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California Academy of Sciences Biological Illustration Internship for 2021

  • 3 min read

Applications are now being accepted for the Biological Illustration Internship program by the California Academy of Sciences. The Biological Illustration Internship is a full-time program for nine weeks, starting on June 1 and will run until July 31, 2021.

In this program, the intern will have the opportunity to develop illustrations of specimens from the organization‡s collections that may be used in scientific publications, by working with one or more academy scientists.

Biological illustration internship is integrated with the activities of California Academy of Sciences‡ Summer Systematic Institute and it will be encouraged to all successful interns to take part in all these activities that include lectures, seminars, presentations, and social activities.

The students, who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program and also interested in developing illustration techniques related to biological specimens, are welcome to apply.

Internship Location:

This intern will spend the first week of the program at Pepperwood Preserve, and the remaining of the time in San Francisco at the California Academy of Sciences.

Internship Duration:

This internship will span approximately 9 weeks.

Internship Benefits:

As a part of this program, you will have the following benefits:

  • A $5,400 ($600/week) stipend.
  • Travel to and from San Francisco will be provided.
  • Housing will be provided in dormitories in San Francisco, with details to be provided upon the selection of interns.
  • Personal stipends may be subject to federal and/or state income taxes.

Eligibility Requirements:

If you are interested in applying for this program, then make sure, you fulfill all the given requirements:

  • Any U.S. citizen or resident alien (green card) who is an undergraduate student, and who will not have graduated before the fall of 2021
  • Must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at the time of the internship.
  • An excellent academic record and participation in a wide range of campus activities are highly regarded, but not the sole criteria for the selection process.

Eligible Country:

United States

How to Apply:

To start the application process, you will have to follow these steps:

  1. Complete an online application form.
  2. The online form will ask you to prepare a statement of interest in working at the Academy, as well as some background information that tells us how you became interested in biology.
  3. Complete the advisor selection portion of the application form after consulting the advisors and projects listed here (these are from 2021 and subject to change.
  4. You will need to find two references and provide their contact information. At least one must be a science or art professor or academic professional (such as an instructor or teaching assistant) who knows your school works well enough to address that in their recommendation. You should speak to these people before submitting their information to be sure they are willing to potentially write a letter of recommendation on your behalf.
  5. Upload a digital portfolio to Google Drive. Upload no more than 7 digital or scanned examples of your artwork in a folder on Google Drive, and set the sharing settings to “Anyone with the Link Can View”. The digital samples of work should be in the form of Portable Document Files (.pdf) or Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg) files. Do not upload images in any other formats.

Application Deadline:

Applications will be accepted from November 22, 2021, to February 1, 2021.

Apply Now