Live and work at the innovative research and specialty center for individuals with complex conditions.

Cornell Human Ecology co-sponsors this residential internship for undergraduates. Student interns will join a project that is a partnership between two (or more) mentors based in Cornell Human Ecology, Cornell University, and at The Center for Discovery (TCFD). TCFD, located in Harris, New York, is a major research and specialty center that offers residential, medical and special education programs as well as world-class music and creative arts therapy, adapted physical education, and a biodynamic agricultural program, among other unique services.

Overview

Interns who will participate in hands-on activities will complete TCFD’s 40-hour orientation training along with various state requirements such as fingerprinting and drug testing. Interns will receive a stipend of $6,000 for approximately 240 hours of work over the course of the summer. This internship is designed as an immersive community-engaged experience and interns will spend the summer in residence at The Center for Discovery’s campus in Harris, New York. Housing, at no cost to the intern, is provided.

Qualifications

This opportunity is available to undergraduate students in Cornell Human Ecology. Please see the specific requirements in the internship description below.

Application

The application for 2026 summer internships is now open. Please read the opportunity descriptions below and then apply here. The application deadline is March 6.

Dates

June 15-August 7, 2026

Location

The Center for Discovery
31 Kinnebrook Rd.
Harris, NY 12742

Stipend

$6,000 (plus housing provided by The Center for Discovery)

Contact

Please reach out to Cornell Human Ecology’s Community Engaged Learning Coordinator Kristen Elmore (kce28 [at] cornell.edu (kce28[at]cornell[dot]edu)) with any questions.

Student interns provide nutrition education

Internship opportunities

Past internships have focused on themes like nutrition and health and nature and autism.

The intern will be placed in the Department of Nourishment Arts to work on a research project investigating the association between eating behaviors, oral processing behaviors (eating rate, bite size, chewing behavior, oro-sensory exposure time, etc.), and food intake in children with autism.

Roles and responsibilities

Interns will help with recruitment, data collection that will include food preparation and measuring food intake, and coding video data for the study.

Qualifications and previous coursework

Required: background in nutritional sciences; research methods and statistics courses.

Preferred: prior research experience in human eating behavior, including coding video data and assisting with controlled feeding studies.

Mentors

Paige Cunningham, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University

Jennifer Franck, Chief, Department of Nourishment Arts, The Center for Discovery

The intern will work in conjunction with occupational therapists in the Innovation Labs at the Center for Discovery to work on a design research project analyzing the interactions between wheelchair users and their adaptive clothing and developing solutions.

Roles and responsibilities

Interns will conduct weekly progress meetings and prepare reports, observe users’ daily activities, seek input from users and their caregivers, analyze existing adaptive clothing on the market, identify key design issues, develop ideas and prototypes, and gather feedback from users and their caregivers.

Qualifications and previous coursework

Required: completion of 2000-level fashion design courses including Introduction to Fashion Design, Flat Patternmaking, Draping, and Activewear Product Design and Development.

Preferred: prior experience interacting with wheelchair users or individuals with developmental disability.

Mentors

Heeju Park, Department of Human Centered Design, Cornell University

Ann Marie Connolly, Assistant Chief of Clinical Services, Innovation and Training, The Center for Discovery

This experience helped me understand the gut-brain axis, where individuals with autism face digestive complications. But by eating unprocessed food and partaking in its cultivation and culinary process, they improve in behavior and reduce their weight complications.

Minjae Eum '26
Human Biology, Health and Society
Students at the Center for Discovery

Hear from past interns

Jenna Cho ’26, Eileen Desharnais ’26 and Minjae Eum ’26 share their experience and how it shaped how they think about health, accessibility and their future careers.