Planetary Solutions in Clean Energy

Do you believe clean energy can advance racial, economic, and environmental justice?

We do too!

That’s why the Yale Center for Business and the Environment is thrilled to offer Planetary Solutions in Clean Energy. This program offers summer research and internship opportunities to students at Yale who are committed to advancing energy equity and pursuing a career in the clean energy field.

Selected interns and research fellows will each receive:

a $10,000 stipend for the summer.
supervision and guidance, and share and learn from peers in weekly meetings as a cohort.
support and guidance from Rob Klee, Yale lecturer and former Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

These opportunities will focus on energy justice, scalable decarbonization innovations, municipalities, and sub-national actors moving on climate change solutions, or beyond. We partner with non-profit, low-profit, and governmental organizations that are committed to energy equity and the investment in and deployment of clean energy into low- and middle-income communities.

Note:

This program supports a total of eight (8) interns/fellows for the summer period.
Students with financial need and those who are under-represented in the field of clean energy are strongly encouraged to apply.
These opportunities are open to returning Yale students. Graduating students are not eligible.

Applications are now open!

Below the eight opportunities that will be offered this summer. Please have a read and apply - application instructions are included within each opportunity.

March 1st - applications open
March 27th (11:59 PM ET) - applications close
March 1st - April 11th - rolling interviews (given these are rolling, please get your materials in as soon as possible!)
Decisions sent on or about April 17th

We are delighted to announce this summer's partner organizations! Click on each to read the description of the opportunity and how to apply:

Yes, you can apply to more than one opportunity, but you can only participate in one.
The deadline for applications is 11:59 PM ET on Monday, March 27, 2023. See the blue box above for a complete timeline.
More questions? Rob Klee is the person to ask regarding content. Heather Fitzgerald is the contact for questions on process and logistics.

In addition to working at the host organization or on the proposed research question over the summer, we build a cohort-based experience for participating students. We believe that the most benefit comes when students are well-supported by mentors and have the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with their peers. The below is our framework in support of this effort:

Welcome lunch at the end of April/early May, once the cohort is finalized (students + CBEY team)
Clean energy field trip and hike in Connecticut in mid-May/early June (students + CBEY team)
Official start of 10-week summer internship or research fellowship on or about May 31st
Weekly check-in as a group on progress-to-date and plans going forward, likely Monday mornings, for 1 hour, from 9 am – 10 am ET (students + Rob Klee)
Weekly “brown bag” lunches with a guest from one of our eight host organizations to talk about their work, a challenge they are facing, and how this internship is helping, and open Q&A, likely Tuesdays, for 1 hour between 11 am – 2 pm ET (students + hosts + CBEY team)
Weekly one-on-one mentorship meetings with Rob Klee, for 30 minutes, likely towards the end of the week, flexibly scheduled (individual student + Rob Klee)
Official end of the 10-week summer internship or research fellowship on or about August 5th
Fall Showcase, where students are invited to present their “culminating piece*” from their summer work, in November alongside Yale's Clean Energy Conference (students, hosts, CBEY team, and other interested members of the Yale clean energy community).

*The “culminating piece” from the students’ summer work could be something they create while on the job for their host, such as a white paper, guide, policy memo, or the like. Or, it could be an academic poster, a talk with slides, art project, video blog, social media campaign, op-ed article, news article, peer-reviewed article draft, or any other creative content.

Our inaugural cohort was an amazing group! We enjoyed working and learning with them. You can read more about many of them in the Related News section on the right.

Also, watch this video featuring our first cohort on a field trip to Quantum Biopower and Sessions Woods.