LIVING WAGES
The Wildlife Research Alliance was founded on the principle that conservation efforts are more successful when diverse teams of people are working on them. Increasing diversity is only possible if we make the field of conservation accessible to everyone.​
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We are working on starting our own research, at which time we will pay fair living wages to any interns we hire. In the meantime, we work with partner organizations to advocate for and help obtain funds for their interns.
How are fair wages determined?
​We utilize the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator, along with their cited resources to determine wage ranges for prospective interns based on geographic area. We also advocate for providing housing and travel funds for internships that are not in the interns' home areas.
What is wrong with unpaid internships?
Unpaid internships have historically been a major point of entry into the animal behavior field, along with many other earth sciences and environmental conservation fields. While these experiences are meant to be educational, they usually involve substantial amounts of work, and non-profits are often allowed to utilize unpaid interns for roles that would otherwise be consistent with entry-level positions. Aside from being exploitative, unpaid positions do not offer discrimination protections afforded to paid employees.
Unpaid internships also exclude anyone who cannot afford to work for free. Unfortunately, this disproportionately presents barriers to individuals from underrepresented communities. We aim to serve women and members of the BIPOC, LatinX, AAPI, LGBTQIA+, and disabled communities and ensure that everyion one has equitable access to a career in conservation behavior research.