Putting the Pieces Together: Climate and Society Students Return from Their Summer Internships

The Climate and Society class of 2012 returned to the classroom for one last week of coursework after completing their summer internships. Their summer semester began in May with a week of classes focusing on professional development and how to best use the skills they acquired during the past year in their professional lives.

When class ended on May 25, students scattered across the globe to apply those skills. Internships took students everywhere from right here in New York City to Mountain View, California and Lima, Peru. Their internships were at equally diverse organizations ranging from NASA to Oxfam Peru to L’Oreal. “My internship was a really wonderful experience and something I could have never predicted,” Emily Simmons said of her time at L’Oreal. Though one might not initially think makeup and climate go together, Emily found out otherwise. “During the internship I honed the communication skills I learned in C+S which provided me with the ability to explain environmental climate issues through internal and external communications within a corporate setting.”

With internships in such unique locations and fields, students were eager to swap stories and catch-up after a summer apart. It wasn’t all fun and games, though. To complete their degree, each student gave a 20-minute presentation on their internship to their classmates, professors, and future students. “It was great to see what each of my classmates was doing over the summer,” said Avipsa Mahapatra who interned at the World Resources Institute in Washington, DC.

C+S Director Ben Orlove, who organized the summer session, concurred. “It was such a diverse set of presentations,” he said. “From working on wetland restoration policies in Louisiana to launching a local food distribution start-up, each student really showed how varied the applications of the degree can be.”

After the last presentation finished, the C+S class of 2012 officially changed their titles from students to alumni. Congratulations to the C+S class of 2012 and best wishes on your future endeavors!