Voyageurs Field Fellows
Investing in the Next Generation of Conservation Leaders
The Voyageurs Field Fellows program increases accessibility and professional development opportunities at Voyageurs National Park. Fellowships offer students and recent graduates a stipend-paid internship to gain hands-on experience in the park conducting field work, research, and program development.
About the Fellowship
The Voyageurs Field Fellows program offers paid internships for undergraduate and graduate students to develop professional experience in Minnesota’s national park.
Fellows conduct park research, engage in field work, develop new educational programs, and more. Students apply their studies and work in one of the most ecologically and historically rich classrooms in the nation.
The Voyageurs Field Fellows program enriches the personal development of young adults, while preserving the wild character of Voyageurs National Park for generations to come.
Investing in Conservation Leaders
A lack of paid internships is one of the greatest barriers to increasing accessibility in public lands. In response, the Voyageurs Conservancy and the National Park Service launched the Field Fellows programs to provide experiential, paid internships for students and recent graduates.
Our program has a strong focus on fellows’ professional development and interests. We work with university partners and National Park Service staff to ensure fellows meet degree requirements and career goals.
Fellows share diverse and innovative perspectives and complete critical project support for the National Park Service.
Field Fellow spotlight: Maeve Tuley, Wolf Ecology Fellow
Maeve Tuley served as a Wolf Predation & Research Fellow with the Voyageurs Conservancy and Voyageurs Wolf Project, a research project studying the summer predation and reproductive behavior of wolves.
Her research began with collaring wolves early in the season to track their location. From here, Maeve tracked wolves’ behavior by hiking through the thick northwoods to investigate “cluster” sites, areas where a wolf has spent an extended period of time. These sites may reveal killed prey, beaver hunting attempts, bed or rendezvous sites, and even wolf pups.
Maeve presented her summer research at the International Wolf Symposium - a dream of hers from a young age.
““The fellowship supporting me with a stipend, housing, gas, and other supplies to do this extensive fieldwork hasbeen extremely helpful. If I didn’t have funding, I don’t believe I could return and continue this work so the fellowshiphas been very helpful for me in the long-term to continue this dream.”
Read More Field Fellow Experiences:
Jared Horvath, Aquatics & Fisheries Fellow
“The Field Fellowship was a very positive experience for me on many levels. Professionally, it was a great way to build my resume and gain lots of hands-on experience from people who have been in the Park Service for decades. Voyageurs National Park is a very special place.””
Support Field Fellows:
The Conservancy’s Voyageurs Field Fellows program seeks to increase accessibility and professional development opportunities at Voyageurs National Park. The fellowship offers students and recent graduates a stipend-paid internship to engage in real world, hands-on work in areas such as preservation, natural resource management, environmental education and more. If you’d like to support future Field Fellows and their important work, please consider becoming a member with a gift today.
Funding for this program is generously supported by the Fredrikson & Byron Foundation, Elmer & Eleanor Andersen Foundation, and the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
The Trust Fund is a permanent fund constitutionally established by the citizens of Minnesota to assist in the protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources.
