Schneider Summer Fellowships: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) 2023

EDF offers internships for students and recent graduates in a variety of programs and departments throughout the organization. The ultimate goal of our internship and fellowship program is to provide high-quality experiences (including relevant projects and opportunities for networking) that form the foundation for any individual who is serious about pursuing an environmental career.

Check out the eight opportunities available to Stanford students below.

Blue Economy Intern

San Francisco, CA 

Program/Department Overview

Healthy oceans are the lifeblood of our planet. But they’re in peril – from climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction and other threats. That’s why EDF’s Resilient Fisheries and Oceans program is working to safeguard the oceans and protect nature, while feeding the planet, creating more secure livelihoods and bolstering more equitable societies for human well being. One of the greatest threats to the oceans is overfishing, which is why our dedicated team of scientists, economists and fishery management experts are collaborating with partners around the globe to make sustainable fishing the norm. Through our programs in the U.S., Latin America and Asia Pacific, we draw on strong science and economic principles to advance sustainable fishing practices, forward-looking policies and innovative tools that support the health of our oceans and the people who depend on them for food and their livelihoods.

The Fisheries Solutions Center team works to develop and apply tools and approaches that will help spur broader change to improve ocean biodiversity, fisheries and human well-being. The team’s initiatives include developing, testing and scaling technology innovations to address monitoring, enforcement and other business, science and management needs. As part of the Fisheries Solutions Center, EDF’s Oceans Technology Solutions team identifies opportunities where new and emerging technologies can be used to solve the most important challenges to economic and environmental sustainability facing the world’s fisheries. EDF partners with governments, fishing associations, technology providers and EDF project staff in the U.S., Latin America and the Asia Pacific region to tackle these challenges head on.

Overall Function

Building on previous work identifying the pathways where value is and will be derived from fishermen-collected data, the Blue Economy Intern will work in conjunction with partners and EDF staff to identify, develop and implement the mechanisms and key partnerships that will result in a ‘data marketplace’ where ocean industries can access and procure ocean data for their own benefit. In service of this goal, the intern will also engage in coordination of a global initiative focused on provision of fisher-collected data to all ocean industries. Deliverables will include a draft strategy and report on ensuring this global initiative becomes a ‘project’ under the UN Decade of Ocean Science and a list of key partners and their respective roles for engaging in activities that work towards this objective. We expect the intern to be an integral part of the OTS team during the course of the internship, participating in team meetings and other functions.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Close coordination with external global partners.

• Desk research on various existing and emerging ocean industries.

• Desk research on existing efforts in the fishing industry to collect/make use of data that has broader value beyond that for the fishing industry.

• Interviews and conversations with representatives from the fishing and other industries.

• Work closely with the OTS team.

• Synthesize a comprehensive report describing the results of the research.

• Design a systems map describing relationships between players in this space.

• Participate in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Excellent written and oral communication skills. • Must be well organized, motivated, and detail-oriented. • Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due. • Demonstrate initiative and problem solving skills. • Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Climate Resilient Fisheries Toolkit Intern

San Francisco, CA or New York, NY

Program/Department Overview

Healthy oceans are the lifeblood of our planet. But they’re in peril – from climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction and other threats. That’s why EDF’s Climate Resilient Fisheries and Oceans program is working to safeguard the oceans and protect nature, while feeding the planet, creating more secure livelihoods, and bolstering more equitable societies for human well-being. One of the greatest threats to the oceans is overfishing, which is why our dedicated team of scientists, economists and fishery management experts are collaborating with partners around the globe to make sustainable fishing the norm. Through our programs in the U.S., Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region, we draw on strong science and economic principles to advance sustainable fishing practices, forward-looking policies and innovative tools that support the health of our oceans and the people who depend on them for food and their livelihoods.

EDF’s Fishery Solutions Center (FSC) is working to build the technical and leadership skills of emerging change agents globally, who will help build climate-resilience in their communities and fisheries. Through its Climate-Resilient Fisheries Toolkit, the FSC equips practitioners around the world with tools and resources to diagnose fishery challenges, identify climate threats, develop participatory processes, and utilize science and local knowledge to design and implement management that can help reverse overfishing and build fishery and community resilience to climate change.

Overall Function

The Climate-Resilient Fisheries Toolkit Intern will be a fully embedded member of the FSC Capacity Development Team and will support efforts to uplift partner and community voices, and improve the accessibility and uptake of FSC fishery tools and resources. The intern will have the opportunity to connect with and interview local fishery stakeholders and partners in the Asia Pacific and Latin American region, capturing and sharing their experiences building climate resilient fisheries by authoring blogs and crafting stories to be featured on the FSC website. The intern will also conduct focus group sessions, lead consultations, and develop surveys to solicit feedback from tool and product users. The intern will identify and participate in implementing recommendations to improve tool and resource accessibility, supporting greater uptake and adoption by key stakeholders around the world.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Work with FSC team to conduct surveys, consultations, and focus groups with EDF regional staff and project partners to evaluate experiences accessing and applying select tools and products.

• Develop a set of recommendations for improving tool and product design, for the development of ancillary resources, and other actions that can ensure tools and products better meet the needs of diverse users around the world.

• Participate in implementing recommendations, which may include adapting and updating existing tools, or building out new suites of guidance materials or field kits.

• Conduct research into accreditation opportunities for EDF’s Virtual Fisheries Academy and provide strategic recommendations on how to increase distribution and adoption of curriculum materials.

• Provide virtual facilitation and material preparation support for key workshops in support of projects in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean geographies.

• Conduct interviews with EDF regional teams and local partners to develop “Tool in Action” case studies to add to the Fishery Solution Center Toolkit website.

• Participate in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

• Participate in other projects to support FSC capacity development priorities, as identified and of professional interest.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate student studying environmental science/policy, sociology, global studies, international development, social sciences, communications, education, or other relevant field. • Demonstrated ability to communicate complex information to diverse audiences. • Experience in virtual facilitation or instruction desirable. • Experience user experience design, or human-centered design is desirable. • Demonstrated experience in conducting outreach or surveys, analyzing results and providing recommendations, and presenting findings • Demonstrated experience in crafting compelling stories through conducting interviews. • Graphic design experience or proficiency is a plus. • Microsoft Office proficiency; with particular skill in developing and delivering PowerPoint presentations. • Experience using online facilitation tools, such as Google Slides or Miro, is a plus. • Exceptional problem solver takes personal initiative to identify and resolve problems. • Excellent written and oral communication skills. • Must be well organized, motivated, and detail oriented. • Demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills. • Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Bahasa Indonesia, or other foreign language proficiency desirable. • Quantitative skills desirable but not essential. • Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due. • Demonstrated self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds

Electric Truck Intern

U.S. - Remote

Program/Department Overview

The US Trucks Program is working on solutions for deployment of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses by working with major fleet operators, manufacturers, electric utilities, and other key stakeholders to establish new business, finance, and regulatory models. These solutions will reduce local air and climate pollution by bringing down the cost of vehicle ownership, facilitating the deployment of critical charging infrastructure, and encouraging the use of managed charging to encourage expansion and use of clean energy. As part of that, participation in state and federal venues to shape regulatory and policy outcomes, and socialization of relevant research is critical.

Within the US Trucks program, the Energy Transition team focuses on work before public utility commissions (PUCs) to advance utility programs and policies that support the deployment of these electric trucks and buses. Issue areas include charging infrastructure and grid buildout, innovative electricity rate design, electric load forecasting and system planning, and direct support to fleets including rebates, incentives, and advisory services.

Overall Function

The Electric Truck Intern would be a part of the Energy Transition team in our work before public utility commissions and provide essential contributions to the program's work securing new policies that move the economy toward a cleaner and more equitable future through medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S., and trucks and buses are responsible for an outsized portion of these emissions, as well as the local air pollution that disproportionately harms environmental justice communities. This intern would contribute to our efforts to accelerate truck and bus electrification and mitigate these harms. This work would include researching utility programs and policies relevant to electric vehicles, contributing to testimony and public comments, and monitoring proceedings for new developments. Key deliverables would include policy memos, summaries of commission orders and other parties’ testimony and comments, and contributions to EDF’s own filings.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct research necessary to inform advocacy before multiple agencies in a variety of states, including within coalitions of states working together on solutions development. These agencies would include energy agencies with regulatory oversite of electric utilities, and environmental/administrative agencies considering broad policy developments to encourage electric vehicle deployment.

• Monitor proceedings EDF is engaged in, along with other related proceedings that may begin, to keep the team informed on the landscape of transportation electrification efforts by utilities and public utility commissions.

• Participate in meetings and collaborative efforts with EDF’s partners, including environmental, environmental justice, and community groups.

• Review orders, decisions, testimony, public comments, and other documents filed in the proceedings EDF is engaged in, and provide summaries and recommendations to the team.

• Contribute to documents to be filed in PUC proceedings, including public comments, testimony, motions, and petitions.

• Draft public-facing documents such as factsheets and blog posts on relevant issues to truck and bus electrification.

• Participate in advancing EDF DEI goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated commitment to environmental justice and public health protections. • Coursework or other experience in environmental and/or energy policy. • Excellent research, analysis, writing, and advocacy skills. • Must be well organized, motivated, and detail oriented. • Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Ability to work in a team setting and the ability to work independently when projects are due. • Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds. • Demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills.

Energy Transition Research Intern

San Francisco, CA

Program/Department Overview

The EDF Economics and Global Climate Cooperation (EGCC) program is comprised of economist, modelers and analysts who support all of EDF’s programmatic initiatives. Transportation, already a major source of greenhouse gases (GHGs), is expected to be the largest source of new emissions through 2050. Over 80% of the growth in transportation emissions will be from modes associated with freight movement: ships, medium- and heavyduty vehicles (MHDVs) and aviation. MHDVs account for nearly 60% of these new emissions and are projected to rival light-duty vehicles as the largest source of transportation GHGs by 2050. Heavy transportation also results in serious air-quality impacts to human health. In 2015, 385,000 premature deaths resulted globally from air pollution associated with transportation, with on-road diesel vehicles accounting for half of this impact – by far the largest contributor.

EDF’s goals are being updated routinely; we are now pushing beyond an initial goal that by 2030, 30% of new MHDV sales in the U.S., Europe and China are electric, putting us on a pathway toward achieving our 2050 vision of an entirely emissions-free transportation sector. As well, we are pursuing environmental justice goals established in collaboration with stakeholders in disadvantaged communities burdened by truck pollution, amongst other emissions sources.

Our initiatives have begun in New York, Los Angeles, and Houston. EDF is leading a consortium of northeast states planning for transportation electrification, and new opportunities to support EDF initiatives will arise from Federal leadership, including the Biden Administration investment in EV charging infrastructure and other vehicle and manufacturing incentives. Importantly, EDF is partnering with commercial fleet operators in key cities to demonstrate the viability, cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits of electric trucks. The research intern will support analysis and documentation of these industry-leading pilots.

Overall Function

The Intern will work within the EGCC group in our office in San Francisco, or remotely. Specifically, the intern will work with experts intent on electrifying transportation, with a focus on buses and trucks, and with an interest in simulating how new electricity demand from vehicles can co-evolve with and support rather than threaten a clean and affordable future powered principally by clean electricity.

The overarching function of this internship will be to provide research and analysis support to a team working on policies to accelerate the uptake of electric MHDV from public and private fleet owners. Policy research will consider economic, environmental, and operational barriers or benefits of implementation of several types of buses and trucks, and will help to develop new metrics for evaluating policies with respect to environmental justice goals. The intern will support simulation studies forecasting policy effects on coupled transportation-electricity models. The intern will be collecting data and providing analytical, research, writing and communications support on various related topics, including but not limited to financing strategies for vehicles and charging infrastructure, estimating emissions and ownership cost impacts, and modeling coupled transportation-electricity generation systems. As well, the intern will help to document corporate and public fleet commitments to electrify and/or to decarbonize.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Provide support to the team in research capacities, specifically to help the EDF team engaging in MHDV policy analysis using EDF’s analytical tools.

• Support a research paper documenting the need for new policies to be adopted at state, Federal and international levels; these policies are additional to those already in place or in process in leading jurisdictions such as California.

• Conduct research and evaluation of policies to electrify MHD vehicles, to catalog BEV products and corporate commitments related to transportation electrification. Primary research methods will be literature review, data gathering and analysis, engaging with industry stakeholders, and data gathering and analysis.

• Participate in team calls and meetings.

• Synthesize findings in research memos and associated communications materials.

• Participate in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Coursework in economics, energy or transportation systems simulation, or environmental policy. • Highly proficient in excel and firm analytical capabilities; modeling experience preferred. • Motivated to learn a lot and dig into new material. • Demonstrated interest in transportation. • Firm understanding of energy systems and climate change. • Basic understanding in air quality assessment and management with respect to National Ambient Air Quality Standards. • Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due. • Must be well organized, motivated, and detail-oriented. • Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Demonstrated initiative and problem solving skills. • Demonstrated self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds • Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Equitable Ocean Governance Intern

San Francisco, CA 

Program/Department Overview

Healthy oceans are the lifeblood of our planet. But they’re in peril – from climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction and other threats. That’s why EDF’s Climate Resilient Fisheries and Oceans program is working to safeguard the oceans and protect nature, while feeding the planet, creating more secure livelihoods and bolstering more equitable societies for human wellbeing. One of the greatest threats to the oceans is overfishing, which is why our dedicated team of scientists, economists and fishery management experts are collaborating with partners around the globe to make sustainable fishing the norm. Through our programs in the U.S., Latin America and Asia Pacific, we draw on strong science and economic principles to advance sustainable fishing practices, forward-looking policies and innovative tools that support the health of our oceans and the people who depend on them for food and their livelihoods.

Overall Function

The Equitable Ocean Governance Intern will work with members of the Ocean Science Team to explore the implications of existing and future ocean governance strategies for coupled human ocean systems around the world. The intern will add to existing research that EDF is advancing on topics such as shifting fish stocks, blue carbon, and climate-adapted fisheries management, with a focus on the equity and justice implications of these governance strategies and the role that climate change will play in exacerbating these impacts. Depending on the intern’s professional interests and skills, projects could include: analyzing the potential equity implications that will arise as emerging spatial ocean uses (e.g. offshore wind) interact with both historic users (e.g. fisheries) and a rapidly changing climate; exploring the roles of indigenous communities in the potential proliferation of blue carbon in coastal areas; and advancing research on the role of seaweed aquaculture in providing socioeconomic benefits to coastal communities around the world. The intern will be a fully integrated member of the Oceans Program Science Team, working closely with other EDF staff and participating in weekly team meetings.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Following intake discussions with supervisor to assess skills, interests, and career path, select focal project(s) and develop work plan with milestones and desired outputs.

• Conduct research on a range of topics relating to ocean governance, fisheries management, spatial ocean planning, and climate-resilient oceans. Depending on the Intern’s skill set, this might include expert interviews, data analysis, literature review, or spatial mapping.

• Work with members of the Ocean Science team to determine knowledge gaps and design projects that will support a variety of cross-cutting initiatives.

• Synthesize existing research on these topics and develop topic-based memos, fact sheets, and case studies.

• Participate in team meetings (as academic schedule allows) and check-ins and function as a fully integrated team member

• Participate in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Excellent written and oral communication skills. • Skilled researcher with experience reading and synthesizing academic literature • Must be well organized, motivated, and detail-oriented. • Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due. • Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds. • Demonstrate initiative and problem solving skills.

Net Zero Innovation Intern

Boston, MA or San Francisco, CA

Program/Department Overview

EDF+Business has been working with the private sector to address the world’s most pressing environmental problems for over thirty years. Through our Net Zero Ambition and Action team we are working to get the leading global companies to have public net zero goals and transformation plans to achieve them; to share the lessons from their journey globally for other companies to learn from and act on; and to engage in systems change efforts like policy advocacy and finance to ensure a stable climate by midcentury. EDF+Business has a major new initiative to create a Net Zero Accelerator. The goal of the Accelerator is to help companies act now on climate change. It will enable key companies, in key sectors and geographies to build and implement climate action plans through clear and actionable knowledge, tools and trainings, capacity-building and coaching.

Overall Function

The Net Zero Accelerator Intern will support the growth, expansion and impact of the Accelerator by plugging into the developing work on closing the innovation and technology gap for corporate climate action. Supporting the work of the HBS Leadership Fellow Innovation Director, the intern will conduct a preliminary analysis of the climate technology landscape, identify existing resources and leading organizations operating in the space, and recommending areas for further research.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Conduct a literature review of existing research and analysis on the gap between corporate needs and available climate technology. Synthesize findings for the team.

• Research organizations working in the climate innovation and technology space and their accompanying resources. Identify resources that could be incorporated into the Net Zero Accelerator. Identify organizations that could be considered as partners.

• Provide support to the team as needed for other research, analysis or projects that need coordination.

• Participates in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated interest or coursework in climate or clean energy technology. • Experience in literature reviews or research projects. • Excellent written and oral communication skills. • Must be well organized, motivated, and detail-oriented. • Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due. • Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds. • Demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills.

Small-Scale Fisheries Intern

San Francisco, CA

Program/Department Overview

Healthy oceans are the lifeblood of our planet. But they’re in peril – from climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction and other threats. That’s why EDF’s Climate Resilient Fisheries and Oceans program is working to safeguard the oceans and protect nature, while feeding the planet, creating more secure livelihoods and bolstering more equitable societies for human wellbeing. One of the greatest threats to the oceans is overfishing, which is why our dedicated team of scientists, economists and fishery management experts are collaborating with partners around the globe to make sustainable fishing the norm. Through our programs in the U.S., Latin America and Asia Pacific, we draw on strong science and economic principles to advance sustainable fishing practices, forward-looking policies and innovative tools that support the health of our oceans and the people who depend on them for food and their livelihoods.

EDF’s Fishery Solutions Center is working with a coalition of partner organizations to support small-scale fisheries (SSF) and communities through co-developing an online platform that empowers SSF stakeholders. The SSF Resource and Collaboration Hub (“SSF Hub”; https://ssfhub.org) is an interactive, multilingual website where users can access resources to support their fisheries and connect with people around the world to share experiences and advocate for prosperous, equitable, and resilient SSFs and communities.

The United Nations declared 2022 the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA), presenting a key opportunity to support SSF priorities. As IYAFA comes to a close in early 2023, there is a critical opportunity to reflect and recount all that was accomplished, summarize the actions and priorities that SSF actors have voiced, and implement the ideas that were generated during IYAFA. EDF’s Fishery Solutions Center team and the Intern will support the SSF Hub in realizing IYAFA’s vision by ensuring that the activities and messages shared by SSF communities during IYAFA are amplified and acted on in the years to come.

Overall Function

The Small-Scale Fisheries Intern will support the SSF Hub and the vision set forth for IYAFA by celebrating the activities that occurred throughout IYAFA, raising awareness of SSF priorities and calls-to-action, and engaging with an SSF Hub online community that includes SSF actors and supporters committed to strengthening SSFs. Over the course of the internship, the Intern will develop and hone their project management skills, work alongside EDF colleagues and our partners to implement SSF-focused campaigns, and develop communications materials for diverse audiences. The Intern will have the opportunity to engage with SSF Hub users around the world, as well as partners involved in the SSF Hub, including NGOs and fishing organizations. By the end of the internship, the Intern will increase their familiarity of SSFs and the broad set of issues SSF communities face, and through their internship accelerate sustainable SSFs and communities around the world.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Following intake discussions with supervisor to assess skills, interests, and career path, select focal project(s) and develop work plan with milestones and desired outputs.

• Participate in team meetings and check-ins and function as a fully integrated team member.

• Develop content for the SSF Hub’s community forum and social media channels to promote discussion of SSF-relevant topics (e.g., climate resilience, fisher advocacy).

• Test new engagement strategies with SSF Hub community members to increase activity on the SSF Hub and SSF Hub social media platforms.

• Create materials (e.g., case studies, infographics, webpage content, etc.) on priority issues in SSF (e.g., learning networks, gender equality) that are accessible to diverse global audiences and varied learning styles.

• Analyze the SSF Hub’s Resource Library to identify thematic gaps and address gaps through research or developing new materials.

• Write article(s) to be published on the SSF Hub and in the SSF Hub’s newsletter on key topics (e.g. summarizing key events and accomplishments during IYAFA, successes and challenges with implementing the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, and additional needs voiced by SSF communities to support their implementation).

• Participate in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Coursework or interest in fisheries, environmental science, natural resources management, social sciences, international development, communications, web design, marketing, or related fields is desirable. • Excellent written and oral communication skills, including creating written or visual communications material such as articles, case studies, video, infographics, etc. • Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds. • Experience or demonstrated interest in working with diverse groups. • Well organized, self-motivated and detail-oriented. • Demonstrated initiative and problem-solving skills. • Ability to work on multiple projects, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team, including with colleagues from different technical and cultural backgrounds, and distributed across multiple geographies. • Ability and willingness to be flexible and adapt to an evolving area of work. • Interest in international and community work. • Language skills including, but not limited to French, Bahasa, Swahili, Portuguese, or Spanish are not required, but desirable.

US Federal Climate Innovation Intern

Washington, DC

Program/Department Overview

In the U.S., EDF staff operate as experts, pragmatists, strategists, advocates and doers, as well as enablers of others. By focusing our efforts on accelerating the pace and durability of transformation during this decade, we are helping to build more just, equitable, healthy and resilient communities.

US Region Initiatives is home to many U.S.-focused projects including clean energy, domestic methane, state carbon markets, ZEVs, energy decarbonization, western water, smart agriculture and health. Staff nested here will pull together matrixed teams across EDF to execute our strategies on these organizational priorities. Within this division, the Federal Climate Innovation (FCI) Team is focused on designing and advancing federal policy for climate innovation that promotes rapid, safe, and equitable development and deployment of new climate technologies and solutions.

Overall Function

The FCI Team has developed a tool called the Federal Climate Innovation Funding Tracker, a data visualization tool that combines a unique dataset of federal climate investment and visualization strategies that allows users to intuitively understand and explore how much the U.S. federal government invests in different climate innovation solutions and sectors. We seek an intern to help us deepen and expand the impact of this tool, bringing greater clarity to where key gaps can be solved by smart public policy, including building out a dataset to better visualize climate innovation efforts by other federal agencies (e.g. the Department of Defense, NIST, NOAA) and/or the investments contained in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The effort requires a careful and systematic consideration of congressional intent, federal implementation, program design, and the prioritization of key solutions. The project will culminate in a data visualization tool, translating the intern’s efforts into a dynamic and compelling deliverable, while providing the intern with a deeper understanding of the processes that underpin the United States federal innovation investments.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Work with the FCI Team and external consultants to research levels of federal spending dedicated to innovation in different sectors and solutions, utilizing federal budget documents, appropriations numbers, and direct interviews with government officials and other expert to understand the objectives of key programs.

• Create a Microsoft Excel dataset characterizing specific federal spending based on a variety of categorizations, and synthesize key insights for EDF advocacy.

• Provide additional analytical support to the team as needed in a fast-paced and exciting environment. • Participate in advancing EDF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Have a demonstrated interest in federal policy and technological innovation. • Coursework demonstrating the ability to manage and analyze quantitative data (quantitative sciences, policy analysis). • Highly proficient in Microsoft excel and ability to think creatively around collecting and categorizing data based on incomplete or inconsistently defined criteria. • Direct experience with the federal budgeting process, or specific federal innovation programs would be a plus. • Excellent written and oral communication skills. • Must be well-organized, motivated, and detail-oriented. • Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. • Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due. • Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds. • Demonstrate initiative and problem solving skills.