DTA offers a variety of opportunities for students passionate about defending animals and their habitats.

Student Advocacy Programs provide a platform for aspiring advocates interested in exploring issues affecting animals and their habitats. Our programs offer experiential learning opportunities tailored to individual interests and talents and are designed to foster professional growth. In addition to substantive knowledge and practical skills, we prepare students to recognize and effectively engage in the complex realities of animal and environmental law and policy, fueling a broader community of professional advocates. The ideas, experiences, and perspectives of our students and alumni inform our work and will ultimately influence broader animal welfare reform.

Summer 2025 Opportunities

2025 Virtual Advocacy Internship Program

DTA’s Virtual Advocacy Internship Program is a 7-week program in animal and environmental law. Throughout this experience, students will:

• Work directly with advocates and legal professionals on real-time campaigns and projects.

• Research, analyze, and discuss law and policy.

• Develop and implement campaigns related to animal and environmental protection.

• Complete an individual project to further the mission of DTA.

This opportunity is open to both law and non-law graduate students. Academic credit can be arranged pending the approval of accredited institutions.

2025 Advocacy Abroad - Bolivia

DTA’s Advocacy Abroad Externship Program is a two-and-a-half week field placement in La Paz, Bolivia for law students interested in environmental/animal law and policy. Students from various countries are selected to travel with DTA staff, receiving hands-on guidance and experience in identifying and addressing animal welfare issues. With a constitution recognizing Mother Earth as a subject of rights, the legal framework for environmental protection is among the most progressive in the world. However, practical application and enforcement of these principles in the face of opposing political and economic interests is challenging. Legal expertise is lacking, and a unique culture with strong beliefs surrounding animals and the earth represents both an obstacle and an opportunity for advocates ready to test novel approaches.

Through cultural immersion and collaboration with local advocates, legal professionals, and organizational partners, participants gain new perspectives and a deeper understanding of a community’s unique challenges and barriers to sustainable change. In addition to experiential learning, students play a key role in fulfilling our ongoing commitment to assisting and empowering advocates in their efforts to defend animals and the environment in these locations.

Preference will be given to our previous interns and externs and those that have successfully completed our Virtual Advocacy Program. 

Internship / Externship Opportunities

Students currently enrolled in law school or an advanced degree program are encouraged to apply and will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year as capacity allows. Preference will be given to individuals with a demonstrated interest in animal or environmental law and policy, and those seeking course credit through an accredited institution. 

We look forward to discussing how we can facilitate an experience that accommodates your schedule, highlights your talents, and advances your career goals.

Advocacy Abroad

Advocacy Abroad internship and externship placements offer invaluable opportunities for students to explore issues affecting animals and their habitats in international locations. Through cultural immersion and collaboration with local advocates, legal professionals, and organizational partners, participants gain new perspectives and a deeper understanding of a community’s unique challenges and barriers to sustainable change. In addition to experiential learning, students play a key role in fulfilling our ongoing commitment to assisting and empowering advocates in their efforts to defend animals and the environment in these locations.

The Advocacy Abroad Program is typically a two-week opportunity open to law students and non-law graduate students. Preference will be given to our previous interns and externs and those that have successfully completed our Virtual Advocacy Program. 

For more information about our student program please reach out to admin@defendthemall.org

It is the policy of Defend Them All to provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by state and/or federal law.