Volunteering
Discover for yourself what tens of thousands of volunteers have learned: Volunteering for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is fun and rewarding in many ways. Master new skills. Meet new friends. Enjoy a sense of accomplishment from doing your part to further wildlife conservation for the pleasure of generations to follow.
The refuge offers a variety of volunteer opportunities, including staffing the visitor center and assisting in education programs. A work camping program, bartering an RV campsite and utilities in exchange for work hours, enables individuals from all walks of life to enhance the refuge using their individual experiences and expertise. Pocosin Lakes NWR offers remote rural RV campsite locations as well as locations located at the Red Wolf Center near Columbia, NC.
The Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society, a nonprofit local organization, was established to provide support for continued maintenance of the refuge and its educational programs, and to recruit volunteers for continuation of this process.
Internships
National Wildlife Refuges in North Carolina offer a variety of internships. The primary purposes of the intern program are to introduce students and young professionals to work in wildlife conservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System. For this reason, internships are usually filled by college students or recent graduates. Having an interest or goal of future employment with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not a requirement for those applying to be refuge interns.
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Internship
The refuge’s intern program provides unique experiences for college students and graduates geared towards careers in the environmental sciences. This internship is an opportunity to work & gain experience in many aspects of national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge operations on the 112,000 acre Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
This internship consists of a mixture of projects including refuge maintenance, biological work, pocosin wetland restoration, and educational programming. Work assignments with refuge maintenance could include mowing, trimming, trail work, sign maintenance, light carpentry, trash collection and pickup. Biological work could include amphibian, mammal, and pollinator surveying, conducting community science projects, and habitat monitoring. Pocosin wetland restoration includes clearing, monitoring, and measuring water control structures to record water levels within a habitat management unit. Educational programming assignments include leading/assisting with interpretive black bear tours on the refuge, Red Wolf programs at the Red Wolf Center, preschool wildlife programs, and restocking brochures across the refuge. Interns have the opportunity to work with and learn from wildlife biologists and wildland firefighters. There are also additional opportunities to visit and work at other refuges and fish hatcheries in the area.
General refuge internships run from mid-May through mid-August, with possible extensions to stay through October to finish out biological and educational programming.
Interns will work independently or with refuge staff or volunteers. Interns typically work 40 hour weeks. Weekend work will be required; however, interns are guaranteed two days off a week. Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is a remote/rural site, but interns can stay in a bunk house with moderately fast internet and a full kitchen. All applicants must have a valid driver’s license and had it for at least one year. A refuge vehicle will be provided for work duties. A personal vehicle is required for transport from housing to the refuge office.
To Apply
Resumes are accepted year-round. The deadline for Summer 2025 applications is January 6, 2025. It is highly recommended that you apply as early as possible.
You will increase your chance of being selected if you’re open to internships at any of the three duty stations in eastern North Carolina (Alligator River and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuges, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, and Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge). In most cases, to be considered for an internship position, an applicant must be able to stay a minimum of three months. However, in rare cases, slightly shorter internships have been scheduled.
Internships are volunteer positions. However, housing and a living allowance are provided.
To apply, mail a resume, contact information for three references, and a cover letter indicating your specific interests and dates available to Sarah Toner, sarah_toner@fws.gov. In your application, indicate your specific interests and describe your background and experience relating to the following:
- Wildlife identification and surveys
- Outdoor field work
- Public interpretive programs and presentations
- Communication with a range of audiences
- Navigating outdoors and orienteering
- Canoeing
- Operation of ATVs & UTVs
- Maintenance (trail and other)
- Using hand tools, power tools, and riding mowers
Make sure to provide your dates of availability!
