Up to $24 an Hour WRI Restoration Internship

The World Resources Institute is hiring a paid, full-time intern for three months in its Global Restoration Initiative, the team behind TerraFund, which finances more than 200 locally led restoration organisations across Africa, Latin America and South Asia. The intern supports research on restoration finance and public policy, with a focus on the team's Africa portfolio and early research on the restoration economy in Europe. The role is hybrid, based at WRI's Washington, DC office for at least 8 days a month.

What you get:

• Paid at $20 an hour for undergraduates, $22 an hour for graduate students and $24 an hour for PhD students
• A full-time, three-month internship with a flexible start and end date
• Experience in land restoration, restoration finance, policy analysis, partnership building and proposal development
• Work alongside experts in geospatial science, finance and international policy, reporting to the Restoration Policy Analyst and the Restoration Finance Project Manager

What you'll do:

• Research restoration projects, policy, finance and outcomes through data analysis, literature reviews and desktop research
• Carry out a stock-take of the European restoration economy and help coordinate stakeholder events
• Support policy research on nature restoration, including drafting briefs, desktop review and copyediting
• Help design research methods for data collection and analysis, and organise research materials

Key dates:

• Apply with a resume and cover letter by October 2, 2026; WRI may close earlier if it receives a high volume of qualified applications
• The WRI careers portal lists an end date of October 3, 2026

More information:

• Applications are accepted only through the WRI careers portal
• The internship lasts three months with a flexible start and end date

• Undergraduate or graduate student, or a recent graduate
• Existing work authorisation in the United States at the time of application; WRI cannot sponsor a visa for this role
• Must be a resident of DC, Maryland or Virginia at the start of employment
• Able to work in the Washington, DC office at least 8 days a month
• Verbal and written proficiency in English; working French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish or German is desired but not required
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative data analysis and tools such as Excel or R is preferred
• Research experience such as literature reviews, outlining, drafting and proofreading