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William M. Lapenta NOAA Student Internship Program 2025

The 2025 William M. Lapenta NOAA Student Internship Program

Accepting applications from October 1, 2024 to December 10, 2024. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH HANDSHAKE. SEE BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS.

In recognition of the many contributions of Dr. William (Bill) Lapenta to advance NOAA science and services and his dedication to training the next generation of scientists, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established the William M. Lapenta Student Internship Program in 2019. The program builds on the highly successful National Weather Service (NWS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Internship which Bill created in 2017.

NOAA is offering paid summer internships targeted towards current 2nd and 3rd-year undergraduate and enrolled graduate students to work in areas that will provide robust research and/or operational experience that will prepare the student for further study in NOAA fields, for application to fellowships or for the NOAA-mission workforce. The program currently offers internship opportunities in the National Weather Service, (NWS), Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Ocean Service (NOS), allowing them to target the skills needed to fulfill their specific mission needs. Projects may be focused on research areas or the development of operational products such as decision support tools, climate and weather forecast models, data analysis methodologies, and social science strategies to communicate climate and weather information. Overall, students will focus on areas that will meet the future needs of NOAA’s ever-broadening user community and address strategic weather-water-climate issues.

Dates of internship: June 2 to Aug 8, 2024

Location: Most projects will be conducted in person at NOAA facilities throughout the US. A few are remote. Please see the 2025 Projects page on the program web site for more information.

Eligibility: US Citizenship required. Must be undergraduate (current sophomore level) or an enrolled graduate student (Masters or Doctorate).

Majors: All STEM majors. Others in majors relevant to NOAA's mission, such as government, policy, communications (writing/graphics), and economics will be considered for certain projects. Please do not feel limited by the majors or skills listed later in this posting. In your personal statement, please explain how your experience is relevant in your statement.

Program benefits: Hands on experience and mentoring at NOAA facilities nationwide, stipend of $6000 for completion of all 10 weeks, furnished shared housing, travel to/from internship site, paid abstract fees for scientific conferences, local transportation subsidy, professional development and ongoing career coaching.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility: NOAA is firmly committed to increasing the diversity of its workforce and to fully integrating diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) into NOAA’s business practices and organizational culture. Members of groups underrepresented in the sciences including, but limited to, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ+, persons with disabilities, veterans, first-generation college students, and economically disadvantaged students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Prepare the following to be uploaded to the site: 

  • A personal statement (2-3 pages) describing your relevant career interests and past experiences in your area of interest and how experience at NOAA will fit into your career goals. Please include the following elements in your personal statement:
    • Describe your educational path and how you got there.
    • What are your career goals and how do they relate to NOAA's mission? This is the most critical component of your statement but there are many ways to answer this question. You do not need to aspire to work at NOAA nor do you need to have your career path fully planned at this point, but the linkage between what NOAA does and where you want to go professionally should be clear.
    • What do you expect to get out of the internship?
    • What strengths, experiences, characteristics etc makes you unique?
    • Describe any significant challenges you faced (optional)
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)/resume. You are not limited to one page.
  • A transcript (unofficial is sufficient) from your current institution and your prior institution if you are a transfer student. If you are a graduate student, please include both undergraduate and graduate transcripts.
  • Two letters of recommendation are required to be submitted on your behalf. At least one reference must be from a professor or academic advisor. The second reference may also be an academic reference or a character reference that can speak to your capabilities and interests as they relate to the internship. You are responsible for checking your application status online to ensure both letters have been submitted.
  • BE SURE TO HIT SUBMIT WHEN COMPLETE!
  • If you have any questions about the application process please contact Todd Christenson at todd.christenson@noaa.gov or message me through Handshake.