CPT Forest Ecologist Jobs
Forest Ecologist CPT jobs place F-1 students in field research, habitat assessment, and ecological monitoring roles that directly extend coursework in ecology, conservation biology, or environmental science. Your DSO must authorize each CPT position before you start work, and the role must integrate with your degree program's learning objectives.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Lake Forest College has embraced career preparation as a key institutional goal for its undergraduate students with our long-standing collegewide commitment to our mission of “preparing students for, and helping them attain, productive and rewarding careers.” The College is proud of taking a pragmatic approach that merges the foundations of a liberal arts experience with practical experiential learning opportunities and exceptional career preparation for our students.
With our location in the Chicago metropolitan area and as one of the largest career centers for a college our size, we are uniquely positioned to be a leader in career preparation and planning. We are proud that for the fifth year in a row, Lake Forest College has been recognized by the Princeton Review on their top 25 Best Schools for Internships list and most recently, recognized as #14 for Best Career Services (August 2026). For the past 3 years, the College is also proud to have been ranked as top 3 for Social Mobility by U.S. News and World Report.
This professional will serve as a member of Lake Forest College’s Gorter Family Career Advancement Center (CAC) and report to the Associate Director and Pathway Leader for Business, Finance and Data Science (BFDS). As part of this pathway, they will lead internship and career advising efforts for students pursuing business, finance, economics, and marketing.
Responsibilities
Program Administration and Career Advising:
- Guide and mentor students in the Business, Finance, and Data Science Pathway completing internship experiences (non-credit and for-credit), and serve as a liaison to relevant academic departments including Business, Finance, Economics, Entrepreneurship.
- Advise students and develop large-scale programs on resume development, interview preparation, and identification of and referrals to sites that match students’ interests.
- Manage, organize, and communicate information using technology systems including the career services management system (Handshake), course management systems (Canvas), Project management software (Smartsheet), alumni database (Slate), social media.
- Assess student/employer engagement data and monitor employment trends to identify and implement strategies for improving students’ preparation and expanding available internships for students.
- Ensure successful registration process and completion of appropriate student and employer application and agreement forms required for internship completion.
- Contribute to on-going internship program policy development/administration, evaluation, and promotion with the employer relations and operations team.
- Participate in relevant professional development activities.
Internship Program:
- Serve as an internship supervisor for students completing internships for our academic internship program; provide seminars or other educational experiences in collaboration with fellow internship supervisors to help students develop learning goals, understand professional expectations, and apply their academic training in the workplace.
- Evaluate assignments and submit final grades according to College requirements.
- Develop evaluation methods and referral procedures for internship site placements to maximize the success of each experience and provide students with personalized guidance; seek to organize student/site needs to ensure continuity for students and key sites.
- Maintain contact with internship site supervisors and Senior Associate Director for Internships and resolve conflicts in collaboration with relevant faculty/staff/site personnel if they arise.
- Work with relevant Career Pathway leaders to identify and provide industry-related pre-internship training and professional development activities to improve students’ competitiveness for the best experiential learning opportunities.
- Assist students with developing plans to maximize their internship experience during and after the experience, such as articulating their experience in their resumes, tips for publishing/presenting research, and identifying subsequent internship experiences to support their career plan.
Relationship Management and Employer Relations:
- Initiate new off-campus partnerships and manage relationships with existing employers able to provide students high-quality jobs, internships, research experiences, shadowing, and other relevant opportunities; develop and adhere to terms of affiliation agreements with key sites.
- Develop and expand pipelines with employers to help CAC provide more equitable access to experiential opportunities for students from historically underserved and underrepresented backgrounds.
- Cultivate relationships with Lake Forest College faculty to understand students’ academic experience on-campus and gain an understanding for ongoing institutional partnerships to maintain the integrity of existing relationships and support new relationship development.
- Learn guidelines for identifying and evaluating good fit academic credit internships.
- Organize recruiting activities, including job postings, campus interviews and specialized networking events.
- Complete other duties as assigned or as opportunities emerge.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Successful completion of a relevant Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree preferred.
- 3 years of experience preferably in higher education, career services, human resources, non-profit, or related field.
- Strong administrative, critical thinking skills, and written/verbal communication; must also be attentive to details and be able to successfully manage academic course requirements and internship documentation.
- Interest and/or experience in working with students, alumni, employers, and faculty/staff from diverse backgrounds.
- Team oriented focus, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to think creatively.
- Success in building and maintain relationships; experience with a customer relationship management system is a bonus.
- Experience in college student development, career services, and employer relations and/or business, finance, economics, and entrepreneurship industries preferred.
- Availability to work occasional evenings and weekends for programs; valid driver’s license and willingness to travel (primarily in Chicagoland area).
SALARY AND BENEFITS
Salary: $57,000-$62,000. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Benefits: www.lakeforest.edu/offices-and-departments/human-resources/employee-benefits
APPLICATION PROCESS
Please submit cover letter and resume/CV online through this link to the Career Advancement Center’s Submission Form. Materials should be addressed to:
Materials should be addressed to:
Career Advancement Center Hiring Committee
Lake Forest College
555 North Sheridan Road
Lake Forest, IL 60045-2399
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the positions are filled. Please send any correspondence related to this search to Career Advancement Center Hiring Committee at cacsearch@lakeforest.edu.
If you are interested in learning more about employment at Lake Forest College, please visit Working at Lake Forest | Lake Forest College.
INTRODUCTION
Lake Forest College has embraced career preparation as a key institutional goal for its undergraduate students with our long-standing collegewide commitment to our mission of “preparing students for, and helping them attain, productive and rewarding careers.” The College is proud of taking a pragmatic approach that merges the foundations of a liberal arts experience with practical experiential learning opportunities and exceptional career preparation for our students.
With our location in the Chicago metropolitan area and as one of the largest career centers for a college our size, we are uniquely positioned to be a leader in career preparation and planning. We are proud that for the fifth year in a row, Lake Forest College has been recognized by the Princeton Review on their top 25 Best Schools for Internships list and most recently, recognized as #14 for Best Career Services (August 2026). For the past 3 years, the College is also proud to have been ranked as top 3 for Social Mobility by U.S. News and World Report.
This professional will serve as a member of Lake Forest College’s Gorter Family Career Advancement Center (CAC) and report to the Associate Director and Pathway Leader for Business, Finance and Data Science (BFDS). As part of this pathway, they will lead internship and career advising efforts for students pursuing business, finance, economics, and marketing.
Responsibilities
Program Administration and Career Advising:
- Guide and mentor students in the Business, Finance, and Data Science Pathway completing internship experiences (non-credit and for-credit), and serve as a liaison to relevant academic departments including Business, Finance, Economics, Entrepreneurship.
- Advise students and develop large-scale programs on resume development, interview preparation, and identification of and referrals to sites that match students’ interests.
- Manage, organize, and communicate information using technology systems including the career services management system (Handshake), course management systems (Canvas), Project management software (Smartsheet), alumni database (Slate), social media.
- Assess student/employer engagement data and monitor employment trends to identify and implement strategies for improving students’ preparation and expanding available internships for students.
- Ensure successful registration process and completion of appropriate student and employer application and agreement forms required for internship completion.
- Contribute to on-going internship program policy development/administration, evaluation, and promotion with the employer relations and operations team.
- Participate in relevant professional development activities.
Internship Program:
- Serve as an internship supervisor for students completing internships for our academic internship program; provide seminars or other educational experiences in collaboration with fellow internship supervisors to help students develop learning goals, understand professional expectations, and apply their academic training in the workplace.
- Evaluate assignments and submit final grades according to College requirements.
- Develop evaluation methods and referral procedures for internship site placements to maximize the success of each experience and provide students with personalized guidance; seek to organize student/site needs to ensure continuity for students and key sites.
- Maintain contact with internship site supervisors and Senior Associate Director for Internships and resolve conflicts in collaboration with relevant faculty/staff/site personnel if they arise.
- Work with relevant Career Pathway leaders to identify and provide industry-related pre-internship training and professional development activities to improve students’ competitiveness for the best experiential learning opportunities.
- Assist students with developing plans to maximize their internship experience during and after the experience, such as articulating their experience in their resumes, tips for publishing/presenting research, and identifying subsequent internship experiences to support their career plan.
Relationship Management and Employer Relations:
- Initiate new off-campus partnerships and manage relationships with existing employers able to provide students high-quality jobs, internships, research experiences, shadowing, and other relevant opportunities; develop and adhere to terms of affiliation agreements with key sites.
- Develop and expand pipelines with employers to help CAC provide more equitable access to experiential opportunities for students from historically underserved and underrepresented backgrounds.
- Cultivate relationships with Lake Forest College faculty to understand students’ academic experience on-campus and gain an understanding for ongoing institutional partnerships to maintain the integrity of existing relationships and support new relationship development.
- Learn guidelines for identifying and evaluating good fit academic credit internships.
- Organize recruiting activities, including job postings, campus interviews and specialized networking events.
- Complete other duties as assigned or as opportunities emerge.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Successful completion of a relevant Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree preferred.
- 3 years of experience preferably in higher education, career services, human resources, non-profit, or related field.
- Strong administrative, critical thinking skills, and written/verbal communication; must also be attentive to details and be able to successfully manage academic course requirements and internship documentation.
- Interest and/or experience in working with students, alumni, employers, and faculty/staff from diverse backgrounds.
- Team oriented focus, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to think creatively.
- Success in building and maintain relationships; experience with a customer relationship management system is a bonus.
- Experience in college student development, career services, and employer relations and/or business, finance, economics, and entrepreneurship industries preferred.
- Availability to work occasional evenings and weekends for programs; valid driver’s license and willingness to travel (primarily in Chicagoland area).
SALARY AND BENEFITS
Salary: $57,000-$62,000. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Benefits: www.lakeforest.edu/offices-and-departments/human-resources/employee-benefits
APPLICATION PROCESS
Please submit cover letter and resume/CV online through this link to the Career Advancement Center’s Submission Form. Materials should be addressed to:
Materials should be addressed to:
Career Advancement Center Hiring Committee
Lake Forest College
555 North Sheridan Road
Lake Forest, IL 60045-2399
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the positions are filled. Please send any correspondence related to this search to Career Advancement Center Hiring Committee at cacsearch@lakeforest.edu.
If you are interested in learning more about employment at Lake Forest College, please visit Working at Lake Forest | Lake Forest College.
See all CPT Forest Ecologist Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new CPT Forest Ecologist Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsForest Ecologist CPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Does CPT work as a Forest Ecologist qualify if the position is in a remote field location?
Yes, the physical work location doesn't affect CPT eligibility. What matters is that the role is integral to your curriculum and authorized by your DSO before you begin. Remote or wilderness-based fieldwork in forest ecology typically strengthens the academic connection argument, since direct habitat monitoring and field data collection align closely with ecology degree requirements. Document the connection in writing for your DSO.
Can I do part-time CPT as a Forest Ecologist during the academic semester?
Part-time CPT is authorized for 20 hours or fewer per week during an active academic term. Many forest ecology positions, especially with federal agencies or research institutions, offer seasonal schedules that fit a part-time CPT window. Confirm the weekly hour commitment in your offer letter, since exceeding 20 hours during the semester requires full-time CPT authorization and carries different implications for your OPT eligibility.
How do I find Forest Ecologist employers who understand CPT work authorization?
Migrate Mate lets you filter roles by employers with prior LCA filing history, which is a reliable signal that an employer has navigated work authorization before. Federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and state natural resource departments are also strong targets since they're E-Verify enrolled and have HR teams experienced with F-1 students. Avoid employers who've never hired international students if your CPT timeline is tight.
Does 12 months of full-time CPT as a Forest Ecologist affect my OPT eligibility?
Yes. Using 12 months or more of full-time CPT eliminates your OPT eligibility entirely, including STEM OPT. Part-time CPT, regardless of total duration, doesn't affect OPT. If you're planning to pursue OPT or STEM OPT after graduation for continued work in forest ecology, structure your CPT as part-time or limit full-time CPT to under 12 cumulative months.
What documentation does my employer need from me to complete CPT onboarding as a Forest Ecologist?
Your employer needs your CPT-endorsed I-20 showing the authorized employer name, position, and dates, plus your current visa stamp and I-94 arrival record. Federal agencies will also run E-Verify, which requires your Social Security Number if you have one. Some state agencies request a letter from your DSO confirming the CPT directly supports your degree program. Have all documents ready before your first day since federal onboarding can't proceed without completed I-9 verification.