Office of Sustainability seeks undergrad interns

The IU Office of Sustainability is recruiting its seventh group of undergraduate and graduate interns for the 2011-12 school year.

“The general premise of the program is that, you know, we come to campus, and our primary objective is to go to class and engage in learning,” Assistant Director Emilie Rex said. “But really, the built-in environment and ecosystem that campus operates in provides so many learning opportunities.”

The office will hire 18 interns to implement eco-friendly programs both on campus and in the Bloomington community.

Some of the interns will be mentored directly by the office while working with IU’s sustainability efforts. Others will have off-campus mentors and plan programs centered around living sustainably in off-campus housing, among other goals.

The last 130 interns who have gone through the program have organized projects such as the Energy Challenge, E-Waste Days and the Hoosier-to-Hoosier
Community Sale.

Interns are expected to work 10-15 hours a week for the duration of the school year and attend a seminar that meets for one hour every other week. Undergraduate interns are paid $9 per hour and graduate interns receive $11 an hour.

“We feel there is a great benefit to students who apply,” Rex said. “It is a very competitive process, but they have this research experience that’s now being tied to implementation. We really feel like the skill set that we develop with this program is applicable to a wide range of career opportunities.”

— Katie Mettler