundation embrace diversity and belonging in our mission of fostering community involvement while connecting generations with the wonders of wildlife.
Conservation Training Specialists (CTS): CTS undergo training to develop an extensive knowledge about the animals at the zoo and interpret that information for guests throughout the park.
Educator Position: The Educator is responsible for planning, developing, and delivering engaging educational experiences that highlight the importance of wildlife and conservation. This includes presenting programs for school groups, families, and community organizations, both at the zoo and in off-site outreach settings. The position requires creating age-appropriate lesson plans, interactive presentations, and teaching materials that align with educational standards while promoting the zoo’s mission.
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program: In this 10-week summer program, students will conduct independent research in conservation science under the mentorship of the conservation biologists, wildlife veterinarians, and education researchers at Zoo Miami and FIU. The program is suited for students with a background in biology, environmental science, or education. Conservation, research, and education are a fundamental part of the mission of modern zoos. Zoo Miami, ZMF, and FIU are happy to host the only zoo-based Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program within the US, beginning in summer 2021. Unlike any other REU program, students will have the unique experience of conducting research within a zoo environment, with unparalleled access to endangered species and conservationists working to protect them. This program is highly interdisciplinary, with research topics ranging from field ecology, reproductive physiology, disease biology, and conservation education.

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