Summer Experience Opportunities

Look to the States: Subnational action on climate change

The Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) is collaborating with Robert J. Klee to showcase subnational innovations that can be leveraged on a national level to help decarbonize the US economy. Klee’s decarbonization research has looked at many areas, such as state-based clean energy programs and policies, a modernized and equitable electric grid and zero-carbon transit, to name a few.

This summer, Klee will work with students to dig deeper into three new areas of exploration that bring Yale and New Haven together.

  1. Exploring Yale’s creation of carbon offsets by investing in clean energy deployment in the city of New Haven
  2. Developing key metrics with the Yale New Haven Healthcare System for GHG and waste accounting for hospital systems
  3. Crafting strategies, policies, and guidance for cities and states interested in just and equitable transitions of legacy energy infrastructure

 

1. Creating Carbon Offsets: Yale & New Haven (1-2 students)

Yale University has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2020 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Using carbon offsets enables the University to fill near-term gaps between its on-campus greenhouse gas emissions reductions and its neutrality goal in a straightforward and cost-effective way.

This research track will explore how Yale could create carbon offsets by investing in clean energy deployment in New Haven.

Students will primarily focus on three main areas:

  • Housing/municipal building electrification and efficiency (e.g., efficiency or renewable add on to the Yale Homebuyers program)
  • Enhanced urban electric mobility (e.g., investments in EV charging stations and shared community EVs)
  • Community clean energy infrastructure development (solar, storage, biofuels, etc.)

Output:

  • To be determined but will likely consist of a white paper and presentation, as well as 2-3 blogs/articles to be posted on the CBEY website.

Advisors/Mentors:

  • Rob Klee
  • Amber Garrard, Yale Sustainability Office

 

2. GHG and waste accounting: Yale-New Haven Health (1-2 students)

Healthcare systems play an important and expanding role in both our economy and society.  Despite the mission to “first, do no harm,” healthcare systems nonetheless contribute substantial fractions of environmental emissions.  In the US, the healthcare sector is responsible for 8.5 % of national GHG emissions, and similar fractions of toxic air emissions. Researchers and practitioners at Yale and around the world are exploring ways to improve the environmental sustainability of healthcare systems. A key component of this effort is to better understand and account for the greenhouse (GHG) emissions and other material flows of healthcare systems. 

The student researchers will collaborate with Dr. Jodi Sherman, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Yale School of Medicine, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, and members of the administration of Yale-New Haven Health, in developing key metrics for GHG and waste accounting for hospital systems.

The researchers will:

  • Collect data and conduct an accounting of the GHG emissions and waste production of the Yale-New Haven Healthcare System. Researchers will focus on Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions, but will also explore elements of the types (and data limits) of Scope 3 GHG emissions in the healthcare sector
  • Draw upon best practices in GHG and sustainability reporting in the healthcare sector from across the US and Europe

Output:

  • To be determined but will likely consist of a white paper and presentation, as well as 2-3 blogs/articles to be posted on the CBEY website.

Advisors/Mentors/Collaborators:

  • Rob Klee
  • Dr. Jodi Sherman
  • Prof. Mike Oristaglio

 

3. Equitable Energy Transitions (1-2 students)

States and cities across the country currently host a diverse set of energy-related infrastructure, including fossil fuel extraction (e.g., wells and coal mines), fossil fuel processing (e.g., refineries and petrochemical plants), power generation, and fossil fuel transportation or distribution (e.g., pipeline) infrastructure.  As states and cities strive towards more ambitious climate goals, they will face important decisions, challenges, and perhaps opportunities around their legacy energy infrastructure.

In this project, students will develop strategies, policies, and guidance for states and cities interested in just and equitable transitions of legacy energy infrastructure.  Case studies may include:

  • Massachusetts’ Brayton Point coal power plant transition to offshore wind energy hub
  • Washington State’s deal with TransAlta Power to support the Centralia Coal Transition Grants
  • Securitization of coal-fired power plant retirement (e.g., in Montana, Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois)
  • Methane capture and repurposing of coal mines in Appalachia for renewable power (Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania)

Output:

  • To be determined but will likely consist of a guidebook as well as 2-3 blogs/articles to be posted on the CBEY website.

Advisors:

  • Rob Klee

 

General info and requirements:

Where:

  • These summer experiences are remote, but applicants need to be able to work and meet remotely on New Haven time regularly.

Compensation:

  • $6500 stipend

This is for you if:

  • You are passionate about mitigating climate change and decarbonizing the U.S. economy
  • You follow through to the end of a project and have high production standards
  • You can work independently as well as in a team, and handle project management efficiently while working remotely
  • You are confident and respectful in your interactions with various stakeholders
  • You can adjust your course of action based on feedback
  • You are an excellent writer and professional communicator
  • You like other humans, and it shows!

How to apply:

Please send your resume and a short statement of interest (2-3 paragraphs) to cbey@yale.edu. Please include any relevant coursework/research/experience that would lend itself to this opportunity. Note you can apply to more than one of these opportunities, but would only be selected for one.

Apply by April 18th. We look forward to your application!