Expanded Federal Internships for UAA ANSEP Students
ANSEP students and staff met with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and her staff at the signing ceremony in July.
US Department of the Interior
A new partnership between the UAA Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) and the US Department of the Interior increases federal internship opportunities for Alaska Native youth.
Streamlines Placements
Representatives from ANSEP went to Washington, DC this summer to announce the partnership with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
“This new partnership exemplifies the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to removing barriers and advancing equity across the federal government,” Haaland said. “We must continue to mobilize an all-of-government approach to ensure that historically underrepresented communities are brought into federal service.”
The agreement streamlines the often-cumbersome process required to get federal work or internship experience by allowing for placement for positions in any Interior bureau or office.
Current Issue
March 2026
In recent years, ANSEP has partnered on placement programs with the National Park Service and, within the US Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service. The “Summer Bridge” program also has cooperative agreements with other Interior agencies, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. With this new partnership, ANSEP aims for even more students to have these kinds of paid internship opportunities.
ANSEP’s mission is to promote careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines for students from Alaska Native backgrounds and rural Alaska communities. As part of the agreement, ANSEP will conduct outreach and recruit applicants for selection and placement at the Interior Department.
In 2021, President Joe Biden released Executive Order 14035: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce, calling on the federal government to strengthen its ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote and retain talent and remove barriers to equal opportunity, and establishing a government-wide Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Strategic Plan. The Interior Department published its Equity Action Plan last year.
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