U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Analyst 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 here.
Stipend Information:
The Bill Lane Center will provide a base stipend of $7,500 for undergraduate students with additional funding for student financial aid and cost of living adjustments for the internship location, if applicable.
For master's students, the stipend is $10,000.
Description of the Agency and an Internship Overview:
The mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is to deliver vital engineering solutions, in collaboration with our partners, to secure our Nation, energize our economy, and reduce disaster risk. A key part of that is through the Regulatory and other programs that are committed to protecting the Nation's aquatic resources and navigation capacity, while allowing reasonable development through fair and balanced decisions.
The South Pacific Division and San Francisco District are proving grounds for ‘Engineering with Nature’ (EWN). EWN is the intentional alignment of natural and engineering processes to deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits efficiently and sustainably. Incorporating natural and nature-based features into project scoping, design, and construction, from a foundation of inclusive and collaborative engagement, creates a broad array of opportunities to meaningfully strengthen community resilience into the future. One of the foundational requirements for the advancement of EWN is data and analysis around the performance of nature-based solutions in the given context. We need to understand the state of the science in order to address the gaps. This project will document the state of the science and identify the research and implementation gaps. This will be executed through the following activities: • stakeholder analysis (one that identifies roles, responsibilities, products and services). • 1 day workshop to prioritize data requirements • final report with summary of findings and recommendations.
Internship Work Environment:
The intern will be part of a team that is focused on engineering with nature.
It is an in-person internship but a hybrid arrangement is possible although there are certain days during the summer that necessitate in-person coordination.
It would be useful to have a car for two days off-site but public transportation is more than sufficient for the other days.
Location: San Francisco, California.
- Identify and interview key stakeholders in the Bay Area
- Populate customer relationship management tool
- Develop agenda and undertake logistics for workshop
- Complete report on findings and next steps for coastal data and analysis requirements
Bill Lane Center internships are part of Cardinal Quarter opportunities and students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply. The opportunities are full-time (35-40 hours a week) for 10 consecutive weeks during the summer. Specific start and end dates can be coordinated directly with the supervisor.
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 a research project or internship.
For more helpful application advice, please visit the BLC’s FAQs page.
Application Guidelines for this Internship:
This internship would suit an older student in the following fields (or related fields): marine science, coastal engineering, environmental / earth sciences, landscape architecture, planning, etc.
The applicant must have robust research and report writing experience, be comfortable reaching out to people they don’t know, and representing the service mission of USACE with integrity.
Required Skills:
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Communication skills – written, verbal and visual – for report writing, interviewing, and briefing
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Organization -- project management
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Event coordination
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With sufficient guidance and direction, the ability to work independently and provide tangible results
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Enthusiasm for learning and trying new things; and a willingness to ask for help when needed
Desired Skills:
If the student has experience in modeling (H&H) or GIS, that would be nice but it’s not necessary.
Selection of applicants:
Complete applications are screened and finalists are contacted for an interview with staff from The Bill Lane Center for the American West. The top candidates for the position are forwarded to the organization for direct interviews with their potential supervisors and other staff.
Host organizations will then notify the Lane Center of their preferred candidate and that applicant will receive an internship offer from the Bill Lane Center by email.
The applicant is expected to respond promptly (within 48 hours) via email to the offer or the offer will be rescinded.
Once an applicant accepts an offer, they should promptly notify all other Stanford and non-Stanford programs to which they have applied that they have accepted another offer and withdraw their candidacy from those other opportunities.
