Submitted by Grainne Kennedy on Wed, 2017-01-25 08:42
Interested in gaining real world experience, adding to your CV, and making an impact in the field of environmental sustainability? Well this year’s paid internships could be for you – and they are now open for applications!
There are three positions to be filled, each lasting six to eight weeks during the summer. Aimed at current or recently graduated (i.e. within the last year) students, these varied and exciting opportunities provide a chance to gain experience working with professionals in the field of sustainability, while making important contributions to improving the University’s environmental performance.
The three internships provide a variety of opportunities. One will focus on promotion and marketing of sustainable food, building on the University’s brand new Sustainable Food policy and working closely with the University Catering Service. Another will look at understanding and monitoring ecology and biodiversity on the University’s estate, paving the way for further work to meet the University’s aims in this important area. In our final internship, the University of Cambridge is partnering with the University of Tokyo to operate an exchange, meaning one lucky applicant will get the chance to travel to Japan to work on environmental sustainability issues there.
Our internships have proven highly successful and enjoyable in previous years. All eight students taking part in the internships over the past 2 years said that they would recommend the scheme to a friend or colleague. For many of the interns, their experiences have also helped them gain relevant roles working in environmental sustainability. Here’s what some of our previous interns said:
- “The internship was a perfect opportunity not only to engage in a real project and make a difference, but also to learn about issues and strategies that another part of the world faced and utilized.” –Satowa Kinoshita, Cambridge student selected to go to Singapore in the summer of 2015
- “The internship has given me valuable experience - I have greatly enjoyed myself, have loved working with the E&E team and would recommend everyone to apply!” – Cecily Church, Waste Management Intern 2016
- “This internship in the Environment and Energy team was an interesting opportunity to work on sustainability issues from a different perspective, and help to make changes within the University” – Laura Briggs, Carbon Management intern 2015.
As well as providing great opportunities, the internships also benefit the University’s sustainability efforts. For instance, in the summer of 2015 Christina Larkin worked to develop a Green Labs Programme. This programme was successfully launched by the Environment & Energy section and has since provided funding for, raised awareness about, and trained staff on a range of sustainability-related improvements in University laboratories. In the summer of 2016, Robert Cashman worked with the Environment & Energy section on a project looking at student engagement. Many of the outputs from his project are now informing the way the University engages with students on environmental sustainability, for instance through brand new induction materials, webinars and social media.
If you’re interested in any of the internships, visit our website for details and find out how to apply: http://bit.ly/1De2Emm. The deadline for applications is Sunday 19 February at midnight, with interviews to be held between Monday 6 and Friday 10 March.