Internships

All internship application materials must be sent by e-mail to the address listed on the website and on the Internship Application Form: R-Human.Resources@state.mn.us

As the Minnesota Zoo is a state agency, our internship program must conform with the State of Minnesota’s internship regulations. Therefore, our program does require that interns be receiving academic credit or fulfilling an academic requirement of an accredited Institution of Higher Education with their internship. The program is designed to provide technical or college-level student interns with hands-on learning experience to enhance their education and aid them in their career path. We cannot make any exceptions.

Students who will be graduating prior to the term in which they are seeking an internship are not eligible to apply for any of our programs unless fulfilling an academic requirement for graduation.

We do not offer housing for students who intern with us over the summer.

All of the internships at the Minnesota Zoo are unpaid. We do not offer any paid opportunities similar to any of these programs.

Internships generally require 30-40 hours per week, up to 5 days per week. Schedules are flexible and based both on the needs of the department and the needs of the intern. We understand that interns must work around a school schedule at the same time they are doing an internship.

Some internship programs also offer reduced hour internships during the Fall and Winter terms.

Official transcripts can be sent to the address listed on the Minnesota Zoo internship website here: http://mnzoo.org/internships/apply/. We do also accept copies of unofficial transcripts in lieu of an official one.

We have no preference when it comes to interns’ letters of recommendation. Please submit to us a letter of recommendation in whatever format is most convenient for you and for your advisor. You may include the letter with the rest of your application materials at the time of submission, or you may have the advisor submit it directly to us by email or mail. Please indicate in your application if the letter of recommendation will be sent separately.

Yes, you must be receiving either academic credit for the internship or be fulfilling an academic requirement with the internship to be eligible to apply.

No. You must be receiving academic credit or fulfilling an academic requirement with the internship in order to be eligible.

At this time, we do not offer any job shadowing opportunities. Due to the large volume of requests we have received in the past, our staff would not have the time or resources to provide such opportunities to students or other members of the public.

All questions can be directed toward the Minnesota Zoo Internship Coordinator, who can be contacted by the email address
R-Human.Resources@state.mn.us