EPA/NIEHS Internship Program Home

EPA Library Internships

NIEHS Library Internships

Student Research at EPA/NIEHS

"As much as the UNC program at SILS, the EPA Library internship has given me my education. I couldn't be more grateful, or wish the program more success."

"...I am gaining insight into collection development, budgeting, and some library administrative work...To me this is a prime example of why the EPA internship is extremely good preparation and experience for future jobs."

"So far, this internship has been the best. The training and attention to detail are much appreciated and there's always something to do. So often with internships and graduate assistantships, the hosting institution allows the student to float freely for the duration of the internship. That is not true of the EPA. I'm gaining valuable skills, and the office environment is friendly and supportive."

United States Environmental Protection Agency and
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Internship Program

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have a partnership that provides between 10 and 18 internships at both the EPA Library and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Library each year. Over the past 29 years, more than 300 SILS students have begun their professional careers at the EPA and NIEHS libraries. The internship program provides students with both the opportunity to apply concepts and ideas taught in the classroom to real-world library situations as well as the chance to gain professional level experience.

Each semester, the EPA-RTP Main Library internship provides Master's students the opportunity to rotate through a different area of the library. Rotations include interlibrary loan, reference, cataloging, online searching, and serving as the librarian for the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Library Services.

Through the SILS internship program, the NIEHS Library provides professional level experience to students in the areas of reference, online searching, serials management, cataloging, and Web development. In turn, the library receives a high level of work from the interns, and gets refreshed with new ideas every year.

Above: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complex at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

Interns at both libraries work twenty hours each week for one year. Students must be enrolled at the Master's degree level at a local library science or information science program for a minimum of nine credit hours each fall and spring semester to maintain eligibility for the internship. Students may not hold any other graduate assistantship concurrently.