The Winter-Spring 2026 internship is filled. Applications will open for the Fall 2026 session in July. I will send out notice of when the application period opens to newsletter subscribers.
If you are a Marin County, California student in grades 9-12 and would like to be considered for an internship , please read the requirements below and submit your application (link to apply below).
Explore science & technology. Meet a wide variety of STEM professionals. Gain experience for your resume and college applications. Develop a portfolio. Learn about many areas of science.
Application Requirements
- High school student living in, or attending high school in Marin County, California
- Must be able to attend and assist at six (6) Wednesday evening science seminars at Terra Linda High School, San Rafael per semester. (See calendar to check the schedule. 7 pm – 8:45 pm). Spring internships may have additional attendance requirements or opportunities associated with Wonderfest events in Novato.
- Must be prepared to take notes in pen at all events, which will be physically or electronically handed in to intern coordinators the night of the event.
- Read the internship requirements above and below.
- Apply online before deadline. (use link below after reading all details)
- Zoom interview before deadline (If you wait until the last minute to apply there may not be a time slot available for your Zoom interview, so apply sooner rather than later. )
- Applicants will be subscribed to the MSS newsletter, which they can unsubscribe from, should they choose, using the link at the bottom of any newsletter.
Fall 2025 Timeline
August 1: Fall application period opens
September 8 (Monday): Deadline to submit MSS internship application online and to schedule a Zoom interview.
September 12 (Friday): All internship Zoom interviews must be completed by this time.
September 13: Internship decisions emailed out by midnight.
September TBA: First fall science seminar of 2025
Basic Internship Requirements
- Zoom orientation (30 min), Zoom wrap-up (30 min) (1 hours total)
- Research topics before each session (20 minutes per session: 2 hours total)
- Attend and assist at six science seminar sessions, 7 – ~8:45 pm (12 hours total)
- Complete and hand in an extra credit sheet during each session
- Produce a reflection on the internship experience that incorporates what you have learned and what you still want to learn about seminar topics. Can be written (2+ pages), a slideshow (6+ slides), or a video (5+ minutes). (~3 hours)
- Basic internship = 18 hours
Specialty and School-to-Career (StC) Internships
- Students who would like to build a science-related online portfolio can extend their internship with pre-approved science journalism, videography, art, and data management contributions. (See details below.)
- Public school students can use the time spent on specialty internship tasks to apply towards Marin County Office of Education’s School-to-Career internship, which requires extra paperwork and commitments. Students can earn 1 credit per approved 18 hours spent in the internship, capped at 3 credits (54 hours). All such internship duties must be pre-approved by and confirmed with Alfia or Art.
INTERNSHIP DUTIES: All MSS interns must attend and assist with the 6 Wednesday evening science seminars per semester during which they meet the speakers and assist with various logistical duties. Session dates can be found on our calendar. Sessions take place at Terra Linda High School’s Innovation Hub during the school year. Interns arrive the evening of each session at 7 pm and are free to leave once Alfia or Art has confirmed that breakdown is completed (generally by 8:45 pm). Interns take notes using this form during the sessions. Zoom orientation for all interns. Specialty internships have additional duties and Zoom meetings during the school year. More details on internship types and requirements below. If interested, start your application online and we will contact you to follow up.
Internship Types & Requirements
Casual Track: AV/Event Planning/Mixed: Develop event-management skills. Training provided. Must attend Zoom orientation and assist in person at all six sessions. These types can also be done on project track (see below) if desired, which requires more time and work.
Application procedure: Fill out online application. Zoom interview.
Project Track: The following require additional application materials and internship requirements. They may be combined to create a custom internship for a certain number of internship hours.
Videography: Develop a science-related videography portfolio. Record, edit, and post 2D (and optionally 3D) video of sessions. Create and post teaser videos. Videography interns assist at all live seminars, a Zoom orientation and wrap-up. Videography interns may participate in additional Zoom meeting during the semester depending on progress.
Application procedure: Fill out online application. After being contacted by email, select and submit two separate samples of video that you have created (need not be science related, YouTube ok, editing only ok). Zoom interview.
Art/Photography: Develop a science-related art/photography portfolio. Take photos at sessions, create original (non-digital) art related to session subject matter. Must provide three non-digital art samples (need not be science related) and must be able to attend and assist at the sessions. Application procedure and requirements are the same as for Casual if applying for Casual Track. If applying for Project Track, speak with Alfia about what that would entail.
Data Science – Students with some spreadsheet or database management can create custom internship projects which involve inputting and analyzing science seminar attendance data and other information. We are also willing to train students who have minimal spreadsheet experience, but who are motivated.
Marin County School-to-Career Internship: Marin Science Seminar internships are potentially applicable to the MCOE StC internship which, when successfully completed, appears on a public school student’s official transcript (1 credit per 18 hours, max 3 credits). Students must apply separately for this internship at their school’s College and Career Center. Requirements are more time-intensive You can get StC internship application materials online or from your school’s School-to-Career representative, to whom they will need to be submitted. Your MSS mentor will also need to fill out forms and sign off on hours for the MCOE StC internship.
Marin County School-to-Career Partnership Info. (including names and emails of school reps)
Marin Science Seminar has been offering internships since 2012. Our past interns are now students at or graduates of Brown, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CalTech, Chico State, Harvard, Humboldt State, MIT, Northwestern, Sacramento State, Samuel Merritt, Scripps College, Seattle University, Sonoma State, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, University of Colorado – Boulder, and Wesleyan.
Start your application online now.
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