MPM strives to provide internship programs that support the mission of the Museum and the goals of our interns through challenging and meaningful opportunities.
We offer paid summer internships for students and professionals from all sectors of the community.
Eligibility
Internships are open to adult students (18 years or older) of all genders, backgrounds, and nationalities. Individuals from groups underrepresented across the fields of science, research, administration, and museums are encouraged to apply. Candidates must be currently enrolled in a college or university or have graduated following the spring 2025 semester. See internship descriptions for additional requirements.
TERMS
Internships are located at the Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 West Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and may include outside field work. Internships are available annually June-August, with a $2,000 stipend, plus $500 travel benefit. In general, placements will last for 10-12 weeks from June-August for approximately 16-24 hours per week. Some flexibility in scheduling may be possible, but hours will typically fall during the standard workday. Some positions may occasionally require weekend hours. Interns will be required to complete a W9 tax form and background check. Housing and transportation are not provided.
Summer 2025 Internship opportunities will be open to applications through February 1, 2025. Applications will be reviewed through February, and applicants will be contacted about the status of their candidacy beginning in March.
If you have questions about the positions listed, please contact internships@mpm.edu.
To Apply
Click the button below one of the internship positions to begin the application process. After submitting the form, you will be asked to send your résumé and a cover letter detailing why you are interested in this position and how it might contribute to your long-term goals to internships@mpm.edu. You must send these documents to be considered for this position.
Moth Digitization Intern
Join a hands-on research project at a natural history museum focused on studying the erebid moths of the Great Lakes region, with a special emphasis on Wisconsin species. Erebidae is the most diverse family of Lepidoptera, and plays a major role in general ecosystem function and human agriculture. Despite this, our knowledge about the ecology of most species is poor. Interns will work with historical museum specimens, transcribe label data, manage data in relational databases, and contribute to digital photography and mapping of species occurrence records. There will also be opportunities to assist in conducting species distribution modeling based on these data. The project aims to create detailed range maps and identify gaps in our knowledge of where species occur with the goal of supporting conservation efforts and exploring how climate change affects moth distribution patterns in the Great Lakes region.
Department: Zoology
Reports to: Head of Zoology & Director of Collections Informatics
The intern in this position will expand upon the following skills:
- Handling historical museum specimens
- Transcription of insect specimen label data
- Management of data in relational databases
- Digital photography
- Mapping species occurrence records
- Optional: Species distribution modeling
Requirements:
- General internship eligibility requirements (given above)
- Attention to detail, excellent communication and problem-solving skills, and willingness to learn new skills are a must
- Prior experience with the Microsoft Office suite (e.g., Excel, Word) is recommended
- Prior experience with digital photography, relational databases, Python/R, GIS, and/or MaxEnt would be useful, but not required
Development Records and Events Intern
The Development Records and Events Intern will be responsible for assisting Milwaukee Public Museum Development staff with a variety of projects and tasks. These include assisting with the donor records digitization project, helping secure in-kind contributions for our annual Gala, and making thank you calls to members and donors to share appreciation for their support of the Museum. This opportunity would provide an exclusive look into the behind-the-scenes processes and projects of a fundraising team. In the nonprofit world, fundraising is an essential part of any organization to ensure community engagement and financial stability. In this role, the student will learn important relationship management skills including how to share in-kind partnership opportunities with prospects and techniques for stewarding and thanking donors and members for their support of the Museum. These are translatable skills to countless other fields of employment such as hospitality, sales, business development, and communications. The student would also learn a variety of technical skills as well. This ranges from utilizing Adobe Acrobat to prepare donor files for digitization to database navigation and moderate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills depending on their experience.
Department: Development
Reports to: Senior Director of Development
The intern in this position will expand upon the following skills:
- Customer service and relationship management
- Understanding the donor/member lifecycle
- Data entry skills for working in a constituent relationship management database
- Computer skills, including Adobe Acrobat PDF creation, formulas and formatting in Microsoft Excel, and merging through Microsoft Word
- Organization and project management
Requirements:
- General internship eligibility requirements (given above)
- Experience in customer service, including comfortability making phone calls
- Basic skills for using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel
- Ability to handle sensitive donor and member information in a confidential manner
- Strong organization and time management skills
Education Intern
The Education Intern will collaborate closely with the Education Events & Volunteer Manager to enhance the effectiveness of the volunteer department. Key responsibilities include streamlining administrative duties, assessing current volunteer public engagements within the Education department, and aiding in the development of new volunteer initiatives while improving existing programs. The intern will also evaluate current standard operating procedures (SOPs) and contribute to the creation of additional SOPs, ensuring a seamless and enriching experience for both volunteers and the museum community. This role is an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in museum education and volunteer management.
Department: Education
Reports to: Education Events & Volunteer Manager
The intern in this position will expand upon the following skills:
- Evaluation
- Organization
- Volunteer management
Requirements:
- Interest in museum studies, volunteer management, and/or education
- Ability to work independently
- Ability to work well with others
- Attention to detail
Harbor District and MPM Field Survey Intern
The internship will be carried out in partnership with Harbor District, Inc (HDI) and the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM). HDI is a community-based nonprofit whose mission is to achieve a world-class revitalization of Milwaukee’s Harbor that sets the standard for how waterfronts work — economically, environmentally, and socially — for the next century. This project will collect baseline data about the biotic communities present in the Harbor District in order to inform future ecological restoration work and support research projects in collaboration with other community-science partner sites across Wisconsin. The intern will work with community science coordinators to develop sampling design and survey Milwaukee urban green spaces for vertebrates, insects, and plants. Rigorous data collection and analysis will be crucial to formulating and evaluating strategies to increase urban biodiversity. Processing, identification, and preservation of samples for long-term storage will occur at MPM.
Academic research credit may be available for this position. Interns will be directly supervised by faculty and staff at MPM and HDI.
Department: Zoology
Reports to: Community Science Coordinator
The intern in this position will expand upon the following skills:
- Field collection of live insects and plants, and digital photography
- Processing and identifying biological specimens from field surveys for archival storage
- Understanding of basic scientific nomenclature and biological classifications
- Documenting and databasing survey results
- Research, analysis, results summary, and drawing conclusions from data
- Participation in public engagement events and communication of the objectives and results of the project
Requirements:
- Strong interest in field biology, museum collections work, outreach, and ecological analyses
- Ability to work outside for several hours at a time
- Prior experience in one or more of the following is preferred: biology or science, museum collections, field work/specimen collecting
- Interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work well on a team
- Attention to detail
- Personal vehicle (mileage will be reimbursed)