High School Internship Program

NMNH Summer High School Internship

We are no longer accepting applications for the 2025 program.

The NMNH Summer High School Internship at the Smithsonian Institution supports current high school attendees, ages 14 to 18, interested in learning about what working at a museum is like. Internships are offered in the Department of Entomology and the Department of Exhibits. Internship projects include:

• Entomology: Sorting of and classifying moth specimens for the Museum’s collections.
• Entomology: Exploring key aspects such as acquisition, organization, preservation, maintenance, and enhancement of collections of insects including spiders, centipedes, and millipedes.
• Exhibits: Learning about the process of exhibit development and contribute to ongoing projects.

During their internship, interns will learn how to effectively engage public audiences and peers on science and museum topics, 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 college preparation.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be currently enrolled high school students between the ages of 14 and 18
• 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, parental status.

Schedule

• Number of Weeks: 6 weeks
• Start Date: 6/24/25 (not flexible)
• End Date: 8/5/25 (not flexible)
• Work Week: Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Wednesday and Thursday: Interns work on projects with their internship supervisors
  • Tuesday and Friday: Interns participate in enrichment activities

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

Stipend

• $3,600 stipend award ($600/week)

Additional Information

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

Application Process

The application period has ended. The deadline to apply was: February 28, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. (EST)

Applications for NMNH Summer High School Internship 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 – Download the fillable PDF below

• Statement of Interest – Applicants will answer three questions (250 words each) describing their interest in the NMNH Summer High School Internship Program. Download the fillable PDF below.

• Two Letters of Recommendation – Applicants will need to provide two letters of recommendation, one from a teacher and one from an individual of the applicant’s choice. This includes coaches, bosses (former or current), mentors, or someone else familiar enough with the applicant to provide an accurate evaluation of their abilities and aptitude. Download the Letter of Recommendation guidelines template below.

• 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 selected for placement in the Summer Internship Program will be given full details about their specific mentor, department, project, and enrichment activities in the offer letter.

We provided a live information session for potential applicants on February 12.

Application Instructions

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

Click Start Application Button at top of the screen.

Search for the Program: NMNH High School Summer Internship Program

Click "Apply Now."

Application Materials Required

• 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 Internship Program. A fillable PDF, along with more information, can be downloaded above.
• Two Letters of Recommendation – Applicants will need to provide two letters of recommendation, one from a teacher and one from an individual of the applicant’s choice. This includes coaches, bosses (former or current), mentors, or someone else familiar enough with the applicant to provide an accurate evaluation of their abilities and aptitude. A Letter of Recommendation template, along with more information, can be downloaded above.
• Résumé – A fillable PDF, along with more information, can be downloaded above.

Applicants will be notified around March 31, 2025.

Contact Information

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

Unit

National Museum of Natural History

After Submitting Your Application

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 reviewed until after the application submission deadline (February 28th) in order to ensure a fair review of all applicants, and decisions are expected to be made within four to six weeks after the application deadline.

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 using the email above.

Recommendation/References

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

• All letters of recommendation are considered confidential unless confidentiality has been waived by the reference.
• Through SOLAA, you will send an email to your recommenders so they can provide letters of recommendation through the web.
• Have the recommender submit in sufficient time to meet the application deadline.
  • Please let your recommenders 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 letters of recommendation have been submitted to SOLAA, log in to 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 one of your recommenders has not submitted their letter of recommendation by February 28th, please email YouthNMNH@si.edu. Applications that have only received one letter of recommendation by the application deadline will still be reviewed, as long as two recommenders have been listed in SOLAA.