Schneider Summer Fellowships: Climate Cabinet Education - Summer 2027
Through the Schneider Fellows program, Stanford students work at leading U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the sustainable energy field. Schneider Summer Fellows spend a summer quarter tackling the world’s economic, environmental, social, and technical challenges associated with harnessing energy resources to deliver energy services.
Fellows receive a stipend of $11,500 for a 12-week summer fellowship. Additional funding of up to $1500 is available for fellowship-related travel.
Students can apply to up to four Schneider Fellowship host organizations for summer 2027.
Description of Organization
Climate Cabinet Education provides data-driven, local expertise to help lawmakers and the general public learn how to take effective climate action. By fusing big data, climate policy, and civic power, we develop rigorous and actionable insights.
The biggest decisions on climate aren’t made in Washington, D.C. — they’re made in state houses, city halls, and utility commissions across the country. That’s why we’re leveling the playing field against anti-climate interests that have flooded state and local governments with misinformation for decades.
We help policymakers and their communities cut through noise and make informed decisions by providing clear, publicly available resources and local expertise on key climate issues.
Learn more at climatecabineteducation.org.
Climate Cabinet Education has two Schneider Fellowship positions available for summer 2027.
Fellowship 1: Insurance & Resilience Fellowship
Overview
As climate change has intensified and caused the costs of disasters to rise steadily throughout the U.S., a crisis of affordability and availability has spread in insurance markets throughout the country. Insurance is entirely regulated by state governments, so it offers a unique opportunity to pursue the mission of Climate Cabinet Education (CCE) in developing climate policy for state policymakers. CCE has released numerous detailed reports outlining policy recommendations around insurance regulation, which has informed the advocacy of Climate Cabinet Action in support of insurance reforms in numerous state legislatures.
Project Proposal
CCE has analyzed and advocated for policies that promote climate resilience and help stabilize insurance markets. Additionally, CCE is closely monitoring how insurance market developments and costs influence other aspects of climate resilience and state policy, such as utility regulations, municipal bond markets, and state governmental budgets. The Schneider Fellow will support this goal by evaluating how U.S. states are dealing with overlapping costs impacting both insurance and utility bills. The Fellow will also help examine how climate change is fueling the growth of a less well-regulated segment of insurance markets called "non-admitted markets."
The Fellow will produce research and analysis that contributes to:
- An extension of CCE's 2026 report titled "Strengthening State Oversight Over Surplus Lines: Why and How" to a 2027 report applying similar policy recommendations to the context of "Captive Insurance," an increasingly common means of insuring data centers and fossil fuel projects.
- Recommendations for state policymakers to resolve stakeholder tensions and policy tradeoffs related to utilities' management of their infrastructure and related liability risks.
- Novel research on how to prevent insurance market disruptions from spilling over to municipal bond markets, thus making it harder for state and local governments to issue debt and fund climate adaptation.
Qualifications
The ideal Fellow will have experience in research, policy analysis, and policy development. Fellows should be interested in climate, environmental science, political science, macroeconomics, financial regulation, and the channels through which corporations and polluters often foist costs onto the public.
The Fellow will have the opportunity to conduct original research and leverage new insights to support Climate Cabinet's interdisciplinary team in order to support real-world climate policy and regulatory outcomes. In particular, this project will consider how climate costs are proliferating through insurance markets, utility bills, and state governmental budgets, and how a combination of regulatory and fiscal policy can mitigate these costs for the public while promoting greater climate resilience across the U.S.
First year students (frosh) are not eligible for this summer fellowship opportunity.
Fellowship 2: Transportation Fellowship
Overview
Transportation is the #1 source of greenhouse gases and the #2 household expenses in the United States. Nevertheless, state and local policymakers have consistently failed to prioritize policy solutions to address the transportation sector that provide needed state-level complements to now-defunct federal vehicle electrification incentives. The role provides an opportunity to pursue the mission of Climate Cabinet Education (CCE) in developing pro-climate transportation policy for state policymakers.
Project Proposal
This fellow will support the development of educational materials targeted to elected officials and their staff to increase their awareness of needed transportation policy interventions to decarbonize the transportation sector. These materials will take the form of pre-planned workshops that can be used during outreach events, conferences, and other lawmaker training opportunities – in other words, a curriculum in a box. These materials will focus on educating lawmakers and their staff on pro-climate transportation policy priorities (investing in transit and other transportation choices, electrifying transportation, and aligning transportation and housing policies), best practices, and effective methods of adopting and implementing policies.
This “curriculum in a box” will include 2-3 options to focus on, a mix of informational and activity based materials, and allow for some degree of flexibility and customization while staying at its core easily to use repeatedly.
Qualifications
The ideal Fellow will have experience in communications, education, and/or curriculum development and design. Fellows should be interested in urban planning and policy, transportation, climate, environmental science, political science, social psychology and/or related topics.
The Fellow will have the opportunity to conduct original research and leverage new insights to support Climate Cabinet's interdisciplinary team in order to support real-world clean transportation outcomes. Specifically, the Fellow will be expected to support research on effective messaging and policy education. In particular, this project will consider the gap between what the public perceives about climate-friendly transportation and what policies are actually being pursued. The end goal will be enhancing messaging as a means of improving policy outcomes for zero-carbon transportation choices.
Additional Information
Fellows may support this project as part of their final project for the fellowship, or lead an independent project based on the support they provide in the development of the core project.
In 2027, our Transportation Fellow will split their time three ways: a third spent on general policy support, a third on project support, and a third on an independent project they lead (if they choose to do so).
First year students (frosh) are not eligible for this summer fellowship opportunity.
Work Location and Start Date
Remote with potential for limited project-related travel. Fellows must begin work on June 14, 2027 or June 21, 2027.
Eligibility:
For complete eligibility requirements, please review our program policies in its entirety.
Applicants must be:
- enrolled at Stanford for the winter and spring quarters of this academic year (2026-27); and
- be in good academic standing and not on suspension, probation, or academic notice.
International Students on an F-1 or J-1 visa should consult with Bechtel International Center to confirm eligibility and work authorization requirements.
Undergraduates and graduate students from all academic disciplines are encouraged to apply, and applicants may vary in academic interests, public service involvement, and experience. Priority will be given to students who have completed fewer than two previous Cardinal Quarter opportunities.
First year students (frosh) are not eligible for this summer fellowship opportunity.
Students can apply to up to four Schneider Fellowship host organizations for summer 2027.
Requirements:
Selected Fellows are expected to begin service by June 21, 2027 for this summer fellowship. All fellows are required to work with their community partners full-time (35-40 hours) for twelve consecutive weeks at their placements. Other commitments include the following:
Quarter before fellowship
- Complete an online program orientation.
- Complete the Engaging in Ethical and Effective Service workshop or worksheet.
- Attend Schneider Fellows cohort session(s)
- Identify and meet with an on-campus mentor at least once.
- Design a personal learning plan and share the learning plan with site supervisor and on-campus mentor.
- Complete all required pre-orientation forms.
During fellowship
- Submit a brief preliminary report.
- Submit a final report, complete a program evaluation, and correspond with fellowship donor(s) as requested by fellowships program staff.
Quarter after fellowship
- Meet with on-campus mentor at least once.
- Participate in outreach activities to share the experience and help publicize the program.
Selection Process:
For those who seek assistance, advising is available at the Haas Center to help students develop their applications.
This fellowship is intended for individuals whose application, references, and interview demonstrate
- an integration of the fellowship experience with applicant’s academic, personal and/or career goals
- prior demonstrated interest or involvement in the subject area, including related coursework
- a compelling match between applicant’s skills and interests and an organization’s work and needs
- strong potential for the fellowship experience to deepen a candidate’s understanding of an identified community issue or challenge
Complete applications are screened, finalists interviewed, and fellows selected by our partner organizations with the intention to award fellowships within six weeks of the application deadline. Applicants are responsible for checking their Stanford email (including Spam folders) and responding promptly to interview invitations. Failure to respond to an interview invitation will result in withdrawal of the application.
Applicants should respond promptly (within 48 hours) via email to a fellowship offer, or the offer will be rescinded. Once an applicant accepts a fellowship offer, the student should promptly notify all other Stanford and non-Stanford programs to which they have applied that they have accepted another offer and to withdraw their candidacy.
