Tar Teens Internship (La Brea Tar Pits / NHMLAC)
Tar Teens is a paid internship for high school juniors and seniors who live in or attend school in Boyle Heights or Hancock Park, run by the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County at La Brea Tar Pits. Interns develop and present an original paleoscience project to museum visitors while gaining hands-on exposure to fossil research, collections, and public science communication across a spring-into-summer program.
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Cabrillo Marine Aquarium High School Summer Docent Program
Selective summer docent training for students entering grades 10-12 at the City of Los Angeles's Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. Trainees learn Southern California marine life and then create educational projects and lead guided tours, camp classes, and aquarium experiences for the public.
Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program
An eight-week paid summer mentorship sponsored by the American Fisheries Society that pairs high school students with local fisheries professionals for hands-on aquatic and fisheries science fieldwork.
Team OCEAN – Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Volunteer kayak interpretive naturalist program that trains high schoolers and adults to educate paddlers about responsible wildlife viewing and marine protection along Cannery Row in Monterey and Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing. Requires a five-week spring training (evening seminars plus Saturday field sessions) before summer shifts begin.
Caltech Earthquake Fellows
A selective Caltech Seismological Laboratory program pairing Pasadena/Alhambra-area 10th and 11th graders with earthquake scientists for roughly 130 hours across spring Saturdays and a summer weekday block. Fellows build their own Raspberry Shake seismometer, analyze real earthquake data, take field trips, and present findings at a culminating event.
Dinosaur Academy (Wyoming Dinosaur Center)
Dinosaur Academy is a 5-day, in-depth course at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center for students in grades 9-12 focused on vertebrate fossils of the Morrison Formation. Students get classroom instruction plus hands-on field excavation and laboratory work covering fossil preparation, mapping, specimen identification, and museum display techniques.
Earthwatch Teen Expeditions (Ignite Fellowship)
Fully-funded field research expeditions run by the nonprofit Earthwatch Institute that place high schoolers alongside professional scientists studying conservation topics like wildlife, climate, and habitat protection.