Work in some of the most beautiful and diverse conservation settings in the world! Our environmental science internships provide you with the opportunity to develop your fieldwork, research, analytical and identification skills whilst experiencing the incredible natural beauty of the Western Cape in your daily work.
The best environmental science internships in Cape Town? We think so. We pride ourselves on delivering customised internship placements and on the ground support that offer life-changing, valuable professional experiences.
The Western Cape is home to a wide range of beautiful conservation settings and this means we offer some wonderfully diverse environmental science internship opportunities. We collaborate with some incredible local organisations that focus on a wide range of environmental initiatives and activities.
As in an intern you could be involved in; environmental protection and research, environmental policy, fieldwork, climate change research, report writing, planning and development, sustainable development education and the promoting of sustainable practices in relation to the environment, building visibility and support for your host organisations projects and plant species monitoring and testing.
Our environmental science internships provide you with the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the challenges of conservation in a different country, whilst experiencing the natural beauty of the Cape in daily work!
Read on for a full overview of the best environmental science internships in Africa.
Here's what you can expect from the programme in a nutshell!
Of course, the list is much longer - but these are the skills our intern alumni reported back that they grew in the most!
We managed to grab some detailed interviews from previous interns on this programme, you can click on them below.
This is the second time I’ve come to South Africa on an internship program with Bridging Gaps. It was so amazing the last time, that I really wanted to come back again. South Africa is known for its wildlife and biodiversity so it was the obvious choice to do a nature conservation internship here… again!
What might your programme in this career field look like? Here's how it has typically shaped up for our alumni!
Arrival & orientation. Introduction to Cape Town, your accommodation and your internship host organisation and colleagues.
Get stuck into your environmental science internship placement and establish yourself with your organisation. Come to our free social events.
Enjoy a great work-life balance, getting out and about to see the sites alongside working hard on your internship.
Pick up more responsibility in your internship as you prove your capability. Enjoy regular activities in Cape Town outside of work. Come to another social!
Now you're flying (metaphorically) at work, you'll be more and more autonomous. Expect to pick up even more challenges!
Internship is going swimmingly, now go and do something crazy like swimming with some great white sharks or abseiling off of a mountain.
Regularly enjoy the benefits of Cape Town and at work, gather materials needed for portfolio (e.g. references from us and provider).
Putting the finishing touches to your internship and gathering feedback from us and your internship provider for use in your academic / career portfolio. Finalise paperwork for university (if needed)
Here's what others said when they applied. Some of these people came just for this career area, some mixed it with other career fields too...
What makes our internship programmes a worthwhile investment? Here's a swift overview of what you can expect!
We have two primary programmes to suit your needs. In some instances we also offer virtual placements.
You can come for as long as you need without paying any extra fees.You'll receive the same level of support.
We are 100% on your side. We guarantee every aspect of your trip with unrivalled promises.
Need to focus on a precise niche or two? No problem! Your programme can focus on your specialist areas.
We'll help you engage with the culture and personal benefits of being in a foreign country.
Save on travel and accommodation costs, pay a far lower fee. All while building your professional network.
We will handle all aspects of academic accreditation, including direct liaison with your tutors and academic staff.
We will write full reference letters for your placement(s) to optimise future employers' first impression of you.
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Here are some current or recent internship job opportunities in this career area. We do not publish all openings - so please contact us to hear about others.
Get in touch.
We have worked very hard to streamline our process to make your experience easy, fun and highly rewarding personally and professionally. Flick through the steps below, or read about our process in more detail.
Getting your dream internship all starts with you saying hello! Just pop your details into our enquiry form and we'll reach out to schedule a conversation with you that we call a 'discovery call'.
In your discovery call, you can ask us any questions you still have. We'll talk about your options in the career fields you've told us you're interested in to help you imagine your placement and decide if our service is right for you.
If everything sounds good to you, complete your application to put into words your dream programme. This forms the basis of the 'design' of your customised placement and will be the primary framework against which we validate potentially suitable opportunities.
We maintain a large and varied network of the best organisations in Cape Town. We will identify the best potential fits for your programme goals and preferences and reach out on your behalf to assess those organisations for suitability (learn about their current projects and initiatives).
Once you've confirmed which placement offer you prefer, we'll start helping you plan the rest of your trip. We'll book your accommodation, help with your travel arrangements and provide extensive advice and information on how to get ready for your time in Cape Town. Your Bridging Gaps mentor will be on hand to make sure you're fully prepared for your placement.
Finally, every member of our team will move mountains to make sure you get what you came for and MORE! It's essential to us that you're safe, you're learning and growing in confidence and developing the most important skills for your future career.
Our programme fees are shown below, for a full description of our service offering please click to view the programme or a side-to-side comparison.
Comprehensive support
Visa & travel assist
Accommodation assistance
Social events & excursions
... and lots more
We've answered some specific questions about this internship programme below.
This depends on your education and work background. Generally, most entry-level conservation jobs will require a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline as well as some previous field experience. An internship is a great way to get your foot in the door in this competitive industry and make important contacts that can help bolster your career.
Some of the top environmental degrees with great career options include: biology, environmental engineering, environmental law, renewable energy and sustainability.
The highest-paying jobs for environmental science include: environmental lawyer, environmental planner, sustainability managers for companies, conservationists, environmental engineer and many others.
Most certainly! Environmental science degrees can act as a stepping stone to a variety of sought after fields. These fields can include, conservation work, environmental law, consulting, fieldwork, research and more.
There are a lot of career paths that environmental science students can take, some of the top being: environmental scientists, conservation scientists, environmental lawyers, environmental consultants, zoologists, ecologists, environmental engineers and environmental educators.
There are a lot of different possible careers in science. Some of the highest-earning positions in science include; physicists, astronomers, pharmacists, geoscientists, biochemists and medical scientists. Chemical and nuclear engineering are also lucrative career paths.
Research internships often entail a lot of independent work, although asking questions, being proactive, and making the most of your resources are key to a successful research internship. Medical internships or those in the field of biology are often heavily focused on research and interns will either be asked to complete their own project or contribute to ongoing research. These types of internships will also involve laboratory work. Research is also often integral to internships in human rights, law and public policy.
The daily projects and tasks you will be involved in during your internship depends largely on your individual internship organisation, which we find for you based on your personal and professional goals. However, some general activities you can expect to be involved in as an environmental science intern include; carrying out field work, researching environmental issues and solutions, creating proposals, liaising with clients, researching policy changes, delivering educational workshops, promoting initiatives and working on fundraising, analysing data and identifying species.
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Hi, we're really sorry but we are no longer offering internship opportunities in this career field. However, we wish you the best with your search.