Schneider One-year Fellowship: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) 2025-26

Schneider Equitable Clean Energy Fellowship (2025-2026)

NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.

NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Bozeman, Montana; Chicago; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing.

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming a diversity of voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems. 

Open role for 2025-26: Climate & Clean Energy Fellow, Transportation Division

This is a hybrid role working out of the New York City office of the NRDC, 40 West 20th Street 11th Floor New York, NY 10011.

Position Summary:

NRDC is seeking a Transportation Schneider Fellow to work with the Transportation Division within the Climate & Clean Energy Department in our New York office. This is a one-year Fellowship Position expected to commence in the Summer or Fall of 2025 through the Summer or Fall of 2026.

The Schneider Fellowships were created to promote the awareness of environmental issues resulting from our past and present energy use. The Fellowship program supports the efforts of non-governmental organizations, such as NRDC, that are chosen based on their efforts to identify and solve the challenges of developing a more sustainable energy future.

The Transportation Division within the Climate and Energy Department focuses on fighting climate change and improving health and air quality by cutting carbon and other toxic pollution from the transportation sector—the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States—by advocating for policies, programs, and incentives at the state and federal level that accelerate the transition to clean, zero-emission cars and trucks on our roads and shift transportation investments away from highway expansion.

What will the fellow work on:

The Transportation Schneider Fellow will help support the Clean Vehicles team’s expanding portfolio focused on defending clean vehicle standards and incentives at the state and federal level, as well as supporting and exploring new policy opportunities for states to accelerate the transition to a zero-emission vehicle future. The Fellow will be a key member of the broader Transportation Division, which works holistically to decarbonize the transportation sector through clean vehicle standards and incentives and by shifting transportation investments away from highway expansion money towards transit, active transportation, micromobility, EV charging infrastructure, and other climate-friendly use cases. This fellowship will specifically support the development and implementation of new strategies to accelerate the transition to clean vehicles at the state level. Additionally, the Fellow will help analyze and conduct research on new federal standard proposals as well as support defense work on vital federal incentives, such as the Inflation Reduction Act. The Fellow will have the opportunity to work on projects with NRDC’s Eastern Regional team to support clean vehicles in Northeast States. 

More Info about the Schneider One-year Fellowship & FAQ

Meet the 2024 Schneider Fellows

Fellowship Overview

NRDC is a non-profit international environmental advocacy organization with 3.1 million members and online activists. They use law, policy, and science to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and now has a staff of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others working across the United States and internationally from offices in New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Santa Monica; San Francisco; Bozeman, Montana; New Delhi; and Beijing.

The Climate and Energy Program focuses on fighting climate change by designing equitable policies with community partners to cut carbon pollution and expand equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy to ensure clean, reliable, and affordable energy services that a healthy and sustainable economy needs. NRDC is currently looking for passionate individuals who are willing to learn; want to take advantage of a rich, interdisciplinary work environment; and can bring their unique skills and perspective to help develop smart and equitable environmental policies.

The Fellow will gain skills in research and analysis, written advocacy, oral advocacy, legislative and/or regulatory processes, and inclusive and equitable policy development. The Fellow will be an integral part of NRDC’s team and will gain exposure to a variety of activities including attending policy meetings, working with private sector stakeholders, engaging in joint advocacy with other partners, conducting policy analysis and development, and doing legislative and regulatory research and drafting.

We particularly encourage candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement. You should apply if you are eager to be part of a cross-cutting team; learn about clean energy and equity; gain valuable policy, writing, speaking, and analytic skills; and to be an active team member tackling climate, equity, and policy issues.

Eligible candidates include those with undergraduate or graduate level experience in energy, science, engineering, economics, public policy and/or law, including candidates with multi-disciplinary experience and/or joint degrees. You must be a current student to apply. Final offers are contingent upon a satisfactory report from Stanford's Office of Community Standards.

Examples of Previous Fellow Projects

Additional past fellow projects include: developing a plan to phase out fossil gas use from buildings; reforming policies for rooftop solar; implementing a multi-state campaign to increase renewable portfolio standards, developing campaign materials to promote clean trucks; developing and implementing strategies to advance specific policy objectives in state and city legislatures; helping to advance equitable clean transportation and building decarbonization policies through efficiency and electrification; writing comments for regulatory agencies; generating and testing proposals and rationales for different audiences; providing integral analysis and materials development in support of federal policies around green hydrogen development and funding; and providing technical analysis on EPA regulatory rules and  federal  clean energy legislation.

NRDC Information

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. For this position, the salary is $65,000. Internal equity considerations will be reviewed before making a final offer.

Our offices are open, and we are operating in a hybrid model. We offer NRDCers flexibility, we ask them to come into the office and spend meaningful time there in collaboration with their colleagues.  We call this purposeful presence.

As a science-based organization, NRDC aims to do our part to help contain the COVID-19 public health crisis. For the sake of health, safety, and equity, we ask that people be vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious accommodation or other exemption in accordance with state and local law. We consider a person to be vaccinated two weeks after receiving one full course of a CDC-approved vaccine. In accordance with state or local law, new hires will be asked to attest to vaccination, those wishing to do so may request medical or religious accommodations or other exemptions via NRDC Employee Relations. NRDC treats all vaccine-related data confidentially, in keeping with local, state, and federal laws.