Women in Science Undergraduate Internship: Digitizing the Green River Fossil Flora

Women in Science Undergraduate Internship: Digitizing the Green River Fossil Flora

Around 52 million years ago during the Eocene, southwestern Wyoming was home to a vast lake teeming with fish. Plants living in and around the lake, including palms, legumes, and aquatic ferns, sank to the bottom and eventually fossilized. Now, millions of years later, spectacularly preserved fossils are collected in rock quarries in the Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation. The Field Museum Paleobotany Collection houses one of largest collections of plant fossils from this region of Wyoming, including diverse leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds, allowing us to reconstruct the fossil flora and its place in the ancient ecosystem. This project seeks to continue digitization of the Green River plant fossil collection. Interns will learn how to curate plant fossils, including safely storing specimens, cataloguing, and adding information to the database. In addition, the interns will photograph the fossils and develop identification skills in order to help reorganize the collection to increase useability. Data generated during this project, including photographs, will be made available through the museum’s online database, increasing the accessibility of these beautiful fossils to researchers and the general public. This internship is intended for female and non-binary identifying students.

Application deadline date: 4/25/25. Candidates selected for interview will be notified by 5/02/25 via email.

Initial HR Orientation is on Monday, June 16th w/full time hours of 35 per week starting on June 23rd, 2025 - July 31st. Salary of $17.50 per hour.

Applicants must apply through the Field Museum website at www.fieldmuseum.org/careers. Applications through other websites- including handshake- will not be considered.

The Field Museum is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination, embracing diversity, and fostering mutual respect. We value the unique perspectives each team member brings, which empowers our ability to innovate and overcome challenges.

At the Field Museum, we are dedicated to making our career website and recruitment process accessible to everyone. If you encounter any difficulty when using or accessing our online application, or if you need a reasonable accommodation for completing your application, participating in interviews, or any other part of the selection process, please reach out to us at recruitment@fieldmuseum.org.