Students learn best by doing. In addition to student research and field-based courses, students are required to complete an approved internship. The variety of internships reflect the varied interests of our students and career path opportunities.

Experience first-hand the career you are interested in while learning valuable job skills.

USM Career Exploration Internship Program

I suppose I wasn’t really trying to put myself out there. I wasn’t trying to find
an internship. I wasn’t really trying to figure out my career path. Seeing this
internship that was offered about something I’m so passionate about, birds, ornithology, led me to
apply. The first day I got to go in the field I got to hold a bald eagle. This fall I learned how
to band song birds. I think it’s a difficult field to break into. Being able to get this
experience while you’re still in college that can guide your career path and give you a leg
up. The career Hub gave me that opportunity. That was really life-changing. This internship made
me realize that there are career avenues out there that are very much aligned with what I
love to do. She’s found something that she really wants to pursue and and that’s really gratifying.
What I want to share with the next generation of interns is to go after what you’re passionate
about. Find a role that aligns with your values and your personal interests. Maybe
feels like a niche subject. The career Hub has a lot of different niche connections.
I’m watching this incredible murmur of starlings that is outside right now.

Zack Coloumbe ’26 Internship with Mill Pond ceramics Studio (opens in a new window)

Some of our many host organizations :

  • Maine Department of Environmental Protection
  • Saco Salmon Restoration Alliance & Hatchery
  • Manomet
  • Portland Water District
  • City of South Portland
  • Citizen’s Climate Lobby
  • Town of Waterboro
  • Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens
  • Friends of the Presumpscot River
  • Cape Elizabeth Land Trust
  • Canopy Farms
  • Environment Maine
  • Generac
  • Maine Clean Communities
  • Maine Conservation Corps
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • Audubon Society, Scarborough Marsh
  • MMCRI Vector-borne Disease Lab
  • Olivia’s Garden
  • Kennebec River Biosciences
  • ecomaine
  • ON Semiconductor
  • Gulf of Maine Research Institute
  • Versant Power

Photo Gallery

Student standing on a dock and holding an axe, removing trash during internship with the Maine Lakes Association.
Maine Lakes Internship
Student in a grassy area surrounded by trees, using surveying equipment: a yellow tripod with a viewing port on top.
Surveying monitoring wells
Student wearing a life jacket while on a boat in Vietnam. The student is emptying a net of trash from the river. An enormous rock formation covered in trees in the background.
Vietnam
A student bottle-feeding a brown fawn during internship with Gray Animal Farm.
Gray Animal Farm
Maine Standard Biofuels delivery truck. The truck has a horizontal fuel cylinder painted in white with the company name, logo, phone number, and website listed on it.
Maine Standard Biofuels
students pose over culvert that is half-filled with water during internship with Casco Bay Estuary Partnership.
Casco Bay Estuary Partnership