U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Emergency 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.

IMPORTANT: Intern must be U.S. citizen.

PLEASE NOTE for this internship: After being selected and mutually agreeing to become an intern with USACE for the period, a background check is required. An interim clearance may also be required for this internship period; however, the intern must be a US Citizen. 

Please be advised that the background check and interim clearance process to obtain a Common Access Card (required to use computer and access systems), is undertaken outside of USACE at another Federal agency, and could be delayed. We will do our best to move the process forward and keep the intern engaged and busy if there are delays with obtaining the CAC. The intern can advance this by quickly and factually responding to the email queries made in the background check process.

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.

Do you want to experience how the Federal government’s oldest disaster response agency plans and prepares for natural disasters and other emergencies? The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was established in 1802, and its missions have supported the Army as well as many complex civilian needs of the Nation ever since, from engineering, water resources, environmental and disaster relief missions, and others, as appropriated by Congress or to respond to national or international needs.  

The South Pacific Division, Emergency Management (SPD EM) Team manages all hazards preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation activities throughout the region and in coordination with district (field) offices in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Albuquerque, and with national Headquarters USACE in Washington, DC. 

In addition, the team coordinates with other USACE divisions and FEMA Regions across the United States and its territories. Some of the programs overseen by the SPD EM staff include Continuity of Operations/Business Continuity, Catastrophic Planning, rapid provision of engineering services under USACE authorities (P.L. 84-99), The Stafford Act / National Response Framework (DHS/FEMA), and Defense Support of Civil Authorities.

The intern will provide support in flood and All Hazards disaster preparedness training and exercises, to include preparation of briefing slides, geospatial products, data management, after action review reports, and analysis on infrastructure assessment, debris management, temporary emergency power, temporary housing, and other potential public works and engineering missions issued by FEMA following a natural disaster. 

Given its rise as a viable tool for managing data, we expect some Artificial Intelligence applications will be researched and used by national working groups. 

Because of the short nature of this internship, all work will be from the SPD Headquarters in San Francisco (not a deployment), and possibly with occasional nearby project site visits (from a few hours to a full day).

1. Write After Action Reports following disaster response and recovery efforts or exercises,
2. Support preparation of Emergency Plans and Exercises,
3. Use existing visual geospatial platforms and provide feedback for improvement,
4. Support Emergency Operations Center preparations and activations through upward reporting (e.g. Powerpoint, SitReps, ArcGIS),
5. Tracking status of levee repair projects throughout the region,
6. Interface with internal USACE data and information systems to research and present ongoing issues

Internship Work Environment:

It is an in-person internship with 95% office work and 5% outdoor/field work at the South Pacific Division office in San Francisco, California. 

The intern will be part of a team under Chief John Beldin-Quinones, and directly in support of Deputy Chief Jessica Fischer, but also with civilian staff. There are regional and national team members the intern may interface with depending on the task.

Work hours are generally from 0800-1630, with a morning check in. The intern will need to always show their ID to enter the building. Most of the work will be face-to-face in San Francisco, with some field visits.  Most of the work will be face to face in San Francisco, with some field visits. 

The supervisor will assign a daily task to the intern: access the internal disaster dashboard and review the weather threats in the region from CA to NM, and write a short situation report (SitRep by email or MS Teams) every morning after checking in. 

The Deputy Chief will also assign some tasks that take more time (e.g. updating a written plan or analyzing some data from past disasters, or preparing to run a biweekly meeting via MS Teams with agenda and slides). 

The intern can take a half-hour lunch like all Federal employees at their desk, in a break area, or downstairs in the public cafeteria, or outside the Federal building. 

All have the capability to work remotely with government-issued equipment when needed (in case of emergency, bad commuting weather). 

The regional team includes those who work in other offices (including other time zones). There will be structured re-occurring meetings, time for mentoring, and time for the intern to work independently, with their own work cube in the work area, with direct access to 2-3 senior staff in the office.

Transportation: It is not necessary to have a car; public transportation options are available in San Francisco.

A car is not necessary for the intern’s job duties. Public transportation is best for commuting as the cost of parking in downtown San Francisco is high and there is no free parking available to USACE employees. If the intern will be residing in San Francisco, it is recommended they research the MUNI system stations and bus lines, and the cost of using a Clipper Card for the duration of the internship. If they will be residing outside of San Francisco, it is recommended they research BART or CalTrain or other bus line options. All public transportation costs are the responsibility of the intern.

The intern will not need to drive a Government vehicle, as they will be with Federal employees at all times if transport is required to visit offsite locations. 

Housing is not provided. 

Location: Federal building, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California.