Norris Center Internships
Norris Center Internships Available Now
All internships are available for 2 units (6 hours per week). We can offer internships for 5 units (12 hours per week), if you have already completed an internship with the Norris Center in the past. If you're interested in an internship apply at the link under the description of the internship. If you have questions email gimhurta@ucsc.edu.
Internships (Winter 2024)
1) Senior internships and senior theses. Got a research idea that you want to try out? Got a favorite organism that you want to learn more about? Contact us to set up a two-quarter-long (5 units each quarter) project.
2) Norris Center Herbarium Internship: Interns will help accession and digitize plant specimens from around the Central Coast of California. In addition to helping press, mount and label regional specimens (including new species!), students will help scan images. Skills gained include plant taxonomy, herbarium organization and curation, plant morphology and online databasing. Internships are 6 hours per week. There are mandatory meetings Tuesday and Thursday 9-9:40 and 11:30-2pm (there may be opportunity to intern from 9am - 12pm on Tues and Thurs) . Apply here
3) Taxidermy Internship: Interns will work to turn dead, salvaged birds or small mammals into scientific museum study skins or for skeletal prepaetaions. Following detailed taxidermy instructions, students will skin and prepare birds to be used by researchers and classes at the Norris Center. Skills gained will include bird identification, bird morphology, museum collection curation and taxidermy. Internships are 6 hours per week. This internship ONLY meets Thursdays at 12PM-6PM, meeting time is mandatory. Apply here
4) Natural History Museum: Projects with Entomological Collections: Natural History Museum: Projects with Entomological Collections. Interns will learn the foundations of professional insect curation using the Randall Morgan Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps) collection. Curation will involve moving and labeling already-pinned specimens between unit trays with the goal of creating an organized reference collection of all of our bees. We are looking for students with an invested interest in insect curation and a strong attention to detail. Internships are 6 hours per week. Required meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1pm-4pm. Apply here
5) Natural History Museum: Projects with Fungi Collections: Natural History Museum: Projects with Fungi Collections. Interns will learn the foundations of professional fungi curation using the extensive Norris Cente fungi collection. Curation will involve identifying, labeling, organizing, and digitizing specimens with the goal of creating an organized reference collection for fungi. We are looking for students with an invested interest in fungi curation and a strong attention to detail. Internships are 6 hours per week. Required meetings: Mondays and Wednesdays 11am-2pm. Apply here
6) Mammal Projects: Potential projects: Interns will help skeletonization a Mt. lion to prepare it for the museum. Interns will help collect data on collect data on ground squirrels, and place camera traps out on campus document mammalian behavior, and other realted tasks. Skills gained include strong museum curation skills, taxonomic knowledge mammals, project research design and project experience. Required meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1pm-4pm. Internships are 6 hours per week. Full. Please see our other internships. Apply here
7) Bird-window Collision Internship: Did you know that over 1 billion birds die from collisions with windows in the United States each year? If you want to help understand why birds hit windows and how to could prevent it, right here on our campus, become an intern! Help document collisions spatially, and identify the most problematic windows so that we can advocate to make them bird safe. Some of the internship duties are; survey buildings on campus looking for bird carcasses, document collision events, and bring the carcasses to the Norris Center, and help design and update survey protocol. Internships are 6 hours a week. Must apply through the Bird-Window Collision application. Meeting times TBD. Not offered Fall and Winter quarters.
8) Field Inquiry Mentor: Lead nature explorations through campus wildlands for first year Kresge, College, Rachel Carson College and Merrill College students & develop naturalist and environmental education skills. Only offered in Fall- TBD. Must apply through Field Inquiry Application.
