Behavioral Research Intern

Position Overview

About Rare

Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive. For over 45 years, across 60 countries, we have inspired and empowered millions of people and their communities to shift their behaviors and practices to protect our shared planet.

We are a global leader in driving social change for people and nature. We facilitate solutions that help individuals, their communities and their local leaders tackle global environmental challenges, manage their resources, and take charge of their futures. And we believe that the cumulative power of individual and community action is a vital pathway to safeguarding and restoring our shared waters, lands, and climate.

Rare’s organizational culture is results-oriented, entrepreneurial, and defined by our five core values: Courage to Take Risks, Commitment to Accountability, Mindset of Solutionology, Investments in People, and Spirit of Celebration. We are working toward ambitious goals and creating measurable social change

Position Overview

In 2017, Rare launched the Center for Behavior & the Environment to bring the best insights from behavioral science and design to tackle the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. This team of researchers, trainers, and designers works to elevate and integrate behavioral science into environmental programming through research, training, and advising both internal and external to Rare.

In 2019, Rare launched its Climate Culture program, aiming to apply behavioral science to help millions of Americans shift their behavior to more climate-friendly options. Throughout the development of the Climate Culture program, the Center for Behavior and the Environment has worked closely to provide behavioral science expertise in integrating research into program design and evaluation. The Behavioral Research Intern role will involve close collaboration with members of the Center for Behavior & the Environment and Climate Culture teams.

The Behavioral Research Intern role is designed for current or recently graduated undergraduate or graduate students interested in learning about and applying behavioral science and research methods to support Climate Culture’s mission. A project may include assisting in the design and execution of cross-sectional and experimental studies, literature reviews to inform program design, or semi-structured qualitative interviews.

This eight-week paid internship will be held from June 5th - July 28th, 2023.

Targeted Education, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Interest in applying behavioral science to address real-world challenges
• Prior experience in writing, editing, and conducting primary and secondary psychological research
• Statistical analysis skills (R preferred), including analyzing experiments and surveys
• Ability to quickly pick up new software, tools, and methods and apply them to problems at hand
• Familiarity with conducting and analyzing qualitative data
• Comfort in creating research summaries and decks for non-technical audiences
• Well-organized, self-motivated, and able to manage deadlines independently

Project Examples

Past Behavioral Research Intern projects included:

Quantitative experimental research

• Support the design, execution, and analysis of a pre-registered experimental study testing the effect of exposure to messaging about the impact of individual climate action on stated green policy support
• Support the design and execution of a conjoint experimental study to determine how people value different environmental labels (e.g., Carbon Neutral Label) that make up an individual product. Write a 500-word blog post for Rare’s website about key research insights

Qualitative research

• Semi-structured online qualitative interviews to learn about people’s motivations and barriers to eating less meat. Understand how people perceive the climate impact of meat. Analysis of qualitative data using a thematic approach. Presentation to Climate Culture team members. Research highlight is available here.

Secondary research

• A literature review on adopting a climate-friendly behavior (e.g., installation of rooftop solar), including the demographics of current solar owners, known barriers and motivations to solar installation, and past and current interventions being deployed around the world to increase the adoption of solar.

Important Commitments

• To Rare’s mission and values
• To address important environmental issues such as climate change, overfishing, sustainable agriculture, etc. is required. Experience working on these issues is not required.

Application and Selection Process:

Rare’s Talent team will contact candidates directly for interviews and finalize hiring decisions between the end of April and mid-May. Please keep in mind that not all candidates will be contacted for interviews. Due to the volume of applications, we do not confirm receipt of applications. You can confirm submission of your application by logging back into iCIMS via our Career Page.

*The selected candidate must have current residence in the following states:

• Virginia
• Maryland
• DC

Rare is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply. EOE/M/F/D/V