Summer 2023 Northern Forests Intern

Overview

NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Beijing; Bozeman, Montana; Chicago; New Delhi; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; and Washington, D.C.

NRDC is seeking a Northern Forests intern to work in the International team associated with our Washington, DC office.

Position Summary

Join NRDC's Canada Program to advance the protection of one the world's most important and special places--Canada's boreal forest. The Canadian boreal is home for more than 600 Indigenous communities, provides habitat for at-risk species like caribou and lynx, and is both the largest intact forest and the most carbon-dense terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. Unfortunately, it is under threat from industrial logging, with more than a million acres of forest clearcut every year. While international attention largely focuses on impacts to tropical forests, industrial logging in the boreal is driving devastating climate and biodiversity impacts and violations of Indigenous rights.

This intern will work with the Canada Program's team of advocates, corporate campaigners, lawyers, and scientists to advance NRDC's efforts elevating the importance of protecting Northern forests like the boreal and implementing policy and marketplace protections in Canada, the U.S., and internationally for the boreal forest and Indigenous rights.

This internship will provide experience in advocacy research and writing, uplifting and supporting Indigenous communities, corporate campaign strategy and execution, coalition-building, and policymaking at the local, state, federal, and international levels. It will also provide an excellent opportunity to meet and work directly with some of the leading experts and advocates pushing to protect the Canadian boreal and other globally important Northern forests.

Legal and graduate interns will have additional experiences and responsibilities tailored to their areas of expertise and education.

Responsibilities

• Conducting research as needed into a variety of topics, including supply chain analysis, corporate sustainability policy, Canadian, U.S., and international policies, and more.
• Analyzing and summarizing information for internal and external audiences.
• Writing pieces for public consumption, which may include blogs, letters to the editor, opinion pieces, and more.
• Participating in coalition meetings with partner organizations and supporting coalition efforts including by sharing updates and drafting joint letters.
• Monitoring policymaking efforts for relevant opportunities.
• Responsibilities will be adjusted as needed for legal and graduate interns.

Qualifications

Required

• Commitment to NRDC’s mission and values
• Attention to detail
• Clear and strong writing
• Ability to juggle multiple responsibilities and meet deadlines
• Strongly collaborative approach to work
• Ability to analyze and distill policy and scientific information
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion both within NRDC and in environmental advocacy

Preferred

• GIS & data visualization experience
• French language proficiency

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position is a paid internship with a stipend of $6,000 if an undergraduate student or $10,000 if a graduate or law student paid bi-weekly over the course of 10 weeks.

The incumbent will not qualify as an employee, fellow, volunteer, or independent contractor of NRDC, nor will the incumbent be guaranteed employment at the end of the internship term.

Our offices are open and we are operating in a hybrid model. We offer NRDCers flexibility, and we encourage them to come into the office and spend meaningful time there in collaboration with their colleagues. We call this purposeful presence.

As a science-based organization, NRDC aims to do our part to help contain the COVID-19 public health crisis. For the sake of health, safety, and equity, we ask that people be vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious accommodation or other exemption in accordance with state and local law. We consider a person to be vaccinated two weeks after receiving one full course of a CDC-approved vaccine. In accordance with state or local law, new hires will be asked to attest to vaccination. Those wishing to do so may request medical or religious accommodations or other exemptions. NRDC treats all vaccination-related data confidentially, in keeping with local, state, and federal laws.

To apply, visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your résumé and cover letter. Please mention where you saw this posting and upload any additional materials that showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of applications, we will contact only those candidates we would like to interview. Please no phone calls, emails, or in-person résumé drop-offs.

If you experience technical problems while applying or if you are a person with a disability and need assistance applying online, please reach out to iCIMS Customer Care at 1-800-889-4422.

For more about NRDC, visit www.nrdc.org.

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