Internships & Externships

Winter 2025 Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship

Credit: Unpaid internship. University credit if approved by your department

Department: Animal Care

Position Time: Week of January 13th, 2025 - March 9th, 2025

Application Due: November 25th, 2024

Description: SBWCN seeks wildlife rehabilitation interns who are passionate about wildlife and are fueled by a desire to save lives. Interns will learn and practice all aspects of animal husbandry for wildlife that are sick, injured, orphaned, or oil-impaired. Although wildlife rehabilitation interns will sometimes interact with the veterinary team, this is not a veterinary internship. The Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network is a nonprofit organization that has been rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing wildlife in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties for over 30 years. It is the mission of our organization and our professional wildlife care staff to give wild animals in need a second chance at life.

Time Requirement:

  • The internship requires a minimum of 120 hours and 8 weeks, one academic quarter

  • Both the hourly and weekly requirements must be achieved before the internship can be considered complete 15 hours per week time commitment, with a minimum of 5 hours per shift. More hours can be approved upon request. One-weekend shift per week is a major plus

  • You will be working on-site at the Wildlife Care Center in Goleta

  • Must be able to commit to all shifts between January 13th and March 9th of 2024

Internship Requirements:

  • Must be comfortable working with animals (including the less glamorous parts)

  • Must have reliable transportation to center on 1460 N Fairview Ave in Goleta

  • Must be located locally (NOTE: we cannot provide housing)

  • Must be an adaptable self-starter who is not afraid to work with both animals and people

  • Must be 18 years of age or older

  • Must be able to lift a minimum of 40 pounds

  • Must be able to stand on one’s feet for extended time periods

  • Must be comfortable with being exposed to harsh odors

Responsibilities:

  • Daily cleaning duties (laundry, dishes, cage cleaning) to keep the Center running efficiently

  • Assist in daily animal husbandry tasks, feedings, enclosure maintenance, etc.

  • Assist in initial exams for new patients and recheck exams for patients currently in care

  • Learn and implement knowledge of wildlife injuries and illnesses

  • Interact with citizens who bring in animals for intake

  • Answer questions from the public about wildlife

  • Learn from outlined intern syllabus about zoonotic diseases, medicines, bandaging, etc.

  • Willing and able to work collaboratively and cooperatively with others to solve problems constructively

  • Must demonstrate self-motivation and good interpersonal communication skills

  • Must be able to multitask and work well under fast-paced and sometimes stressful conditions. Willingness and ability to adjust tasks in accordance with changing priorities and deadlines

  • Ability to stand, speak, listen, and smell for long periods of time (hours)

  • Ability to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl and ability to use hands/arms to palpate, handle, feel, reach, and lift/move up to 40lbs

  • Must have (with or without corrective lenses) good near, distance, and peripheral vision as well as good depth perception and ability to adjust focus

  • Indoor and outdoor conditions include: temperatures of ~30-110 degrees F, rain, strong wind, high heat and humidity, dry air and allergens

  • Staff, volunteers, and interns are exposed to moving parts, zoonotic diseases, aggressive/feral animals, toxic/caustic chemicals

Work Environment:

Our organization provides an essential service in the midst of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). We remain open and operational. The policies we have in place are based on the discretion of our Director of Veterinary Services and are subject to change. Applicants must be able to follow the guidelines at SBWCN put in place by our Directory of Veterinary Services pertaining to HPAI and any other biosecurity protocol for the safety of everyone at the center and the safety of the patients.

Reports To: Training and Recruitment Coordinator (Naomi Wolf-Tripp), Rehabilitation Director (Britt Rickman), and Animal Care Leads

How To Apply:

Please send a resume, cover letter, and 3 references to: volunteer@sbwcn.org

Include Subject Line: “Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship Application”

If you want to learn more about future internship opportunities, please see our descriptions for our Winter 2025, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025 Opportunities.

Veterinary Externship

Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network is offering veterinary externships ranging from two to six weeks in length, year round. Our center sees between 4,000-5,000 patients per year, encompassing over 200 species on average. We are a proud member of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) and have the distinction of seeing the highest number of individually oiled animals in California. Our new hospital building, which was opened in 2022, includes a fully equipped veterinary clinic and radiology suite. 

The extern will be expected to work with both veterinary and animal care staff. Approximately 20% of the externs time will be scheduled with animal care staff. This is done with the goal of the extern learning more about the wildlife rehabilitation side of this field, as this is an integral part of a patient's recovery. The extern will receive hands-on experience in all aspects of wildlife medicine including physical examination, formulating a diagnostic and treatment plan for a variety of species, performing diagnostic testing and interpretation, anesthesia, and release evaluation and criteria. Depending on the student’s year and current level of experience, they may be asked to participate in surgical procedures. Depending on the length of the externship, research opportunities may also be available.

Applicant Requirements 

  • Must be a veterinary student at an accredited university

  • Prior experience or strong interest in working with wildlife is preferred but not required

  • Ability to follow hospital protocols and maintain accurate medical records

  • Willing to work five days per week, which includes weekend days, and can encompass long hours

  • Ability to work in tandem with a variety of individuals and take instruction well

  • Recent rabies vaccination or acceptable titer

How to apply

Email to rebecca@sbwcn.org: 

  1. Curriculum vitae

  2. Cover letter - Please describe your career goals, prior experience, and what you hope to gain from this externship

  3. Three references - a letter is not required at the time of application, however, full contact information should be provided

  4. Proof of rabies vaccination or recent rabies titer

  5. Prospective dates

Please note that housing and transportation is not provided. The housing market in the Santa Barbara area can be very competitive, even for short-term rentals, so starting to look for housing early on is strongly recommended.