Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services offers paid internship opportunity for college students

LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, or Lake County OES, has announced a paid OES specialist internship designed to provide students with hands-on experience in emergency management, preparedness planning, disaster response and public outreach.

The internship is ideally suited for students pursuing degrees in emergency management, public administration, political science, environmental studies or related fields. 

Participants will have the opportunity to work directly with emergency management professionals supporting Lake County’s preparedness, response, and recovery operations.

The intern will work at the sheriff’s headquarters in Lakeport on a flexible schedule of 10 to 24 hours that can be worked to fit into academic schedules. The compensation is $23.52 per hour.

Applications are now open for the semester-based internship, which will begin in January.

Interns may select a project track aligned with their academic interests or career goals:

• Planning and exercise: Support emergency operations planning, tabletop exercises, and after-action reporting.
• Community preparedness: Partner with local stakeholders and assist in public outreach to enhance community resilience.
• Field research project: Conduct supervised research for academic credit that contributes to OES planning and policy initiatives.

Interns will receive direct mentorship from the OES manager and gain access to professional training, including FEMA Incident Command System and National Incident Management System courses. These experiences help students build industry-relevant skills and credentials for future careers in emergency management, government and public service.

To qualify, applicants must:

• Be 18 years or older and legally eligible to work in the U.S.
• Be currently enrolled or planning to enroll in a college or university program.
• Possess strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Be proficient in Microsoft Office; familiarity with Canva or web-based tools is a plus.
• Hold a valid California driver’s license or have reliable transportation.
• Be willing to complete FEMA online courses (ICS 100/200, NIMS 700/800).

Applications are accepted through the county of Lake’s online job portal.

For additional information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. using the subject line, “Internship.”

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services coordinates emergency management and disaster preparedness activities across Lake County. 

Through planning, training, and public education, OES works to enhance the county’s readiness, response, and recovery capabilities in the face of natural and human-caused emergencies.