In brief
- Stanford programs placed 216 students in paid sustainability internships this summer.
- Students interned with companies, NGOs, and government agencies across 35 industries, 10 countries, and five continents.
- Internships give students opportunities to learn from industry leaders, test-drive sustainability career paths, and build bridges to full-time employment.
Maya Ordas walked through a forestry tool manufacturing facility near Portland, Oregon, helping energy efficiency experts guide specialized microphones along pneumatic equipment and listening for the telltale hiss of a compressed-air leak.
“It’s amazing to see professionals in the industry doing what they do best,” she later reflected. “They’re able to spot things that I never would have thought of – like, these leaks are a huge waste of energy.”
Ordas, a rising senior majoring in environmental systems engineering, spent the summer working for an energy efficiency company through the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability’s Sustainability Pathways Internships – one of 10 paid summer sustainability internship programs available to students across the university.
The programs give Stanford students opportunities to learn from industry leaders, test-drive sustainability career paths, and build bridges to full-time employment. This past summer, over 200 students from five of Stanford’s seven schools held sustainability internships. Some worked on environmental policy and public service. Others joined sustainability-focused startups or supported sustainable energy and circular economy projects.
In their own words
“Employers appreciate candidates who can bring a sustainability lens to a wide range of roles and challenges,” said Joyce Lee, associate director of the Sustainability Pathways Internships program. “You don’t need to come from a particular academic discipline to take part in these internships. Whatever your background, there’s likely an opportunity to apply your skills and interests to advance sustainability.”
Growing interest in summer sustainability internships
In 2024, Doerr School of Sustainability Dean Arun Majumdar set a goal of making sustainability-related internships available and accessible to every interested Stanford student.
“Educating the next generation of leaders is central to our mission, and internships are where that education becomes real. Whether a student is studying science, engineering, economics, policy, law, or public health, a sustainability internship teaches them how to work across disciplines on real-world problems without boundaries – experience that will serve them well no matter where their career takes them,” said Majumdar.
Educating the next generation of leaders is central to our mission, and internships are where that education becomes real.Arun MajumdarChester Naramore Dean, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
In service of that goal, the Doerr School of Sustainability created a centralized Sustainability Internship Hub, where students can learn about and apply for internships offered through 10 programs across the school and its institutes, the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy, Stanford Ecopreneurship , the Haas Center for Public Service, and the Bill Lane Center for the American West.
The 10 programs hold joint internship fairs, info sessions, and internship readiness workshops throughout the academic year to help students learn about summer sustainability internships and how to pursue them.
Participation data shows encouraging results. Since 2022, applications and placements in summer internships through the 10 programs have both increased by more than 70%.
Pursuing sustainability and social good
While most sustainability internships across the 10 programs are funded by the university and span public and private sectors, those offered through the Sustainability Pathways Internships program are fully funded by for-profit companies.
The program placed nearly 50 students in internships at over 30 organizations in 2026, including Laura Blackstone, PhD ’26, who spent her summer interning for a geothermal research and consulting company in New Zealand. Between hikes and hot springs visits, she modeled how heat and water might behave five kilometers underground at a site where the New Zealand government is planning to drill an exploratory well for superhot geothermal energy.
“I’m interested in jobs that are innovating on energy and working toward both improving people’s lives and filling in gaps in knowledge,” said Blackstone, who is now in Southern California seeking to help non-scientists understand and mitigate the risks posed by natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and wildfires. “It’s important to me that sustainability and social good are aligned with whatever career I pursue.”
Helping mission-driven organizations recruit future leaders
Sustainability internships serve an important purpose for both students and host organizations. They connect hosts with young people who are motivated and prepared to work on sustainability challenges, and often lead to longer-term working relationships or full-time job offers.
“It’s a competitive world for us as employers as well,” said David Cogut, co-managing partner at an impact-focused private equity firm that has hosted Sustainability Pathways interns over the past two summers and hired one into a full-time role. “And so, having a connection to an amazing pool of talented people who share those passions is really important to us.”
With student interest in summer sustainability internships strong and growing, Lee is focused on adding more employers next year. “Sustainability isn’t one industry or one kind of job,” she noted. “It touches every sector and calls for every kind of talent. These internships give employers and students an opportunity to assess their mutual fit while laying the foundation for lasting talent pipelines and, ultimately, a stronger sustainability workforce.”
Host an intern, submit your ideas, or apply
Applications for most summer 2027 sustainability internships open in December.
Organizations interested in hosting a Stanford intern next summer are invited to submit an employer interest form. For more information, visit the Sustainability Internships page.
Students are invited to recommend host organizations or share their ideal internships through an online form or by adding them to a wishlist in Lee’s office (Geocorner 112), where she holds internship advising office hours on Wednesdays from 1 to 2 p.m.
For more information
This story was originally published by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
Writer
Tara Roberts
