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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

High School Internship Program

Five teenagers -- three girls and two boys -- standing together, smiling, in a science lab. Three of the teens are wearing white lab coats. One boy is waving.
High school interns enjoying their experience at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Smithsonian image

National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) Summer High School Internship Program

The NMNH Summer High School Internship Program at the Smithsonian Institution supports current high school attendees, ages 15 to 18 (grades 9 – 12), who are interested in learning about what it is like to work at a museum. Internships will be available to work with various departments throughout NMNH, and many interns will be able to explore both science and non-science museum work. Internship projects will be listed here as they are confirmed, so please check back often for more details. 

During their internship, interns will learn how to effectively engage public audiences and peers on various museum work, meet other high school students who share similar interests, go on field trips and behind-the-scenes tours, and develop skills to help them with job-skill preparation.  

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be currently enrolled high school students (grades 9 – 12) between the ages of 15 and 18 at the start of the internship program.
  • Applicants must write and converse fluently in English. 

The Smithsonian Institution does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, disability, genetic information, or parental status. 

Schedule

  • Number of Weeks: 8 weeks
  • Start Date: 6/23/26 (not flexible)
  • End Date: 8/14/26 (not flexible)
  • Work Week: Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    • Project Work Days: Interns work on projects with their internship supervisors 2 to 3 days a week.
    • Enrichment Days: Interns participate in enrichment activities 1 to 2 days a week.

Interns should be able to start and end on these dates and be actively engaged in the internship for 24 hours/week. 

Stipend

  • $5,600 stipend award ($700/week)

Additional Information

  • Lunch will be provided
  • Transportation to field trips will be provided
  • SmarTrip cards will be provided (if needed)

Contact Information

If you have any questions, email YouthNMNH@si.edu.

The application will launch on February 16th and the deadline to apply is: Friday, March 20th, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. (EST)

Applications for the NMNH Summer High School Internship program must be submitted through the central Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment system (SOLAA). All components of the application must be uploaded via SOLAA. Do not send components separately.

Prepare your application materials early! The application takes time, so consider preparing your application materials by using this list as a guide: 

  • Résumé – A fillable PDF will be available for download in early 2026.  
  • Statement of Interest – Applicants will answer three questions (250 words each) describing their interest in the NMNH Summer High School Internship Program. A form to complete with your responses to these questions will be available for download in early 2026.  
  • One Letter of Recommendation – Applicants will need to provide one letter of recommendation, from an individual of the applicant’s choice, that can speak to the applicant’s skills, strengths, abilities and/or aptitude. The recommender can include coaches, bosses (former or current), mentors, or someone else familiar enough with the applicant, but should not be a family member or friend. The guidelines for the Letter of Recommendation will be available for download in early 2026.
  • Please note: When asking for letters of recommendation, we recommend applicants provide their recommenders with the PDF linked above, which provides formatting guidelines for the letters. The applicant is also encouraged to have a conversation with their recommenders, using the topics in this document as a guideline, to provide as much information as possible for the recommenders to use in their letters.

Applicants will be able to rank potential internship projects or departments in their application, but this listing does not guarantee specific placement. Selected interns for the Summer High School Internship Program will be given full details about their specific mentor, department, project, and enrichment activities in the offer letter. 

We will be offering two opportunities to participate in a live information session for potential applicants. One will be held on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. (register here), and the second will be held in February 2026. The information covered in the two sessions will be the same, so potential applicants only need to attend one session. Please check back in early 2026 for more information on how to register for the information sessions.

Go to the SOLAA website, https://solaa.si.edu/solaa/#/public. Create account or log in to SOLAA (link is external).

Screenshot of a web page titled Smithsonian Online Academic Appointments. There is a green box on the right side. In the box, the words Don't have an account? Create an account, are circled in black.

 

Click Start Application Button at top of the screen.

 

Screenshot of a web page with the title Smithsonian Online Academic Appointments. A yellow button is circled in the header; it says Start Your Application.

 

Search for the Program: NMNH High School Summer Internship Program

 

Screenshot of a web page with a search box on the left side titled Search for Programs. The dropdown menu for Program Category is set to Internship. The Office, Museum, Research Center drop-down menu is set to NMNH - National Museum of Natural History. The Program Status drop down menu is set to Currently Active.

 

Click "Apply Now."

 

A list of programs displayed in a table. The second program listed says NMNH High School Summer Internship Program. In the right column, the Apply Now button is circled.

 

  • Personal info – Applicants will provide this information in the SOLAA application
  • Statement of Interest – Applicants will answer three questions (250 words each) describing their interest in the NMNH Summer High School Internship Program. A fillable PDF, along with more information, will be available to download above.
  • One Letter of Recommendation – Applicants will need to provide one letter of recommendation, from an individual of the applicant’s choice, that can speak to the applicant’s skills, strengths, abilities and/or aptitude. The recommender can include coaches, bosses (former or current), mentors, or someone else familiar enough with the applicant, but should not be a family member or friend. A Letter of Recommendation template, along with more information, will be available to download above.
  • Résumé – A fillable PDF, along with more information, will be available to download above.

Applicants will be notified around April 22, 2026, of their application status. 

Letters of recommendations will be uploaded through the References section of your application in SOLAA. Please input the reference details for your reference, including their last name, first name, and email address. Once this information is submitted, please click the envelope icon for the reference in order to trigger SOLAA to send an email to your recommender. This auto-generated email from SOLAA will be the only official way that your recommender can submit their letter of recommendation. You can keep track of whether your letter of recommendation has been submitted yet by checking the "Completed" section of the reference form. 

Screenshot of part of a web page. Text at the top says Please provide information for two references. Fields outlined in black are Last Name, First Name, Email Address. Circled in black is an envelope icon titled Email referee.
  • All letters of recommendation are considered confidential unless confidentiality has been waived by the reference.
  • Through SOLAA, an email will be sent to your recommender so they can provide letters of recommendation through the web, once you have input and submitted their personal details.
  • Ensure your recommender submits in sufficient time to meet the application deadline.
    • Please let your recommender know that sometimes the SOLAA email gets sent to spam or junk folders, so it's good to let them know the date that you triggered the email to be sent. 

To keep track of whether your letter of recommendation has been submitted to SOLAA, log into SOLAA, and from your applicant dashboard, click to "View" your application. Once there, scroll down to the References section, where you can see if your reference has been completed. If your recommender has not submitted their letter of recommendation by March 20th, please email YouthNMNH@si.edu. Applications that have not received the letter of recommendation by the application deadline may still be reviewed, as long as a recommender has been listed in SOLAA. 

Within a week of the application deadline, you should receive a confirmation email that your application has been received. Please note that applications are not unable to be reviewed until after the application submission deadline (March 20th) in order to ensure a fair review of all applicants. Decisions are expected to be made within four to six weeks after the application deadline, with an anticipated notification window of around April 22nd, 2026.

For this reason, it's good to make sure you're checking your email frequently after the application submission deadline.  

If you have decided to take another position before our selections are made, please let us know by emailing YouthNMNH@si.edu. 
 

Photo Gallery

A teenage girl wearing a black jacket and blue gloves sitting at a lab table. She is holding a pipette in her right hand and inserting it into a test tube in her left hand.
Working in a lab. Smithsonian image
A teen girl sitting at a table, making a presentation to a younger child. An iPad displaying a photo is propped on the table and there are objects and scraps of paper on the table.
Making presentations to the public. Smithsonian image
Two teenagers squatting near manhole covers on a sidewalk next to a storm drain. One holds a brush and one is placing a storm drain marker on the sidewalk near the storm drain opening in the curb.
Marking storm drains. Smithsonian image
A teenage girl sitting at a table holding a large cockroach on the back of her hand.
Holding a Madagascar hissing cockroach. Smithsonian image
Six teenagers standing around a table that more than a dozen taxidermic birds on it, a taxidermic snowy owl, and a skeleton of a large wading bird. A man in a black baseball cap is gesturing as he speaks to the group.
Touring the Birds collection. Smithsonian image
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