This page lists internship opportunites located in Montana and sponsored by MSGC.

Montana summer internship applications will open later this academic year. Please come back before February 1.

 

NASA Internships are due October 20, 2023 for this summer!

Looking for a NASA Center internship? Check out https://intern.nasa.gov/

Looking for a NASA Academy intership? Check out https://www.academyapp.com/ 

Looking for other space internships? Check out this resource: https://www.spaceinterns.org/

 

Requirements and information for all funded internships:

  • Awardees must be U.S. citizens enrolled as full-time undergraduate students at a Montana Space Grant Consortium campus. Graduating seniors do not qualify unless you have been accepted to a graduate school in a STEM discipline in the state of Montana. 
  • Students who have not had previous significant research experience will typically be standard interns. Students who do have research experience and would like to play a larger role in the group by helping less experienced students can apply to be a peer-leader. Peer-leader interns are expected to: 1) be a leader for a small group, either locally or remotely for a state-wide group; 2) act as an MSGC ambassador for their campus; 3) in their application, describe their planned leadership actions, and 4) give a post-internship presentation beyond the traditional end-of-the-summer presentation with fellow interns. 
  • Pay is $6,500 for a standard intern and $7,000 for peer-leader interns for ten 40-hour weeks. When applying, students will choose if they want to be a standard or peer-leader intern. If a student selects peer-leader but is not chosen for this role, they are still eligible to be considered for a standard internship. For those conducting internships in locations separate from where they live or attend school, we can offer a cost-of-living supplement (must apply here). 
  • Additional financial assistance is available for those who need help with child care to be able to participate in a summer internship away from home. Students interested in this assistance should describe their need in their personal statement. This support is possible through generous donations to the Hiscock Memorial Fund at the National Space Grant Foundation.
  • Complete applications require information about student status, two letters of recommendation, a resume, an unofficial transcript, and a personal statement. Students can start, stop, and save applications before submitting. 
  • For students already selected by their faculty research mentor, under "Select the internship you are applying for:" choose "Other" and then enter the name of your mentor. 
  • Application Deadline - February 28, 2024. Letters of recommendation are also due on February 28. 
  • A final report of at least 2 pages must be completed at the end of the term. Students must also make a presentation about their research. This form is to verify presentations by MSGC funded students and give MSGC staff the ability to attend the presentations. Finally, interns are asked to submit surveys analyzing the benefits of their participation. 
  • We will make every effort to notify students if they are offered an internship by the end of March. 
  • Selected students must complete an award acknowledgement and, prior to starting the internship, theResponsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training course. 

Resources:

A personal statement is required for all summer internships. In your personal statement, include what you hope to get out of a MSGC summer internship. If you're applying to be a peer-leader, describe your planned leadership actions. Instructions and tips for this statement can be found here.

 

2023 Summer opportunities (update to 2024 soon)

BOREALIS - Engineering

Paid summer internships are available for students from Montana campuses with the Balloon Outreach, Research, Exploration And Landscape Imaging System (BOREALIS) program at Montana State University - Bozeman.

Students work in a mission-like team environment where they are encouraged and mentored to design, develop and deploy experiments to the edge of space (100,000 feet). Students receive training and hands-on experience in using upper level wind forecasts for flight track predictions, balloon inflation and launch and the use of tracking systems for recovery of the experimental payloads. Additional opportunities include training in computer programming and modeling of wind forecasts and simulations. 

In addition to standard internships, the BOREALIS program also offers peer-leader internship positions. Peer-leader interns have all the responsibilities and opportunities of a standard internship, plus additional duties related to peer mentoring, project management and research support. Peer-leader positions offer a higher pay rate to compensate for additional responsibilities.

These positions (approximately 6) are located in Bozeman.

BOREALIS - Atmospheric Science

Paid two-week summer workshops are available for students from Salish Kootenai College, Blackfeet Community College, Flathead Valley Community College, and University of Montana with the Balloon Outreach, Research, Exploration And Landscape Imaging System (BOREALIS) program at Salish Kootenai College.

Students work in a mission-like team environment where they will learn to fly weather balloons to examine atmospheric dynamics up to 115,000 feet in altitude. Students receive training and hands-on experience in using upper level wind forecasts for flight track predictions, balloon inflation, designing field campaigns, and basic atmospheric dynamics. 

In preparation for the October 14, 2023 annular and April 8, 2024 total solar eclipses, we are offering a special two-week camp for students from the four NW Montana campuses. The workshop dates are to be determined but will likely be the last week of July and the first week of August.

These positions (approximately 6) are located at Salish Kootenai College.

Autonomous Aerial Systems Office

The Autonomous Aerial Systems Office (AASO) mission is

  • to coordinate and guide faculty, staff, and students in Montana for understanding and decision-making regarding implementation of UAS in a changing research and regulatory environment.
  • to establish the infrastructure and resources in order to create sustainable autonomous aerial research.
  • to stimulate UAS-related innovation, entrepreneurship and workforce development in the state of Montana. 

AASO is considering summer positions for motivated interns interested in working on a number of possible projects. These positions are located in Missoula, MT on the University of Montana Campus and with Ranch Advisory Partners in Montana, Wyoming and/or Colorado. Projects include weather research with UAS and assessment of using UAS for quantitative rangeland health monitoring.

In addition to standard internships, AASO also offers peer-leader internship positions. Peer-leader interns have all the responsibilities and opportunities of a standard internship, plus additional duties related to peer mentoring, project management and research support. Peer-leader positions offer a higher pay rate to compensate for additional responsibilities. 

Desirable skills include any of the following:

  • C++ or Python Coding
  • PixHawk Flight Controller Programming
  • Infrared Image Processing
  • Digital and/or Analog Circuit Design
  • GIS experience
  • Multispectral image analysis.

These positions are located in Missoula. 

Science Education Intern

The Montana American Indians in Math and Science (MT AIMS) program provides hands-on STEM related summer experiences for students from Montana’s tribal communities.  There are 3 components to MT AIMS:

  • Gatherings – a 10 day in-person experience for middle school students.
  • Pathways – a 5 day in-person experience for returning middle school students.
  • Journeys – a 12 day in-person experience for returning 9-10th grade students

The summer intern will help in developing and implementing NASA and/or STEM related daily activities for the Gathering participants and longer 5 – 10 day focused projects for the Pathways and Journeys participants.  These residential programs run in June and July on the University of Montana campus. The intern will work from mid-May through the end of July.

This position is located in Missoula. 

Space Science and Engineering Laboratory (SSEL)

Up to three students, sophomores through seniors, from MSGC Affiliate campuses will have the opportunity to participate in the development of space science/engineering experiments at the Space Science Engineering Laboratory at the MSU – Bozeman campus. Students will receive complete training and mentoring from MSU students and SSEL staff experienced in space hardware design. SSEL programs to design, fabricate, test, and fly systems in the space and near-space environment include rockets, balloons, and satellites. Visit the SSEL website for more project information.

This opportunity is designed to enable college students to participate in a missionlike team environment where students design, build, and fly space hardware. There will be approximately twenty people working in the SSEL over the summer on a variety of group or individual projects, making the enviroment rich and supportive.

In addition to standard internships, SSEL also offers peer-leader internship positions. Peer-leader interns have all the responsibilities and opportunities of a standard internship, plus additional duties related to peer mentoring, project management and research support. Peer-leader positions offer a higher pay rate to compensate for additional responsibilities. 

These positions (approximately 2) are located in Bozeman. 

Ethics of AI

The intern would assist Professor Bonnie Sheehey (MSU Department of Philosophy) with a literature review of NASA'scurrent methods of including multi-cultural perspectives in algorithm development, as well as current practices (if any) involving the prioritization, ranking, and/or tradeoff between lives and property. This lit review will serve as preliminary work towards a 1-year NASA Rapid Response Research (R3) grant (proposal currently awaiting decision). Students with a social science background in mixed or qualitative methods and interest in the ethics of AI are encouraged to apply.

This position is located in Bozeman. 

 

Flathead Lake Biological Station 

The Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) of the University of Montana is a world-renowned ecology research and education center whose mission focus is limnology, the study of lakes and rivers.

Interested in combining your love for nature and computer science?  Up to two students will have the opportunity to join the Flathead Lake Biological Station to work with FLBS personnel to help run biological related tools to conduct biological (genetic) simulation modeling for ecologically important species in North America. This work has been funded by NASA. The intern(s) will also help with programming tasks such as customizing simulation model output and simulation batch runs for data analysis automation, and also possibly help develop visualization tools and scripts for displaying and interpreting species occurrence data. The internship will provide opportunities to develop programming and analytical skills related in data science work, as well as to develop skills relevant to a graduate-level research career in conservation, genetics or data science. The intern(s) will also have valuable opportunities to work closely with researchers on the forefront of conservation and population genomics work and research.  The intern(s) will not only contribute to important research but will also live and work on the shores of Flathead Lake.

The supervisor for this position is UM Assistant Research Professor Brian Hand.  More information about Dr. Hand can be found here: https://flbs.umt.edu/newflbs/about-flbs/people/page-elements/flbs-people/people/brian-hand/

Desirable skills include any of the following: Programming skills in Python (for the simulation modeling) and programming skills in R (for data analysis and visualization).

This position is located at FLBS with housing available.

Remote Sensing of Harmful Algal Blooms

Cyanobacteria are the base of the food web in freshwater ecosystems. However, rapid growth of cyanobacteria often results in abrupt accumulation of algal biomass, termed a "bloom." These blooms can discolor the water and can have adverse health effects on both animals and people. Current methods of identifying algal blooms depend on physically collecting water samples in a time-consuming process. However, initial evidence indicates that algal blooms may be able to be identified through optical remote sensing technologies, such as lidar and polarization imagers. As part of this project, the intern will work with researchers in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Montana State University to analyze field data collected using traditional water sample measurements as well as optical remote sensing tools. The goal of the project will be to algorithmically determine algal blooms using only data collected using remote sensing technology, using the water samples as "ground truth." Success in this research will eventually lead to the ability to quickly monitor, predict, and mitigate harmful algal blooms using optical remote sensing, including satellite imagery. 

This position is located at MSU with Prof Brad Whitaker

US Forest Service, Northern Region

The Northern Region manages 25 million acres of public lands across 5 states. Our 12 National Forests spread across North Idaho, Montana, and a sliver of northeastern Washington. The 4 National Grasslands of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands are in North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota.

The USFS Northern Region is seeking a student intern interested in helping the Geotechnical Engineering, Tunnels, Dams, and Pavements program manage tunnel safety.  The work will include data collection using a ground-based LiDAR scanner on sixteen USFS-owned tunnels (which include all the tunnels on the Hiawatha Tunnel Network).  The student intern will process the data using specialized software provided by USFS to process the data and then compare it to previous years’ scans to track any potential movement and/or rockfall in the tunnels.  Additionally, the student intern will be assisting the Geotech Program with processing remote monitoring data on an unstable slope near Bozeman, MT.  The student intern will regularly download and process the data to track any potential movement along the slope. 

Good communication skills, an interest to work outdoors, and experience in Excel is required. Trainingwill be provided on all other software.

This position is located in Missoula.

 

Sunburst Sensors

Sunburst Sensors designs and manufactures autonomous instruments to measure the carbonate chemistry of marine and freshwater helping scientists understand important processes, such as ocean acidifcation. Our products operate for long periods with ultra-low power and reagent consumption, providing valuable time-series data to researchers around the world. We are developing other instruments for the measurement of alkalinity, carbonate ion, and total carbon. Sunburst Sensors won the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE in 2015 in a competition that drew teams from around the world to develop accurate and affordable pH sensors.

Sunburst Sensors is considering summer positions for motivated interns interested in working with them on a number of possible projects. 

Desirable skills include any of the following:

  • LabView or Matlab coding
  • Basic Chemistry Laboratory experience
  • Optics - Colorimetry - Spectrophotometry
  • Arduino or Energia programming
  • Digital and/or Analog Circuit Design
  • SolidWorks experience

These positions are located in Missoula.