Environmental Intern (12-Week Assignment)

Clearwater Paper; Arkansas City (AR); On-site; USD 21,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Dedicated Mentorship

Real-World Impact

Inclusive Culture

Career-Boosting Skills

Job summary

Clearwater Paper is offering an Environmental Intern position based onsite at one of our pulp and paper mills in Cypress Bend, AR or Lewiston, ID. You will work closely with engineers to gain real-world experience across environmental, regulatory, and production challenges.

You’ll design, implement, and maintain systems that support our sustainability and manufacturing goals while building practical expertise in papermaking processes, compliance, and data analysis.

Qualifications

• Majoring in Environmental Science, Engineering or Chemistry with a 3.0+ overall GPA.
• High attention to detail with strong organizational, troubleshooting, and analytical skills.
• Effective oral and written communication skills, leadership experience, and self-motivation.

Responsibilities

• Master the Process: Partner directly with Clearwater Paper engineers to learn the end-to-end papermaking cycle—from raw materials to final distribution.
• Drive Operational Excellence: Identify operational efficiencies and recommend strategic improvement projects across the facility.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner effectively with team members, plant staff, and departmental leaders.
• Lead Environmental Projects: Take ownership of hands-on assignments in environmental compliance & reporting, systems & utility operations, data & field work, and sustainability.

Education

Majoring in Environmental Science, Engineering or Chemistry with a 3.0+ overall GPA

Strong organizational, troubleshooting, and analytical skills

Effective oral and written communication, leadership experience, and self-motivation

Job description

Where you will work

This opportunity will be based onsite at one of our 2 fully integrated pulp and paper mills, in either Cypress Bend, AR or Lewiston, ID.

The Cypress Bend facility is in the historic Mississippi River Delta and produces bleached paperboard and bleached Kraft pulp, used in the production of folding cartons, commercial print paperboard, carded packaging, and cup stock.

The Lewiston mill is the original Clearwater Paper manufacturing facility, producing paperboard products. Approximately two hours away from Clearwater Paper's headquarters in Spokane, Washington, the Lewiston paper mill is a key component in Clearwater Paper's business strategy.

What you will do

Kickstart Your Career as an Environmental Intern at Clearwater Paper!

As a leading independent supplier of paperboard packaging, Clearwater Paper offers a hands-on internship where you'll tackle real-world environmental, regulatory, and production challenges at scale. Working directly alongside our Department Managers, you'll help design, implement, and maintain the systems that drive our operational and sustainability goals.

What You'll Gain:

• Real-World Impact: Dive into high-value strategic projects while mastering our manufacturing processes
• Dedicated Mentorship: Benefit from intentional coaching, professional guidance, and cross-departmental exposure
• Inclusive Culture: Join a collaborative team that values diverse perspectives and shared experiences
• Career-Boosting Skills: Walk away with technical expertise, invaluable industry knowledge to build out your resume

Key Responsibilities:

• Master the Process: Partner directly with Clearwater Paper engineers to learn the end-to-end papermaking cycle-from raw materials to final distribution
• Drive Operational Excellence: Identify operational efficiencies and recommend strategic improvement projects across the facility
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner effectively with team members, plant staff, and departmental leaders
• Lead Impactful Environmental Projects: Take ownership of hands-on assignments in areas such as:
  • Environmental Compliance & Reporting: Air quality modeling, hazardous waste tracking, and regulatory reporting for air, water, and waste.
  • Systems & Utility Operations: Management and monitoring of drinking water and wastewater systems.
  • Data & Field Work: Environmental lab analysis, field surveys, risk assessments, chemical inventories, and data modeling.
  • Sustainability: Developing and supporting company-wide sustainability initiatives.

What you will need

To be successful in this position, we are looking for candidates with the following:

• Majoring in Environmental Science, Engineering or Chemistry with a 3.0+ overall GPA
• High attention to detail with strong organizational, troubleshooting, and analytical skills
• Effective oral and written communication skills, leadership experience, and self-motivation
• Industrial Environment - subject to extreme heat and cold
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) must be worn in the mill environment
• Noisy, dusty, and working around moving equipment

Clearwater Paper will not offer sponsorship for employment-based visa status (including, but not limited to, H-1B visa status and other employment-based nonimmigrant visas) for this position. Accordingly, all applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis and must not require Clearwater Paper's sponsorship to continue to work legally in the United States.

This role will be open for a minimum of 2 weeks or at the point a successful candidate is selected.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.

For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.