The Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary, in Mckinney Texas, is the result of one woman’s vision for the future and her commitment to the community and North Texas. In keeping with Miss Heard’s vision, the museum’s mission is threefold: education, conservation and preservation. Through education, particularly for young people, the Heard emphasizes an appreciation of nature and its conservation.
Internships will be geared toward helping the Heard accomplish this mission. Internships are intended for those individuals who wish to explore a career in natural sciences and museum work. Each project involves significant responsibility and will provide opportunities for the contribution of individual work. Qualified applicants may be considered to rotate through several intern positions.
While the Heard cannot guarantee employment after internships, these positions have proved to be a valuable asset to former interns in furthering their careers.
An applicant whose candidacy passes the preliminary screening may be invited for a personal or phone interview with Heard staff. That interview will provide an excellent opportunity for internship applicants to learn more about potential projects, as well as to ask any additional questions about the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary.
Qualifications
Qualifications may vary by position. Please view individual descriptions for information. Acceptances may also be made according to an applicant's academic achievements, experiences and interests, interpersonal skills, and future career goals.
To Apply for an Internship
Please complete and submit the following materials:
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please review the internship descriptions thoroughly before contacting the Heard.
Materials should be addressed or emailed to:
Sy Shahid
Executive Director
Heard Natural Science Museum
1 Nature Place
McKinney, Texas 75069
sshahid@heardmuseum.org
Accounting
4-6 hr per week (perhaps Thursday or Friday when checks and reports are often done, and afternoons might be desirable).
Accounting intern to assist with general nonprofit accounting tasks and special projects. Task could include help with accounts payable, report generation, audit, deposit preparation. Must be accounting major that has completed at least half of accounting degree requirements, and good knowledge of Word, Excel & PowerPoint.
Horticulture & Natural Sciences
Horticulture:
Activities may include planting, weeding, growing plants from seed, creating signs, spraying for pests or weeds, applying mulch, etc.
Knowledge to be gained includes horticulture methods of pruning, fertilizing, plant propagation, and plant identification (especially Native Texas species from one of the larger plant collections in the state). Cultural requirements for numerous species could also be learned.
Entomology:
Activities may include pinning chrysalises and working with butterflies in our Native Texas Butterfly Exhibit, working in the Butterfly Garden, making signs for the Butterfly Garden, researching or possibly collecting other pollinators like bees for an ongoing study we recently began, possibly monitoring a black-light moth trap we hope to start which may include mounting, preserving, and researching identification.
Knowledge to be gained would be familiarity with our native pollinator species, especially butterflies, and their food plants. Also, experience with entomological methodology in collecting, preserving, and taxonomy could be learned.
Botany:
Activities may include collecting herbarium specimens, pressing plants in a plant press, researching plant identification, making labels, and placing specimens in the herbarium. If funds permit, creating plant labels or teaching students about native plants are also a possibility.
Knowledge to be gained would be learning native Texas plants and experience in plant specimen collection and preservation.
Herpetology:
Activities might include cleaning cages, building or repairing cages, creation of signs and labels, possibly developing an educational display and/or class programs.
Knowledge to be gained would be a familiarity with Texas herps as well as experience in their care and maintenance. |
