Henry's Fork Foundation, Hydrology and Water Management 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: 

Henry’s Fork Foundation's (HFF) mission is "To conserve world-class wild trout fisheries in the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River and connected watersheds through science-based collaboration."  Established in 1984, the Henry’s Fork Foundation (HFF) uses a science-based, collaborative approach to promote favorable streamflow, good water quality, healthy fish populations, and a positive fishing experience in the Henry’s Fork and South Fork Snake River watersheds. HFF’s work with partners has measurably reduced the negative effects of drought and changing climate through improved fishery health and fishing conditions.​

The Henry’s Fork Foundation (HFF) is a nonprofit watershed conservation organization and seeks an intern for the summer of 2026 to work on a federally-funded project entitled “Strategies to Improve Reliability of Water Supply for Fisheries in the Henry’s Fork Snake River Watershed.” 

The Internship Overview:

This is an in-person internship: 80% office work; 20% field work

The intern will be a part of the HFF team as a whole and get to interact with other interns and staff while in the office.  Their mentor for this position will be Dr. Rob Van Kirk, HFF's director of science and technology. 

As other needs arise, the intern will have opportunities to work with other staff on the science and communications teams.

This project is being conducted by HFF, in partnership with Fremont-Madison Irrigation District and numerous agency, private, and nongovernmental partners. 

The Henry’s Fork is a hydrologic system highly managed for irrigation but is also home to world-renowned trout fisheries. HFF has had success identifying mutually beneficial water management strategies for farms and fish on the Henry’s Fork. To support further improvements in water management on the Henry’s Fork, this project will provide stakeholders and managers with the data, models, and strategies needed to more precisely manage the watershed’s irrigation system to meet the needs of irrigators while also improving hydroelectric power generation and streamflow for fish.  

The Hydrology and Water Management Intern will assist HFF staff in calculating and modeling water travel time through the watershed’s reservoirs and irrigation system. Based on observations of system operations, travel time is a function of streamflow, abundance of aquatic vegetation, and magnitude and direction of flow changes made at different nodes in the system. However, a careful statistical analysis of the dependence of travel time on these potential factors has not been conducted. The results of such an analysis will be of great use to water managers and hydroelectric power operators in improving precision of water storage and delivery throughout the watershed. 

Desired outputs from the project could include tables or graphical representations of travel time between given system nodes under different conditions.

Desired dates for internship: June 22–August 28, 2026 

Additional Work Expectations:

• The Intern may be asked to assist with other various Henry’s Fork Foundation projects including, but not limited to, restoration projects, water quality monitoring, outreach events, and various other activities.
• Interns will contribute to the HFF intern blog where they will provide a weekly update on their work to our membership.

Day-to-day Work:

Interns are expected to work 40 hours per week, on average. Work weeks start with a mandatory staff meeting at 9:00am on Monday. It would be optimal to have the intern work from June 22 to August 28, 2026. 

The day-to-day work will take place in an office-based setting.  There is an office space provided for interns to work that has desks and whiteboards available.  There is one desktop in the intern office space that can be used for coding and other science needs.  The intern for this position will need a laptop that has windows on it, as Macs are not compatible with the way we run our code.  

The intern will work 9am-5pm, mainly in the office, but may have some opportunities to engaged in other work as time permits (such as learning field work). Outside of work hours, the interns in our provided housing usually enjoy cooking and exploring the watershed together.

During the first two weeks of the internship, interns will participate in orientation and training events, team building exercises, CPR and 1st Aid for those not currently certified, and mini courses related to hydrology and science based collaboration. 

Throughout the week of June 15th there is also HFF's largest fundraising event of the year, Henry’s Fork Days, where it is "all hands on deck."  During that week, all interns will be expected to assist the fundraising and event team with a donor reception, HFF’s annual membership meeting, and a fundraising dinner and auction on Saturday June 20th attended by 600 of HFF’s most dedicated supporters. 

Work days during these first few weeks of the internship can begin as early as 6:30 a.m. and end as late as 10:30 p.m. Interns will be given extra time off around July 4 to compensate for the additional work time. 

Other than June 15th, weekend work will be rare, but it may be necessary to staff the interpretive center and accommodate availability of volunteers and shared equipment, vehicles, or lab space. 

Once the first two weeks are over with, interns settle into a routine.  HFF works with a variety of schools, and each intern has their own specific role.  Not every intern is focused on field work.  Some do data analysis, some are communications and outreach focused, and so forth.  For this position, the Hydrology and Water Management Intern will be in the office ~80% of the time and in the field ~20% of the time (which can fluctuate depending on our needs at the time of the internship).  

Weather Conditions:

Field work will be done in all types of weather, aside from lightning and severe thunderstorms. In June, temperatures can be below freezing, and snow is possible at high elevations. During the rest of the summer, temperatures range from 40 degrees to 90 degrees, sometimes spanning that range in a single day.

Expect wind, low humidity, and bright sun, all of which add to the physical stress of working at high elevations, especially for those not accustomed to the climate and altitude of the arid western U.S. At the same time, afternoon thunderstorms are possible on any given day, usually producing some combination of strong winds, heavy rain, hail, dangerous lightning, and sudden temperature drops of up to 40 degrees.

Please note that orientation and training will cover procedures for conduct under these conditions.

Mentor/Supervisors:

Rob Van Kirk, rob@henrysfork.org

Rob first fished the Henry's Fork in 1977, worked for Henry's Fork Anglers from 1981-1987, and was HFF's first research director, from 1994-1998. After 14 years as a mathematics and statistics professor, he returned to HFF in 2013. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters covering topics ranging from theoretical population biology to groundwater-surface water interactions.

Rob is known for his expertise in the latter subject among hydrologists and water managers in the Intermountain West. 

Housing is provided free of charge. 

Interns from out of the Henry’s Fork area will live in a co-ed dorm space at HFF’s campus in Ashton, a farming community of 1,000 people. The campus is housed in Ashton’s old community hospital, which was completely refurbished in 2017 to house HFF’s offices, laboratory, interpretive center, and intern/graduate student housing.

The dorm space consists of two bunk rooms, two large bathroom/shower facilities, a large open kitchen, laundry facilities, and a living room. Bunk rooms and bathrooms will be gender-separated, but all other living space is shared. Housing, including linens and all kitchen implements, is provided by HFF, but interns are responsible for their own meals.

HFF usually has 5-7 interns from a variety of schools each summer.  It anticipates that in 2026 there will be 5 interns living together in the provided housing, and 2 interns living off-site.

Please note: If any intern would like to live in separate housing, it is their responsibility to find and pay for separate housing arrangements before the internship begins. They will also be responsible for driving to and from HFF in their own vehicle without fuel reimbursement.

Location: Ashton, Idaho

Other than businesses oriented primarily toward tourism and agriculture (auto parts and repair, hardware, etc.), services in Ashton are limited to a small health clinic and pharmacy, one grocery store, a dollar store, and five small eating establishments (Mexican, three traditional American diners/drive-ins, and a pizza/sandwich shop). 

The grocery store is well stocked for a small town but does not carry much in the way of organic and natural foods and is difficult to access from HFF’s campus because of a busy highway crossing with no stoplight or pedestrian facilities. 

The nearest large supermarkets, Walmart, drug stores, and other businesses are in Rexburg, about 25 miles southwest of Ashton. There are a few restaurants with broader menu options located in the tourist area of Island Park, 20-30 miles north of Ashton. 

The closest natural-food stores and restaurants, “finer” dining establishments, and “night life” (e.g., weekly outdoor concerts) are in Teton Valley, 40-50 miles southeast of Ashton. 

The closest regional airport is in Idaho Falls 53 miles southwest of Ashton. The closest international airport is in Salt Lake City (SLC) 220 miles south of Ashton. The Salt Lake Express shuttle runs from the airport Salt Lake City International Airport to Rexburg several times a day, but should be booked in advance. 

The west entrance to Yellowstone National Park is a one-hour drive from Ashton, and Jackson, Wyoming is about a 90-minute drive. The best climbing and hiking opportunities are 45-60 minutes from Ashton, although outstanding fly fishing can be found 5 minutes away from the campus. An out-of-state fishing license costs $108. Some of HFF’s boats and rafts are available for intern recreational use after hours and on weekends, when not being used for HFF’s field work. 

A personal vehicle is strongly recommended to allow full enjoyment of the area’s recreational opportunities.  

Transportation & Having a car:

HFF provides company vehicles for work but does not provide vehicles for interns to use on their personal time including grocery shopping or other transportation needs.  It is strongly encouraged that interns have their own personal vehicle due to the nature of how rural Ashton, Idaho is. 

It is desirable for the student to have a car.  If this is an issue, we can make an exception.  However, we have found that our interns thrive when they have access to a personal vehicle that allows them to get outside and explore the watershed.  It is also hard to get groceries and such in such a widespread, rural community without a personal vehicle.  HFF provides work vehicles for intern use, but these vehicles cannot be used outside of work hours.