Blue Forest, Wildfire and Water Resources Internship, Summer 2026
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 for nine to ten weeks during the summer. They are fully funded by the Lane Center with stipends ranging from $7,500 to $10,000.
The Lane Center has placed hundreds of interns in positions across the West since 2005. It has developed strong relationships with host organizations and works hard to ensure interns have successful and enriching experiences.
For more information about the internship program, please visit the FAQs page, or email Education Manager Corinne Thomas.
Details about previous summer student interns and their placements can be found here.
Student reflections about the internship experience can be found by visiting the Out West student blog and the Lane Center Instagram channel.
Stipend Information:
The Bill Lane Center will provide a base stipend of $7,500 with additional funding for student financial aid and location, if applicable, up to $10,000. The stipend is provided to cover living expenses and, if applicable, part of the summer earnings expectation of the Office of Financial Aid.
The stipend is not intended to be, and is not, a paid, hourly wage. An internship is an educational and experiential learning opportunity intended for the student to apply their academics and gain real-world experience.
Description of the Organization:
Blue Forest is a conservation finance non-profit founded in 2015 that advances ecosystem restoration through scientific research, financial innovation, and collaborative partnerships. Since 2018, Blue Forest has managed investor capital through its flagship financial product, the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB), which deploys private capital to finance forest restoration projects to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
Internship Overview:
Water resources are impacted by wildfires in many ways—from degrading water quality to compromising critical water infrastructure. Forest restoration can ensure resilient water resources by reducing fire severity and scale, providing direct benefits to water suppliers and users. At Blue Forest, we aim to understand how these potential beneficiaries—such as utilities, communities, and corporations—perceive and value these benefits to transform water resource protection from an abstract concept into a concrete, investable outcome.
This internship offers an opportunity to improve understanding on how water utilities and other beneficiaries engage in proactive forest management. Guided by a mentor, the intern will review academic and industry based literature, analyze relevant data, and develop testable hypotheses about factors that drive beneficiary investment in green infrastructure and water resources protection. These hypotheses will be tested through interviews with water professionals, with findings used to refine engagement strategies and support future investment in forest restoration across the Western United States.
Internship Work Environment:
This is a primarily virtual internship with occasional in-person events and day-long trips to the Sierra Nevada or greater Sacramento/Bay Area to visit project sites.
The intern must be located in the Bay Area/Sacramento region.
The intern will primarily work independently on their project, with oversight and guidance from a supervisor/mentor within Blue Forest’s science team. They may also engage with team members from other departments specializing in project development, finance, and ecosystem services, as needed, for insights and feedback.
The intern will receive guidance and supervision from a mentor who will provide project direction, set expectations, and review their work. They will have opportunities to meet with other team members for introductions, coffee chats, and feedback on specific aspects of the project, ensuring alignment with Blue Forest’s strategic goals.
A typical day will include a mix of research, writing, and collaboration. Interns may spend part of the day reviewing literature, synthesizing reports, or analyzing data related to their project focus. They will also contribute to writing tasks such as summarizing findings, refining project ideas, or preparing materials for meetings and interviews. Interns may participate in interviews with water resources professionals and attend weekly team meetings and mentor check-ins to share progress and receive feedback.
The intern will primarily work with professionals in their 20s-30s on the Blue Forest team, rather than with other college-age students or interns.
The intern must be located in the Bay Area/Sacramento region.
Transportation: It is not necessary for the intern to have a car; Blue Forest can arrange car pools for site visits.
Housing is not provided.
Blue Forest's location is Sacramento, California.
- Review and synthesize academic and industry literature on post-fire impacts to water resources, and develop a database to analyze the cost, extent, and geographic variability of these impacts
- Analyze, synthesize and visualize data to communicate key findings
- Interview water professionals to evaluate hypotheses of beneficiary engagement
- Support relationship-building efforts between Blue Forest and external partners, including researchers and legal fellows at Stanford working on related topics
- Summarize and present results through a written report and final presentation to Blue Forest staff
Bill Lane Center internships are part of Cardinal Quarter opportunities and students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply. The opportunities are full-time (40 hours a week) for 9-10 consecutive weeks during the summer.
Specific start and end dates during the summer can be coordinated directly with the supervisor.
All undergraduates of any year, including graduating seniors, are eligible. Graduating seniors are eligible only if they are graduating in spring quarter. Students who have already graduated, e.g., fall or winter quarter of this academic year are not eligible.
Preference is given to students who have not previously been awarded a Bill Lane Center West internship and to students who will be enrolled the following fall quarter.
For more application advice, please visit the BLC’s FAQs page.
Please note:
- Students are not permitted to engage in another full-time internship, job, or volunteer opportunity (whether funded by Stanford or otherwise) during this full-time, summer internship.
- Student athletes should confirm the impact of any awarded stipend on their athletic eligibility by contacting the Compliance Services Office prior to committing to an internship.
- Stipend Policy per the U.S. Department of Education: A stipend is considered a resource and it may have an impact on a student’s financial aid. To comply with US Department of Education regulations, student payments, awards, prizes, and gifts that are made available to the student because they are a Stanford student, must be reported to the Financial Aid Office. The Financial Aid Office is responsible for the disbursement of stipend funds to undergraduates. For more information, please visit the Financial Aid Office's webpage about the student stipend policy.
Application Guidelines for this Internship:
Blue Forest has an interdisciplinary team and welcomes students with broad backgrounds.
It prefers more experienced students who are comfortable with a high level of autonomy.
Majors in environmental and earth sciences, civil and environmental engineering, geography or related fields would be most relevant.
Required Skills:
- Strong comprehension, analytical, and communication skills, including clear writing and the ability to distill and critically evaluate complex information and data.
- Candidates should be comfortable conducting interviews and working independently on deadline-driven projects.
- Coursework in geomorphology, hydrology, civil/environmental engineering, or environmental economics is particularly valuable.
Preferred Skills:
- A strong foundation in hydrology or related scientific disciplines, as well as familiarity with economics and environmental sciences.
- The ideal intern will be able to translate complex ideas into clear and compelling visuals—whether through data visualization or broader visual storytelling.
- Experience with GIS or programming is preferred.
Selection of applicants:
Complete applications are screened by Lane Center staff and the top candidates are contacted for a first-round interview with staff from The Bill Lane Center for the American West. Preference is given to students who have not previously been awarded a Bill Lane Center West internship and to students who will be enrolled the following fall quarter.
After the first-round interviews, top candidates for the position are then selected by a Lane Center committee to be forwarded to the host organization for consideration and possible second-round interviews with their potential supervisors and other staff.
After consideration, host organizations will notify the Lane Center of their preferred candidate and that applicant will receive an internship offer from Bill Lane Center staff by email.
The applicant is expected to respond promptly (within 48 hours) via email to the offer or the offer will be rescinded and another candidate may receive the offer.
Once an applicant accepts the offer, they should promptly notify all other Stanford and non-Stanford programs to which they have applied and withdraw their candidacy from those other opportunities.
Applicants not selected will be notified by Lane Center staff as soon as possible.
