ShoreRivers is hiring two high school interns from Dorchester County Public Schools to work with us in summer 2026. Current high school students (ages 16–18) attending one of Dorchester County Public Schools are eligible to apply.
Internship timeframe: The internship lasts for four weeks within July. Start and end dates are flexible and will be determined when student interns are selected. Our goal is to allow students time for summer vacation, family, sports, and other commitments, while remaining engaged with this internship. Don’t let this schedule stop you from applying if you anticipate conflicts. We can discuss possible work schedules during the interview.
Hours: During the four-week internship, students will work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:30am–4:30pm. After the summer internship, students will have the opportunity to be paid for up to an additional 20 hours during the rest of the summer or fall to plan and complete a “capstone” project in their community, e.g., litter clean up, tree planting, mural, etc.
Pay: $15/hour, approximately $1,125 for the summer and $300 for capstone project.
Location: Interns will work at ShoreRivers’ office in Easton, throughout Dorchester County, and on the Choptank River.
This is the second year of this internship, which was created to support high school students in discovering their interests and passions while also gaining work experience in environmental careers. If you are interested in this opportunity, even if you have never done anything like this before or are unsure about the experience, we encourage you to apply!
If you have questions or want to talk things through before applying, you can email Paige Dempsey, ShoreRivers’ internship coordinator, at pdempsey@shorerivers.org. You can also talk to your career coach at school.
Summer Internship Activities and Responsibilities
The high school interns will be supervised by a staff mentor from ShoreRivers’ Education Team, but will interact with our entire staff and college-aged summer interns. Summer interns will receive training in all internship activities and will be supervised by a staff member at all times.
ShoreRivers’ high school summer interns will:
Collect water quality samples by boat with our Choptank Riverkeeper
Collect and process water bacteria samples for our Swimmable ShoreRivers program
Visit tree and garden planting sites in our communities to water plants and monitor project success
Support environmental education programs, including our partnership with a summer camp, which will include fishing and canoeing with middle school students
Create community outreach materials, such as flyers for events, social media posts, or e-newsletter articles
Plan and implement their own capstone project with the help of ShoreRivers staff. Examples of capstone projects include, but are not limited to, organizing community cleanups, creating an issue awareness or behavior change campaign, or community green space beautification such as murals or native plantings.
Other possible activities include helping collect underwater grass seeds, visiting community partners who also work in the Choptank River watershed, removing invasive species, participating in litter clean ups, cleaning supplies, and more.
ShoreRivers’ high school summer interns will be expected to:
Communicate openly with staff mentor throughout the internship (about schedule, with any questions, etc.)
Commit to learning and asking questions about environmental topics and issues, learning new skills, and trying new activities
Be enthusiastic about meeting new people in our communities
Work outside and in nature for part or all of the day, occasionally on boats and by the water
Stay engaged and participate for the entire duration of the internship
Application process
We highly recommend you let your career coach or school counselor know you are applying for the internship — they can help you. Please take this as an opportunity to write in your own words. Applications may be put through an AI detector. To apply for this internship:
Complete the application via Google Form to provide us with basic information like your school and contact information for you and your parent/guardian.
Use this template to answer the two short essay questions listed below. Each answer should be 250-500 words.
a. Tell us about a community you are a part of. Describe why you are passionate about your community, and/or tell us about issues or challenges in your community that you care about. Your “community” could be the place you live, your school, your local environment, a team, a group of people, or things or places you feel connected to.
b. Why do you think this internship will be a meaningful experience for you?Update or write your resume. If you do not yet have a resume and would like to use a template to get started, you can find one here.
Email your essay responses and one page resume to Doug Mayorga at dmayorga@shorerivers.org with the email subject title: 2026 DCPS Summer Internship Application.
Applications are due by 11:59pm on March 31, 2026. Interviews will take place in April. Intern will be selected and notified in May.
about shorerivers
ShoreRivers is an organization that protects local waterways, including the Choptank River, to ensure our rivers are swimmable and fishable, and that our communities have access to them. We have four staff members — called Riverkeepers — who monitor the health of our river ecosystems by collecting water quality data by land and boat. We use this data to find sources of pollution and our Restoration Department then works to reduce the pollution running off the land into our rivers. Our Community Outreach Department engages our local communities in volunteer efforts like planting trees and rain gardens, restoring underwater grasses and oysters, and trash cleanups. Our Education Department partners with schools and youth organizations to get kids outside, on our rivers, and helping in our mission.