One of the four components of training in the CONS program is an an internship experience relevant to the student's career interests. The internship is usually accomplished during the summer between two academic years of coursework, and is usually in a Washington, D.C. area agency. We do not assign internships, but let students find their own opportunities. Internships often lead to ideas for the required scholarly paper ("library thesis"), and in many cases have led to employment after (or even before!) graduation.

A standard entry-level (undergraduate) internship usually involves administrative support (making copies, coffee, whatever) -- this isn't a CONS internship. Nor can a general field-based position count as a CONS internship, even if the species being studied is endangered, as a CONS internship is interdisciplinary. A CONS internship is an opportunity for professional and scholarly development through the auspices of a conservation or development agency. An understanding is reached between the student and the supervisor so that the student will have the opportunity to explore a complex conservation issue and the working environment of the agency.

Examples of places where students have had internships during the past six years::

• Albanian National Environmental Agency
• Alliance to Save Energy
• American Zoo and Aquarium Association
• Audubon Maryland – DC – Important Bird Areas program
• AVINA Foundation ( Miami )
• Baltimore Zoo
• Bureau of Land Management – White Mountain National Recreation Area
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation – Resource Protection Division
• Chino Farm Research Center
• Conservation International – Center for Applied Biodiversity Science
• Conservation International – Asia-Pacific Division
• Conservation International – Rapid Assessment Program
• Conservation International – Sea Turtle Flagship Program
• Conservation International – China Regional Program
• Defenders of Wildlife
• Department of Wastewater Treatment of the District of Columbia – Biosolids Management Program
• Earth University
• Earthjustice – Policy and Legislation Department
• Environmental Support Group ( India )
• Finding Species
• Greenbrier Land Conservation Trust
• Instituto de Historia Natural (Mexico)
• Instituto Monteverde ( Costa Rica )
• IUCN
• Kinship Conservation Institute – Political Economy Research Center
• LakeNet
• LI-BIRD (Nepali NGO)
• Marine Conservation Biology Institute
• Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission – Environmental Planning Division
• Maryland Sea Grant
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center – Biospheric Sciences Branch
• National Environmental Education and Training Foundation
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
• National Parks Conservation Association
• National Wildlife Federation
• Nature Conservancy – Michigan
• Nature Conservancy – Parks in Peril program
• NatureServe
• NOAA – Office of Marine Sanctuaries
• NOAA – Research Office of International Activities
• NOAA – Fisheries
• Organization of American States
• Pacific Land Trust
• Potomac Conservancy
• Smithsonian Institution – Butterfly Habitat Garden
• Smithsonian Insititution – Environmental Research Center (SERC)
• Smithsonian Institution – Man and the Biosphere Biodiversity Program
• Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of Natural History
• Student Conservation Association
• Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
• University of New Mexico School of Law
• U.S. A.I.D. – Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE)
• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency – Economics and Benefits Assessment Staff
• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics Outreach Branch
• USGS-USFWS – Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
• USGS-USFWS – Annapolis office
• Wilderness Ventures
• Wildlife Conservation Society (in Africa )
• Wildlife Habitat Council
• Wilton Wildlife Preserve and Park
• World Bank – Biodiversity Team
• World Wildlife Fund – Biodiversity Conservation Network
• World Wildlife Fund – Center for Conservation Innovation
• World Wildlife Fund – Conservation Science Program
• World Wildlife Fund – Conservation Strategies Unit
• World Wildlife Fund – Eastern Himalayas Program
• World Wildlife Fund – Ecoregional Support Unit
• World Wildlife Fund – Species Conservation Program
• World Resources Institute - International Financial Flows and the Environment project