Marine internship programmes

The UK marine industry is a flourishing sector that offers diverse and fulfilling careers across the country; from marine ecology, renewable energy, to fisheries and more.

The Crown Estate works in partnership with other organisations in the marine sector to offer full-time, paid internship programmes to young people interested in a career in the marine environment, helping to nurture a diverse, skilled workforce that the marine industry needs for a sustainable future.

Marine Futures internship

The Marine Futures internship programme offers a unique opportunity for candidates interested in a career in the marine environment to gain skills, knowledge and experience across a variety of marine sectors; helping to inform and shape future career opportunities.

Northwest England

Applications for 2024 are now closed. Please check back here for future updates.

This internship programme is predominantly based in Cumbria where it is project managed by the North West Wildlife Trust in partnership with The Crown Estate, Natural England and Ørsted. Each partner organisation provides opportunities for the interns to develop skills and gain experience in specialist areas from marine conservation and community engagement to renewable energy.

The Northwest Marine Futures internship offers a well-rounded experience where Interns have the chance to collaborate with leading experts, conduct hands-on fieldwork, and help run community outreach initiatives. They also gain valuable insights into the latest trends and challenges in the renewable energy sector, particularly offshore wind.

The latest interns worked on exciting research projects mapping seagrass distribution in the Northwest, helped run various community outreach events and got involved in stakeholder engagement. The Interns had the opportunity to take part in various training courses, and you can see what else they got up to here - Living Seas NW (@living.seas.nw) | TikTok

You can also read their work investigating kittiwakes on offshore substations, by heading to 2023, The Crown Estate, Marine Futures Internship, Kittiwake Nesting Behaviour on Offshore Substations | Marine Data Exchange

Northeast England

Applications for 2024 are now closed. Please check back here for future updates.

The Crown Estate recently launched the Marine Futures East Coast Internship (April 2023).

Based in Horncastle (Lincolnshire) and London, the Marine Futures East Coast internship programme is run in partnership with Ørsted and Natural England and is project managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. Through these partners, the internship offers a holistic programme enabling work experience opportunities in renewable energy, marine ecology and community engagement.

The first intake of interns took part in exciting activities, such as visiting Projekt Renewables Grimsby and Ørsted at their East Coast Hub, as well as a diverse variety of surveying, habitat restoration and also attending conferences across the UK, where they built new relationships with experts across industry and academia. You can learn more about what the interns got up to by reading their blog “Marine Futures Interns Blog”, on the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust website: Blog | Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust (lincstrust.org.uk)

You can also read their work on Marine Net Gain, by heading to the Marine Data Exchange: 2023, The Crown Estate, Marine Futures Internship, Marine Net Gain Project Pipeline | Marine Data Exchange

North Wales

Applications for 2024 are now closed. Please check back here for future updates.

The Programme is funded by The Crown Estate, project managed by North Wales Wildlife Trust and run in partnership with The Crown Estate, M-SParc and Menter Môn.

Each partner organisation provides opportunities for the intern to develop on-the-job skills in specialist areas including, marine conservation advice, sustainable fisheries, renewable energy development, marine policy, and community engagement.

Through the programme the intern will be offered experience and a balanced view on a career in the marine environment and how different sectors can work together. The intern will get the chance to undertake an independent research project focussing on a topic that is relevant to all partners. Additional activities will include stakeholder engagement, creating virtual educational outreach materials and ecological fieldwork.

Coast Explorer Internship

London and Kent

Applications for 2024 are now closed. Please check back here for future updates.

The Coast Explorer internship programme offers a unique opportunity for candidates interested in a career in the marine environment to gain skills, knowledge and experience relating to this exciting field.

Based in London and Kent, the internship programme is run in partnership with Vattenfall, Canterbury City Council and project managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. Through these partners, the internship offers a holistic programme enabling work experience opportunities in renewable energy, marine ecology and community engagement.

Developing from the Coast Explorer Environmental Programme which began in 2013, the Coast Explorer Internship Programme was developed in 2016 and has run every summer since. Previous interns have gone on to flourish in careers within the marine sector. Applications now open. Read more about the opportunity and apply here - Coast Explorer Internship | Kent Wildlife Trust.

Marine Research Internship

London

An internship position based at The Crown Estate for six months to work across a variety of research topics of strategic importance to the team at The Crown Estate who manages the seabed and approximately half of the foreshore around England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Marine Research Internship provides a variety of valuable hand on experience, where opportunities to date have included supporting on evidence projects run by The Crown Estate, exploring the role of offshore wind for electric vehicles and understanding the opportunities for improved data visualisations to optimise the Marine Data Exchange.

This internship also provides opportunities to represent The Crown Estate at external events including conferences and university career fairs.

Application Information

All marine internships opportunities are published annually in the month of April on the Wildlife Trust's regional websites, with the links available on this page in the sections above. Applications are held open for one month.  

After an application review period (usually of 2-3 weeks), all successful applicants will be invited to interview. The location of interviews will depend on the internship programme that the individual has applied for. However, online interviews are also available to those that cannot attend in person.  

We do not ask that applicants have a degree. However, we do ask that the applicant demonstrate a passion for the natural environment, sustainability and working with local communities. However, experience in marine sciences is advantageous, and often research projects will have a technical focus.  

All marine interns during their internship will conduct their own research and will present this to the partner organisations at the end of their 6 month paid placement with us. Interns will also conduct environmental surveys, will attend training courses (such as presentation skills and academic to business writing) and will engage with the partner organisations and coastal communities.  

All interns will be paid the Real Living Wage. We encourage those from all walks of life and all ages to apply for the marine internship programmes. The Crown Estate is an equal opportunities employer and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion.  

Internship videos

Please see our videos linked below for more information on our marine internships programmes and please check our careers page for updates on internship openings.

The Crown Estate Marine Internships

"TCE News" by Marine Interns 2023

Florence Peyton Jones: offshore wind and kittiwakes

Marine Futures Internship 2022