Aquarium Internship
Our internship program is designed to be a career-based learning experience. Interns will assist staff in all aspects of daily care for both exhibit and quarantine animals.
Job Summary
Join our Aquarium Team for a semester long, career-based learning experience. Interns assist staff in all aspects of daily care for exhibit and quarantine animals including water testing, husbandry, and equipment maintenance. We prefer but do not require applicants to be Open Water SCUBA certified prior to the start of their program
Application Due Date
- Fall Internship – August 1st
- Spring Internship – December 1st
- Summer Internship – April 1st
Internship Period
- Fall Internship: September – December
- Spring Internship: January – April
- Summer Internship: May – August
Hours
- Shift times are generally 8am to 4pm but may vary due to department needs. Shifts will include weekend hours.
- Interns will be expected to work two days per week, for a total of 200 hours over 4 months.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
- Prepares diets
- Feeds exhibit animals
- Monitors water quality
- Observes animals for disease and injury
- Conducts feeding and cleaning dives (if dive certified)
- Maintains life support equipment
- Helps maintain aquarists’ daily husbandry logs
- Presents weekly educational and interactive programs
- Complete research project of your choice and present results to staff
Depending on the current needs of the aquarium team, additional responsibilities may or may not include:
- Administering medical treatments as directed by General Curator and Veterinarian, while supervised by an Aquarist
- Assisting in animal collection and subsequent quarantine
- Other duties as assigned
Job Qualifications
- Must be currently enrolled (completed freshman year), or recently graduated from a Biology-related program at an accredited college or university.
- Prefer but do not require applicants be SCUBA certified by a nationally recognized institution (PADI, NAUI, etc.). Must own dive gear if certified.
- Required gear includes: wetsuit, mask, boots and gloves—we do not use tanks, BCDs, fins or snorkels.
- Interns are responsible for any wear/tear on personal gear.
- Discovery World only provides air/regulators and weights.
- Preference will be given to individuals with prior animal husbandry experience.
- Applicants must be able to regularly lift up to 50 pounds.
- Work well both individually and as part of a team.
