High School Internships
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance offers three paid internship programs for High School Students:
Green Scholars, Garden 2 Market, and Urban Ecology Teens Internships.
Green Scholars
Wilderness Warriors – Spring 2026
This session will bring participants close to nature, learning about the plants and animals around us, learning skills such as how to build a fire, how to stay healthy while hiking, camping 101, and setting out into VCP to go on some hikes. This internship will take place over 3 Saturdays and 1 Sunday from 10am to 1pm starting on April 4th, 2026. Applications for this session have closed.
This session is funded by Con Edison.
Nature ID – Fall 2026
This session, participants will take a closer look at nature around them. Through guided exploration, participants will develop skills to identify local plants, trees, birds, and mammals by observing colors, shapes, patterns, sounds, and behaviors. This program encourages curiosity, respect for wildlife, and a deeper connection to the natural environment. Next session: Fall of 2026
Garden 2 Market Internship
When we understand where our food comes from, and where it goes, we can make better decisions about what we buy and eat! This 8 week internship is for anyone interested in our food system and covers topics from growing to selling and eating.
During their time in the program, interns work in our garden learning about horticulture, composting, and the social and community aspects of a garden. They spend time exploring food justice issues and learning about the business of running a weekly farm stand: learning everything from ordering and pricing to stocking the table and completing a sale. They gain communication skills and become advocates for healthy eating in their community. The internship includes many chances to taste and cook new foods and recipes- because no internship about food is complete without eating!
Interns obtain their Servsafe Food Handlers Certificate which is valid for three years.
Tuition free, 3 credit college course through SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) is available for interested first year and returning interns. For more information about the course options please click here.
G2M 2026 Interns: Applications have closed for 2026.
Crew Leader: Applications have closed for 2026.
Please email info@vancortlandt.org if you have any questions about your application.
Support for the 2026 program year provided by:
The Aaron Judge ALL RISE Foundation
The City Gardens Club of New York City
Con Edison
Horace Mann School
Jockey Hollow Foundation
NYC Green Fund administered by City Parks Foundation
SMPS Family Fund
SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Special Thanks To:
Amalgamated Housing Corporation
Friendly Fridge BX
GrowNYC
With deep thanks to NYC Parks for their partnership.
Urban Ecology Teen Internship
Celebrating over 15 years of hard work, friendships and environmental education!
How has Urban Eco-Teens impacted your life?
Being part of the Urban Eco-Teens has made me more aware of my environment and the ecosystem. It has also made me more appreciative of the people who work in green careers as I understand their tasks much more. ‘23
The Urban Eco-Teens program has changed my life significantly. Prior to the program, I always enjoyed van Cortlandt park but I wasn’t very aware or passionate about the environment. I learned about not only the importance of the environment but also the spiritual and healing powers of spending time in nature, in addition to the fact that it needs to be protected and that I want to be one of the many people who serve to protect the environment. ‘23
About
Founded in 2012, Urban Ecology Teen Internship (Urban Eco-Teens) is a summer paid internship for high school students that prepares a new generation of students for college, stewardship, and careers in the environmental fields.
All interns work in the park, alongside horticulturists and natural areas restoration staff from Van Cortlandt Park. They also go on nature-focused field trips, and explore green career opportunities with natural resource professionals.
Tuition free, 3 credit college course through SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), EST 135 Introduction to Climate Justice, offered to qualified first year interns. Returning interns can take EST 296 | Comics and the Drawn Environment or EHS 150 | US History & Environmental Health The course will be asynchronous and details can be found here.
UET 2026 Summer Interns: Applications have closed for 2026.
UET Crew Leaders: Applications have closed for 2026.
Please email info@vancortlandt.org if you have any questions about your application.
Acknowledgements for Urban Eco-Teens
2026 Leadership support provided by:
Con Edison
The Pinkerton Foundation
Additional support in 2026 provided by:
Horace Mann School
Jockey Hollow Foundation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
NYC Green Fund administered by City Parks Foundation
Shandler Family Fund
SMPS Family Fund
SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Returning Intern Projects
2020: Returning Urban Eco-Teens helped to create a new Teens Teaching Teens Video Series for VCPA’s Invasive Species Project: Video & Field Lab.
2021: Urban Eco-Teen returning interns worked to track, monitor and map Japanese Knotweed, a non-indigenous plant species that grows in dense stands around the Park. Pictured to the right is one of the maps they created.
2022: Urban Eco-Teen returning interns assisted VCPA Staff in collecting data on 30 sites spread across the Northwest Forest of Van Cortlandt Park, focusing their efforts on the Asian jumping worm. Check out this video of their final presentation on their research project.
2023: Urban Eco-Teen returning interns worked on creating informational videos about Van Cortlandt Park. The returning interns conducted their own research, created scripts, filmed, and helped develop short, informational videos on the history of the VCP railroad, water chestnut, the UET internship, the invasive plant Japanese Knotweed, vernal pools in VCP and an intro video.
