Schneider Fellowship 2026-27 (One-year)

Schneider Equitable Clean Energy Fellowship

The Schneider Fellowship program allows students and recent alumni of Stanford University to work in year-long full-time positions at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Fellows focus on energy, policy, and other environmental challenges of developing a more sustainable future.

• Review the three 2026-27 job descriptions below (or via Google Doc)

• More Info about the Schneider Fellowship year-long program

• Meet the 2025 Schneider Fellow

NRDC 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. NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in their work and in their workplace.

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Schneider Fellowship 2026-27: Job Description 1 

Position Title: Buildings Schneider Fellow - Climate & Energy Department

Position Location: Chicago, New York City, or San Francisco

Position Summary: NRDC is seeking a Schneider Fellow to work with the Climate & Energy Department in one of our US-based offices (likely Chicago, New York City, or San Francisco) to help with the Department's Buildings work. This is a one-year Fellowship Position expected to commence in the Summer or Fall of 2026 through the Summer or Fall of 2027. The Climate and Energy Department focuses on fighting climate change by cutting carbon pollution and expanding the contribution of energy efficiency and renewable energy to ensure the clean, reliable and affordable energy services that a healthy and sustainable economy needs.

The Fellow will work on NRDC's recently developed stock rollover model for building electrification to identify the most impactful building electrification policies in priority NRDC states. The Fellow will dedicate most of their time to the Buildings team, with opportunities to work with C&E place-based advocates. 

The position you are applying for is part of the bargaining unit represented by The Washington Baltimore News Guild (WBNG / The Newsguild-CWA Local 32035). 

Responsibilities: Fellows typically work on one to two long-term projects, with the ability to assist with short­-term or light-touch projects to complement their in-depth project. Fellow projects are developed in consultation with the fellow to gauge interest and skill set. They are usually finalized ahead of or within the first two days of the fellowship start date. 

Fellow may work on issues such as:

• State level policy levers on the intersection of climate progress and affordability
• Using NRDC's recently developed stock rollover model for building electrification to identify the most impactful building electrification policies in key states
• Improving electricity and gas rate design to encourage transportation and building electrification while keeping household energy bills affordable
• State policy action to accelerate clean energy development and electric sector reliability

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Schneider Fellowship 2026: Job Description 2 

Position Title: Oil & Gas Schneider Fellow - Environmental Health Department

Position Location: Chicago or NYC

Position Summary: NRDC is seeking a Schneider Fellow to work with the Environmental Health Department in our New York or Chicago offices to help with the Department's Oil and Gas work. This is a one-year Fellowship Position expected to commence in the Summer or Fall of 2026 through the Summer or Fall of 2027. The Environmental Health Department focuses on the things that matter to people in their lives by protecting their children from toxic chemicals, ensuring they have safe and affordable water to drink, and protecting their homes and communities from the ravages of climate disasters. 

The Schneider Fellow will help support the Environmental Health Department's Oil and Gas portfolio, which aims to fight climate change and improve health, water, and air quality by fighting the fossil fuel industry-the primary driver of climate change-by advocating for state laws that hold the industry financially accountable for their role in climate change, blocking harmful fossil fuel infrastructure, and protecting our health by eliminating plastics and other petrochemicals from our water, air, and consumer products.

The position you are applying for is part of the bargaining unit represented by The Washington Baltimore News Guild (WBNG / The Newsguild-CWA Local 32035). 

Responsibilities: This fellowship will support the development and implementation of several strategies to hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for their role in climate change through active involvement in our "Make Polluters Pay" campaign, and involvement as needed in NRDC's broader oil and gas campaign work internally and nationally. Additionally, the Fellow will help oppose new fossil fuel development in the Northeast, from tracked gas pipelines to liquefied natural gas terminals. Finally, the Fellow may also participate in our state- and municipal-level campaigns to eliminate plastics and PFAS from our water, air, and consumer products. 

We are looking for a Schneider Fellow who can assist us with this work by harnessing the expertise they have developed in their studies to help implement our campaigns to bring the fossil fuel industry to heel. They can contribute in several ways, including but not limited to: researching and writing both internal and external-facing documents, assisting with the development and finalization of several technical analyses related to our oil and gas work, and participating in state-level advocacy regarding legislative and administrative actions associated with Make Polluters Pay/Climate Superfund related policies, the development of fossil fuel infrastructure, and the sale of fossil fuel byproducts - including petrochemicals and PFAS. 

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Schneider Fellowship 2026: Job Description 3 

Position Title: Toxics Schneider Fellow - Environmental Health Department

Position Location: San Francisco

Position Summary: NRDC is seeking a Schneider Fellow to work with the Environmental Health Department in our San Francisco office to help with the Department's Toxics work. This is a one-year Fellowship Position expected to commence in the Summer or Fall of 2026 through the Summer or Fall of 2027.

The Environmental Health Fellow will help support the Toxics Team's efforts to reduce people's exposure to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are a large class of man-made chemicals that are widely used in consumer and industrial products. Due to their extreme persistence (thus, their nickname of toxic "forever chemicals") and widespread use, PFAS contaminate most of our environment and our bodies. In addition to their extreme persistence, PFAS are highly mobile, can bioaccumulate, and are linked to a host of serious health harms. Because of these concerns, scientists and experts from around the world have called for the phase out of all unnecessary uses of PFAS.

The position you are applying for is part of the bargaining unit represented by The Washington Baltimore News Guild (WBNG / The Newsguild-CWA Local 32035). 

Responsibilities: The Toxics Team would like to learn more about the use of PFAS in the energy sector and where there is potential to transition to safer alternatives. Projects that the Fellow may work on include (1) conducting a landscape analysis of PFAS use in the energy sector, (2) identifying uses of PFAS in the energy sector that could be phased out, for example where safer alternatives already exist, and (3) analyzing levers to implement change. 

The work may include: (1) Literature reviews, (2) Data analysis, (3) Production of written materials summarizing scientific information in technical or lay language, and (4) Possible participation in lobbying, regulatory hearings, press events, and coalition and community meetings.

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Qualifications for All Roles

• Commitment to NRDC's mission and values.
• Pursuing a degree in a related discipline.
• Interest and expertise in one or more of the following fields: economics, law, climate adaptation, fossil fuel or climate adaptation research, advocacy, and/or public policy.
• The ability to pivot between and navigate a range of different topic areas, forums, stakeholder groups, and states on short notice.
• Strong written and oral advocacy skills, especially communicating technical and analytical information in a clear and persuasive manner.
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team setting.
• Ability to represent NRDC with maturity, judgment, and professionalism.

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Examples of Previous Fellow Projects

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.