The University of Wisconsin–Madison Corporate Sustainability Internship Program is a summer-long internship program that provides UW–Madison students with real-world sustainability experience in a corporate environment.
All student interns work on clearly defined corporate sustainability projects that include the evaluation of:
- At least one quantifiable sustainability metric (e.g., gallons of water saved, kWh of electricity, tons waste reduced, etc.)
- How the environmental sustainability project fits into a business framework (e.g., regulatory-driven, market research, process improvements, internal training materials, etc.)
Prior to starting their internships, all student interns will participate in a three-day sustainability and corporate culture bootcamp. This three-day experience will be run personally by the Office of Sustainability staff. Both professionalism and sustainability-related topics will be covered. After completing their internship for the summer, interns will come together for one day to share, discuss, and reflect on their internship experiences.
The Office of Sustainability serves the entire UW-Madison campus. Therefore, our program provides businesses the opportunity to access a broad talent pool of excellent undergraduate and graduate students from across the university. Our program manager will personally match corporate projects with students who possess the required skillsets. Interns are overseen by a mentor within their respective host organization, and the host organizations directly pay interns. In addition, selected interns are awarded a small scholarship from the university.
If you are a host organization or a UW–Madison student and would like more information about the program, please fill out and submit the inquiry form.
Meet Our Inaugural Interns - Summer 2023
Olivia Hench, Senior
Major: Environmental Engineering
Project: Evaluated opportunities to reduce end-of-life tire waste stream
“I had a great experience interning for Alter Trading this past summer. I was initially drawn to this position because of the environmental focus. I have a strong interest in sustainability, and I hope to use my degree to help the environment in any manner and that was exactly what I got to do at Alter Trading. It was a 12-week program that focused on researching tire recycling and reuse applications, specifically civil engineering applications of the material. Not only did I get to learn about an industry that I was unfamiliar with, I also took part in planning a tire-derived aggregate test plot that has the potential to be installed within the company. In doing this, I was able to work in a professional environment and manage a large-scale project by myself. These are skills that I plan to take with me in any future career.”
Samantha Lambert, Senior
Major: Environmental Engineering
Projects: Greenhouse gas reporting, scope 3 emissions tool development, internal reporting for science based target initiative (SBTi)
“Carbon emissions, data analysis, greenhouse gas verifications, and sustainability scoring contributed to my summer internship at Ramboll. As a sustainability intern, I was able to work on a variety of projects dealing with climate change and the effect the private sector has on our environment. I found this internship through WiSH and as soon as I read the description, I knew I was going to apply. I learned all about the specifics of consulting dealing with sustainability, and I cannot wait to pursue this after graduation. This internship helped me determine where my career will take me in helping the environment.”
Nalanjan Biswas, Second-Year MS Student
Programs: Environment and Resources, Energy Analysis and Policy Certificate
Projects: Evaluate market potential for wastewater energy transfer systems (WET) across the U.S.
“My Salas O’Brien internship was truly engaging from day one, focusing on two key aspects: new energy systems and North American market analysis. My responsibilities involved researching innovative wastewater energy recovery technologies to improve building energy efficiency, identifying potential markets in North America for their implementation, and modeling market-approach tools used for shortlisting and selecting potential clients of Salas O’Brien. What truly exhilarated me was the autonomy to shape my deliverables, allowing me to leverage my academic background and prior experiences to provide valuable, actionable insights that could significantly enhance Salas O’Brien’s contributions to improving the quality of life.”
Questions?
Professor Andrea Hicks
Director of Sustainability Research and Education and Hanson Family Fellow in Sustainability
UW-Madison Office of Sustainability
hicks5@wisc.edu
Erin Bulson
Corporate Sustainability Internship Program Manager
bulson@wisc.edu
Our Corporate Partners
Opportunities for Summer 2023
Applications for the following internships will be accepted between February 1–28, 2023, via the UW-Madison WISH portal.