Wildlife Conservation and Management Internship
The Wildlife Diversity Conservation Section offers internship opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students interested in species conservation. The Wildlife Conservation and Management Internship is a great opportunity for students to gain valuable experience working as part of a state wildlife conservation agency. Each intern is assigned projects that directly address conservation actions of the Gopher Tortoise Management Plan, Imperiled Species Management Plan or the State Wildlife Action Plan.
Below is a list of previous interns, their corresponding projects, and links to their final projects (if available online). In addition to obtaining professional experience, the internship has also helped many interns graduate with jobs through FWC or other environmental agencies.
Upperclassman, graduate students, and recent graduates in the Tallahassee area are encouraged to apply. The WCM internship program runs fall, spring, and summer semesters. To apply, submit a completed application, resume and cover letter to Amanda Mills. Applications are due three weeks prior to the start of each semester.
Recent Intern(s)
Latemia Richards (Summer 2022)
Latemia will be graduating from Florida State University in Spring 2023 with a M.S. in Urban/Regional Planning and M.S. in International Affairs with a specialization in Project Planning for Less Developing Areas. During her primary project, the Water Management Recipient Site Search, she identified five potential recipient sites for relocated gopher tortoise across the state of Florida based on the number of acreages and types of soil. For Outreach & Volunteer Coordination, Latemia organized gopher tortoise events and trained gopher tortoise volunteers. Lastly, she reviewed photo submissions on the Gopher Tortoise Sightings Web App. After graduate school, Latemia intends to work in the Project Planning field in Georgia or Florida. Eventually, she would like to travel and work internationally where she can aid less developed areas with sustainability and their community needs.
Summer Neylon (Summer 2022)
Summer is a senior at Florida State University studying Editing, Writing, and Media. Over the course of her time at FWC, Summer was assigned three projects that broadened her knowledge in communications, editing and public media. Summer’s first project was writing two species profiles for the many-lined salamander and the southern dusky salamander that will be published to the FWC website. These will help build a basis of knowledge about native Florida species for the public. Other projects included creating presentations to advocate for the conservation of gopher tortoises and refreshing a collection of artifacts to be used during outreach events.
Interns were also given many opportunities to attend outreach events. Summer was able to contribute and observe at an outreach event in Madison, Florida during the Cherry Lake Summer Camp. The children got to see a presentation about gopher tortoises and the interns were able to interact with campers, answer questions and facilitate safe interactions with the delicate outreach artifacts.
Summer will be graduating in the spring of 2023 and hopes to work as a media manager or editor for a nonprofit environmental conservation agency.