Contact: Stephanie Jacques, nbaf@usda.gov
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Manhattan, Kansas — The Department of Agriculture’s National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, and BioKansas are providing up to 15 paid internships over the next three years for students from populations underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math.
“These internships create opportunities for underrepresented populations to contribute to and understand the significance of NBAF’s mission,” said NBAF Director Dr. Alfonso Clavijo. “As NBAF is developing its culture, we need to prioritize diversity and inclusion of people from different backgrounds, lifestyles and perspectives, which is essential to our facility operations team and future scientific excellence.”
NBAF is a complex facility and needs a diverse workforce in a broad spectrum of disciplines beyond sciences. NBAF’s operations team includes professionals in animal care, communications, security, information technology and engineering. During the immersive 10-week summer internship or 15-week fall or spring semester internship, participants will work in person with mentors at NBAF, develop professional and federal employment skills, and earn a monthly stipend ranging from $1,250-$1,530 for part time interns and from $2,500-$3,060 for full time interns.
“Career and motivation studies have shown that many underrepresented students pursuing STEM careers are driven by the potential to contribute to their local and global communities by leveraging their STEM knowledge,” said BioKansas President and CEO Dr. Sonia M. Hall. “These internships will be a great opportunity for students to work in an organization that continually impacts the global population.”
NBAF has biosafety level-2 and -3 laboratories and is the first facility in the United States with biosafety level-4, or BSL-4, containment capable of housing large livestock. Through research, diagnostics, vaccine development and training, NBAF’s mission is to protect the U.S from transboundary, emerging and zoonotic diseases threatening our nation’s food supply, agricultural economy and public health.
“This is a chance for students to serve their country, play a role in protecting the agriculture industry and food supply, explore federal employment opportunities and gain unique and valuable experiences as they start their career,” Clavijo said.
Qualified candidates must be a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program and have completed at least two years of undergraduate study. Major areas of interest include animal science and pre-veterinary; biology, chemistry, virology and related sciences; communications, graphic design and related fields; computer science, information systems, digital media and other information technology disciplines; cybersecurity; mathematics and physics; and nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, construction science and related disciplines.
The application deadline for the first cohort is April 25 for the summer 2023 session, which is from June 5 to Aug. 11. Applications for the fall 2023 semester session, which is from Sept. 4 through Dec. 15, will be open from March 13 to May 15. The spring 2024 internship application period is Aug. 7 through Oct. 20 and the internship would be from Jan. 22, 2024 through May 3, 2024. Interested applicants can read more information and apply for free at biokansas.org/internship.