American Rivers, Communications & Land Use Planning Internship, Summer 2023

Every summer, The Bill Lane Center for the American West offers many opportunities for Stanford undergraduates (including graduating seniors and co-terms) to work with organizations throughout the West. Through these internships, students can explore careers in natural history, conservation, land use, museum curation, resource management, energy and more.

All internships are full-time and last ten weeks during the summer. They are fully funded by the Lane Center.

The Lane Center has placed over 200 interns in positions across the West since 2005. As such, we have developed strong relationships with host organizations and work hard to ensure interns have successful and enriching experiences.

For more information about our internship program, please visit our FAQs page, or email Education Manager Corinne Thomas.

Read more about past interns' experiences in the Out West Student Blog.

See the summer 2022 intern's Instagram posting. 

Stipend Information:

The Bill Lane Center will provide a base stipend of $7,500 with additional funding for student financial aid, if applicable.

Description of the Organization: 

American Rivers’ mission is to protect wild rivers, restore degraded rivers, and conserve clean water for people and nature. Our Central Valley Program works with conservation and community-based colleagues to reconnect rivers to their floodplains, producing multiple benefits – such as giving rivers room to spread out away from communities during flooding events, restoring habitat for native fish, wildlife and vegetation, ensuring that surface waters from restored areas percolate into key groundwater aquifers, and increasing public access to rivers for disadvantaged communities.

American Rivers is working to restore habitat for fish and wildlife along the San Joaquin River and help create a river parkway at the 200-acre former Van Buskirk golf course in south Stockton, California. The Van Buskirk project is a unique opportunity to create a multi-benefit ecosystem restoration project in a world-class park that highlights the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s natural beauty and creates much-needed benefits and opportunities for the historically ignored and underserved communities in south Stockton. A federal levee separates the residents from catastrophic flooding from the San Joaquin River; we are working with partners to setback this levee to give the river more room, improve aquatic habitat, and provide nature access to local community members. The Van Buskirk project includes flood protection for the communities of south Stockton, wetland and floodplain habitat for fish and wildlife, river-focused public recreation amenities, and environmental education and economic opportunities that are consistent with local needs, interests, and values.

Internship Overview:

American Rivers is looking for a motivated and enthusiastic intern to help protect and restore rivers in California’s Central Valley. The intern will research nature-based solutions, develop online story maps or other creative and visually appealing outreach materials and community surveys, and communicate findings to protect and restore rivers with support and guidance from our California and National Communication staff.

The Communications and Land Use Planning Intern will work closely with American Rivers’ Central Valley team to research nature-based solutions to increase recreational opportunities and restore riparian habitat while also reducing flood risk at the Van Buskirk project site. Engaging the local community is crucial to the success of the project and the intern will help develop online story maps, creative outreach materials, and community surveys to engage and educate the local community, and the multiple agencies and interested stakeholders to ensure the full range of nature based solutions are seriously considered and preferably selected.

Internship Work Environment:

This internship will be 10% field visits and 90% virtual work. The intern will be required to attend some in-person meetings, field trips and site visits.

The intern will need to travel to meet American Rivers staff in the East Bay or Sacramento, California area to get a ride for field visits.

The intern will be working as part of the seven-person Central Valley team and will be working directly with a mentor who will be supervising. American Rivers CA staff will be working 100% remote in summer 2023, so the intern will be working alone from home daily but required to attend some in-person meetings, field trips and site visits.

Several one-on-one and small team in-person meetings will be held in public spaces, such as local parks or if needed, short-term office rental space. The team will also meet and work with the intern during field trips and site visits. The intern will attend virtual staff meetings with the larger CA team and participate in virtual national staff meetings and intern gatherings.

It would be helpful to have a car but not necessary.