Internship Program
E3 Network's internship program pays for graduate students in economics to work with non-governmental organizations on environmental issues during the summer months. NGOs benefit from the expertise of the interns' training in economics and gain a better appreciation for the role economics can play in environmental protection. Graduate students gain insights into the real issues confronting the environmental community and explore possible avenues for their research and professional development. Recent internships included placement with the National Research Defense Council, International Rivers Network, Clean Air-Cool Planet, and the Global Development and Environment Institute.
2009 Interns
Emily Fisher
Bard College, pursuing M.S. in Environmental Policy
Union of Concerned Scientists
During the summer, I worked with the Climate team at the Union of Concerned Scientists to complete a fact sheet titled “Climate Change in the United States: The Prohibitive Costs of Inaction”. The fact sheet highlights some of the climate impacts — such as sea level rise, threats to public health, infrastructure damage, and impacts to recreational resources — that will have economic consequences for the U.S. if warming emissions continue unabated. I also explored topics for a new series of fact sheets on the benefits of climate action. Both of these projects involve reading economic and scientific research and translating it for a public not necessarily trained in economics or climate science. My favorite part of the internship was working with such a creative, dedicated group of people and learning about how a science-based nonprofit works to promote a healthier environment.
Scott McConnell
University of Missouri Kansas City, pursuing Ph.D. in Economics
Marine Conservation Biology Institute
I had the opportunity to work for the policy arm of the Marine Conservation Biological Institute (MCBI) in Washington D.C. They are currently active in promoting and helping construct an Ocean Management Objective that effectively promotes intelligent and environmentally sound uses of the marine environment. To this end, they are focusing on Marine Spatial Planning as an institutional mechanism which incorporates stakeholder participation in planning and organizing uses of the ocean. I have been assigned the task of analyzing potential costs and benefits to the economic sectors participating in ocean uses. This has been a fantastic experience not only to utilize my economic knowledge but also to learn a great deal about issues in the marine environment and more fully understand the political process in Washington. I would like to sincerely thank Kristen Sheeran and the E3 Network for this opportunity and MCBI for being great hosts. This experience has awakened in me a sincere interest in the politics and economics of the ocean environment.
Alejandra Rueda
UC Berkeley, pursuing a Masters in Energy and Resources
Conservation Strategy Fund
During my internship, I worked on the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) mechanism, which is now an important issue of international negotiations on climate change policy. My work focused on Colombia and the potential benefits that country could reach from REDD implementation.
I really enjoyed the fact that I was doing something that could be useful to my country in terms of some recommendations we can give, taking into account Colombia’s progress on this subject. I also enjoyed the opportunity to work with the Conservation Strategy Fund staff under John Reid's leadership as well as to share ideas and points of view with people from Conservation International who developed the Osiris model (Open Source Impacts of REDD incentives Spreadsheet), a great tool to asses possible REDD negotiations.
I found my internship so interesting that I decided to do my Master project related to the work that I did. Thank you for this amazing opportunity.
Robert Hiltonsmith
New School for Social Research, pursuing a Ph.D. in Economics
The Trust for Public Land
I spent my summer in Washington, DC studying the different economic and socio-demographic factors that influence city spending on public parks. Since identifying the cities with higher and lower than expected spending, as predicted by median per-capita income, I decided to focus on two cities, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, with many similarities (geographic location, etc.) but very different levels of spending on parks. I plan to submit an article about the study titled “A Tale of Two Cities” to a non-academic publication such as “Parks and Recreation” by the end of the summer. I also plan to write up a more detailed version of the study and publish it in an academic journal as well.
In addition to my work on the determinants of per-capita park spending, I helped Peter Harnik, director of the Center for City Park Excellence, gather facts and research for his book due soon to the publisher. I also helped refine the methodology for valuing the benefits of public parks and suggested revised values and discount rates for various parks activities based on U.S. Forest Service publications.
Past Interns
Meet past interns and learn about their exciting projects:
