The Extension Internship Program gives exceptional undergraduate Wildcats the opportunity to work in communities across the Granite State.
Extension Interns work on projects addressing agriculture & horticulture, community & economic development, nutrition & healthy living, natural resources, citizen science, and youth & family resiliency. Interns will work with their mentors and their cohort develop as young professionals and help the University make an impact across New Hampshire. These paid internships are approximately 20-40 hours per week from June 1 – August 11.
We use a cohort model, meaning you will have the opportunity to be part of a group of interns who are trained together and are interning around the state with various Extension offices. In addition to the specific skills you’ll build related to your internship, you’ll also spend the summer working towards earning a professional development badge in Communication. At the end of the summer (August 9), you’ll participate in a poster presentation to showcase your work. The application deadline is February 23.
The application period is now closed.
4-H Urban Garden Program Assistant: This intern will develop 4-H Teaching Gardens at Russell-Shea Growers Community Gardens (Concord) and at the Education Farm at Joppa Hill (Bedford). Utilizing these host sites, the intern will design and deliver garden centered programming that engages youth and families promoting the development of agricultural literacy. Working collaboratively with the NH 4-H Agriscience Field Specialist and the UNH STEM Discovery Lab Program Director, the program assistant will identify appropriate 4-H research-based curriculum to utilize in programing. The Urban Garden Program Assistant will seek out opportunities to partner with other youth serving organizations like the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers to engage youth currently not served by the 4-H program in the 4-H Teaching Gardens.
Farmer Support Systems Intern: This intern will assist Extension Food & Agriculture staff with collecting critical evaluation data that will be used in grant reporting and to inform needs assessment for future programming to address issues of farmer support systems in the future. Projects will include investigating inflation-induced changes to NH farm prices and consumer behavior, supporting the Farm Strong New Hampshire program, and assisting with the Beginning Farmer Program.
Health & Well-Being Program Assistants (2): This intern will work on a variety of initiatives, such as nutrition education, farmer’s market educational food demos, farm-to-school initiatives, recipe development, social marketing, curriculum review and development, and needs assessments.
Integrated Pest Management Intern: This intern will work with Extension staff around the state to help collect data for the Integrated Pest Management Program and will spend time processing samples in the Plant Diagnostic Lab on the UNH campus in Durham. This position will include traveling with staff to different sites 2-3 days a week to check insect traps, scout for diseases, maintain field trials, interact with growers and other Extension staff. Days not in the field may be spent in the diagnostic lab or completing office work to support IPM programming and outreach events.
Lake Water Quality Monitoring Intern: The Lakes Lay Monitoring Program is hiring a summer intern to focus on lake water quality monitoring with special investigations in cyanobacteria identification. This is a unique opportunity to work for the Lakes Lay Monitoring Program, in collaboration with Wolfeboro Waters, to implement the monitoring of harmful cyanobacteria blooms and occurrences. This program focuses on the sampling and processing of lake samples for water quality analyses for the State of NH.
Nature Communications and Outreach Intern: This intern will assist two New Hampshire-based conservation organizations, Nature Groupie and TrailFinder, with outreach and communication projects. Projects will include creating content for social media and websites, photography, attending volunteer events, marketing merchandise, and more.
Nature Groupie Field Internship (2): This internship will assist New England-based conservation organizations and public agencies in implementing stewardship and environmental research projects. Staff from Nature Groupie, based at UNH Cooperative Extension, will coordinate an internship with a variety of field-based projects over the summer hosted by at least four (4) different New Hampshire environmental organizations such as land trusts, public agencies, researchers and communities.
NH Barn Trail Intern: This intern will assist UNH Cooperative Extension staff in conjunction with the NH Barn Committee to help launch the NH Barn Trail project. They will be conducting research on barns around the state and compiling information for educational and tourism purposes.
Photography Intern: The UNH Cooperative Extension Summer MarCom Photographer I is responsible for taking, editing, and archiving images for publication, broadcast, presentations, and social media that support UNH’s brand identity and strategic goals. Over the course of a summer, the Extension photographer attends at least 40 photo shoots across the state, takes over 2,000 images and processes over 1,000 images for the UNH photo library.
STEM Education and Natural Resource Interns (2): These interns will be placed at the Mead Base Conservation Center, the southernmost entry to the White Mountain National Forest. Located in Sandwich, NH, Mead Base hosts a historic farmhouse and campsites and serves as a launchpad for several trailheads, including the Wentworth Trail up Mt. Israel. They will plan and deliver 4-H youth STEM programs in Carroll County. The interns will learn and teach existing 4-H STEM Pathway activities and choose at least one other STEM topic to develop and teach to youth. These local STEM programs will be offered in partnership with local libraries to engage youth and teach them STEM and 4-H Life Skills. In addition to the 4-H programming, the Summer Interns will also work with the Friends of Mead Base Conservation Center to support natural resource management activities at Mead Base.
Website Junior Content Administrator: This intern will work on reviewing, reformatting and facilitating the correction of web content, assessing past content for quality, brand and SEO compliance, and development of training materials for website editors.
Youth Leadership Intern: This intern will be leading youth programs, community outreach efforts, and program development with a focus on Healthy Living and Animal Science. The intern will also work to strengthen Animal Science Programs throughout Strafford County and assist with the 4-H Animal Shows at the 2023 Stratham Summerfest.
Youth Mental Wellness Intern: This intern will be given several opportunities to engage with youth in a variety of settings, including direct service (working directly with youth) as well as program coordinating (planning details and preparation). They will attend a 5-days, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington D.C. to chaperoning three teens to the 4-H True Leaders in Equity Institute. The intern will also support the second annual 4-H Mindfulness Retreat at the Browne Center in Durham.
Consulting Forestry Internship: The intern will perform duties that are common for consulting foresters including, boundary marking, invasive species management, timber sale layout and operation, permitting, marking timber, inventory, mapping or other duties as assigned.
Agricultural Projects Intern:
Ashley Masse, Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems ‘23
This intern worked with members of the Agriculture Business Management team on a number of different farm management education programs. The intern developed their knowledge on farm planning and used that knowledge to develop outreach videos for Extension. The intern also worked on a project to cultivate rich and complete marketing data about the agricultural business community communications behavior and preferences.
Barry Conservation 4-H Camp Counselors – Aquatics Intern:
Lauren Thibeault, Environmental Conservation & Sustainability ‘25
This residential intern was a leader at camp, supervising campers in multiple cabins and daily activities, enforcing safety measures, working as a team, and representing Barry Conservation 4-H Camp in an enthusiastic, supportive, and informative manner. The Aquatics Intern planned and coordinated all aquatic activities at camp, including conducting camper swim tests, supervising swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and other water related activities.
Community Resilience & Youth Wellness Intern:
Daisy Young, English and Sustainability ‘23
This intern helped with two projects. The first was the Building Community Resilience Project. Communities in the Kearsarge, Mascoma, and Haverhill areas are addressing barriers to health and helping individuals, families, and communities thrive in the face of adversity. The student intern helped to bring the stories of local voices and faces to the project. They connected with community members and volunteers engaged in the local community action project to capture their stories as well as assist them in implementing the action plans that they’ve developed in their community. The second project was on Youth Behavioral Health & Wellness. The intern helped identify settings (4-H programs, schools, afterschool programs, community events) where support was needed in the form of youth mental health resources and/or direct service.
Foothills Foundation Intern:
T. Troy, Community & Environmental Planning ‘24
This internship assisted UNH Extension's work with the Foothills Foundation, and may also work on other statewide tourism and recreation related projects. The intern worked with Extension staff and their community and nonprofit organization partners to recruit volunteers, assisted with developing and maintaining website and social media content, developed list of organizations engaged with trail networks in Central NH, planned networking events pertaining to trails and recreation, and research grants and other possible funding opportunities.
Forestry Internship With Harris Center For Conservation Education:
Donovan Lombara, Forestry ‘25
This 10-week internship provided a forestry student with the opportunity to work with the Harris Center for Conservation Education located in Hancock, NH. The Harris Center promotes understanding and respect for the natural world through education programs, conservation research, and land protection. The intern worked throughout the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire on a variety of sites and projects. These projects included a diverse mix of forest management, conservation, and recreation related experiences.
Healthy Living Program Assistant:
Caroline Williams, Nutrition: Dietetics ‘24
The intern assisted in food access related education as well as policy, systems, and environmental change initiatives, designed to support communities in reducing food insecurity. These initiatives occur throughout the state and with a wide variety of partners (food pantries, farmers markets, schools, community centers, recovery centers, federal and state agencies, food alliances). The intern must be flexible and open to working on a variety of projects and initiatives throughout the state. Example of potential projects are hunger action month social media campaign, summer garden projects, healthy food pantry initiatives and plant a row in Strafford County.
Lakes Lay Monitoring Lab & Field Intern:
Sara Forcina, Biochemistry: Molecular & Cellular Biology ‘24
The intern became proficient at using standard laboratory and field sampling techniques in water quality monitoring and employed evolving sampling and analytical techniques used to track potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooms. The intern interacted extensively with local volunteer monitors who collected water quality samples on their respective lakes and ponds. Through the collection and analysis of data, and the interaction with the lay public, the intern gained an appreciation of the need for quantitative data that contributes to a long-term database upon which stakeholders base informed decisions at the local level.
Mead Base Intern:
Beth Thomas, Human Development & Family Studies ‘25
This intern worked at the Mead Base Conservation Center, the southernmost entry to the White Mountain National Forest. The Base hosts a historic farmhouse and campsites and serves as a launchpad for several trailheads including the Wentworth Trail up Mt. Israel. The summer intern designed and delivered environmental 4-H youth programming, developed + facilitated an extensive 4-H Special Interest program for youth, and support natural resource management activities at the Base.
Nature Groupie Field Interns:
Malian Jennings, Environmental Conservation & Sustainability ’25; Daniel Persico, Wildlife & Conservation Biology ’25; Emily Wood, Wildlife & Conservation Biology ‘23
This internship assisted New England-based conservation organizations and public agencies in implementing stewardship and environmental research projects. Staff from Nature Groupie, based at UNH Cooperative Extension, coordinated an internship with a variety of field-based projects over the summer hosted by at least four (4) different New Hampshire environmental organizations such as land trusts, public agencies, researchers and communities. Stewardship and conservation projects were selected to offer a diverse set of opportunities. These interns showed great enthusiasm for working outdoors in various conditions, and will received training in field work safety, invasive plant management, trail maintenance, and use of tools and technology for field work.
New Hampshire Libraries Project Intern:
Emily Buehne, Undeclared ‘25
Check Out UNH is a donor-funded project, endorsed by Advancement and the Office of Outreach and Engagement, that facilitates a UNH partnership with NH public libraries. The project includes placement of interactive kiosks in libraries, educational items in public circulation and support resources for the statewide summer reading program that engages 15,000 library patrons each year. The project was in year 1 of a five-year pilot plan and is poised to place one kiosk in the Dover public library, NH tide pool exploration kits in five libraries and support for the “Oceans of Possibilities” summer reading program in over 50 libraries in 2022. This intern was critical in supporting the summer reading program implementation by coordinating with UNH program staff and librarians to schedule programs and provide educational content about UNH marine research and activities. Duties of this intern included email correspondence, delivery of educational programs at libraries, distribution of materials to libraries, data entry to Salesforce, creation of a Check Out UNH newsletter and implementation of a social media campaign.
Summer Photography Interns:
Jake Kitterman, Business Administration: Entrepreneurial Studies ’23; Jackie Weik, Communication: Business Applications ‘23
These interns were responsible for taking, editing and archiving images for publication, broadcast, presentations and social media that support UNH’s brand identity and strategic goals. Many images are critical for the production of Extension’s annual Radius publication. Position included opportunities for training by UNH photographers. Duties included scheduling and leading photo shoots across the state as assigned, interviewing program staff and volunteers for supporting information, processing and uploading images to Extension photo library.
Social Media Intern:
Brianna Berry, Business Administration: Marketing ‘23
