About

The Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program is an eight-week paid summer internship sponsored by the American Fisheries Society (AFS), placing high school juniors and seniors directly with fisheries and aquatic science professionals for hands-on field and laboratory work. Founded in 2001, the program has placed 717 students with mentors across all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Pacific Islands — one of the most geographically expansive high school science internship programs in the country. Each selected student, known as a Hutton Scholar, receives a $3,000 stipend paid across the eight weeks, and is matched with a mentor within 30-45 minutes of their home.

Approximately 32-33 students are selected each year from more than 2,500 applications — an acceptance rate of roughly 1.3%, placing Hutton among the most competitive science programs in this catalog. Scholars work 32 hours per week on a flexible schedule negotiated with their mentor, which may include fieldwork on boats and in wetlands, laboratory analysis, habitat restoration and protection, fish population surveys, data collection, and water quality monitoring. Some assignments involve overnight or multi-day field expeditions. The program is explicitly designed to diversify the fisheries profession: 59% of all Hutton Scholars have been women and 57% identify as BIPOC, and AFS strongly encourages applications from traditionally underrepresented groups. Applications open in November annually with a late January deadline.

For a high school student anywhere in the country with genuine interest in aquatic science, fisheries, or conservation biology, Hutton offers a rare combination: competitive national selection, a paid full-time mentored experience in a working professional environment, and placement infrastructure that reaches into every corner of the country — at no cost. It presents a rare and exceptional opportunity to the right student.