Summer 2027 Industrial Pollution Solutions Intern

Natural Resources Defense; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 36,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stipend: $7,000

Job summary

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) seeks an undergraduate intern for its Environmental Health team in Chicago. The candidate will report to the Midwest Environmental Health Director and work onsite 3 days per week for a 10-week period.

The internship offers a $7,000 stipend, a hybrid work model, and a focus on campaigns around oil and gas accountability, environmental justice, and community health. Applicants should be enrolled in an undergraduate program and demonstrate strong

Qualifications

• Must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program.
• Rising sophomores, juniors, seniors, and May 2027 graduates are eligible to apply.

Responsibilities

• Support campaigns on environmental health, cumulative impacts, and corporate accountability, focusing on Illinois communities.
• Develop community health assessments, policy briefs, reports, and educational materials to strengthen advocacy.
• Assist with research, data collection, and analysis for environmental health projects.
• Contribute to outreach, coalition-building, and engagement with community organizations.

Skills

Written communication

Verbal communication

Project management

Attention to detail

Research/data analysis

Initiative/creativity

Team collaboration

DEI commitment

Job description

Overview

NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) works to safeguard the Earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. NRDC combines the power of more than 3 million members and online activists with the expertise of some 800 policy advocates, lawyers, scientists, and communication experts to confront the climate crisis, protect nature, ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. As an international nonprofit environmental organization, NRDC is working to address the world’s most urgent environmental challenges, and advance innovative, science-based, and enforceable solutions.

Since our founding in 1970, NRDC has helped craft and deliver many of America’s foundational environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Today, we continue to lead in advancing and defending strong environmental protections at the local, state, federal and international levels, as well as through the marketplace. Our team works across the United States and around the world, from offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as in Beijing, and New Delhi (a subsidiary of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd.).

Supported by our members and online activists, NRDC is driving impactful solutions that confront the climate crisis, defend nature and safeguard public health acrossAsia, Africa, and the Americas. At NRDC, we believe lasting change happens when people bring their talent, passion, and expertise together for a common purpose: to build a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient world. Learn more at nrdc.org.

Our interns play an active role on the front lines of the environmental movement. Over the course of an internship, NRDC interns work with lawyers, scientists, or policy analysts in different program areas and amass experience that they could not have obtained anywhere else. Interns also have access to various events to enhance their NRDC experience.

NRDC interns may support or work on:

• Research, data collection, and analysis
• Writing and developing materials for state and federal campaigns
• Supporting with designing equitable policy solutions
• Copywriting and editing social media posts and supporting on marketing campaigns
• Brainstorming opportunities for process improvements, new vendors, partnerships, and engagement
• Project management of department and team-wide initiatives

You can find examples of work by our interns on our Careers Page.

Responsibilities

POSITION SUMMARY

NRDC's Environmental Health Department is seeking an undergraduate intern to support ongoing projects and priorities for our Place-Based Division. This intern will report into the Midwest Environmental Heath Director. This opportunity is based out of our Chicago office and interns are expected to be onsite 3 days per week.

The Industrial Pollution Solutions Intern will have the opportunity to support campaigns focused on environmental health, cumulative impacts, and corporate accountability, with a particular emphasis on communities in Illinois that face disproportionate pollution burdens. The intern will contribute to research and advocacy efforts related to oil and gas accountability, industrial pollution, climate and public health protections, and emerging environmental justice policies. Working in partnership with community organizations, the intern will help develop community health assessments, policy briefs, reports, and educational materials that strengthen advocacy campaigns and support community-led solutions. Key deliverables may include cumulative burden analyses, regulatory and policy research, environmental health assessments, community benefits research and recommendations for advancing stronger environmental and public health safeguards.

Qualifications

REQUIREMENTS

• Must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program
  • Rising sophomores, juniors, seniors, and recent graduates (May 2027) are eligible to apply.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Project management and/or problem solving skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Research and/or data analysis skills
• Initiative, proactiveness, and creativity
• Ability to work collaboratively, within a team
• Commitment to NRDC’s mission, values, and DEI principles

DETAILS

• Duration: 10-weeks | Commitment: 35 hours/week
  • This intern must be able to commit to working Summer Session 3: Monday June 21, 2027 – Friday August 27, 2027
• Hybrid Work Model: Summer Interns are expected to be in office 3 days/week. We will not be able to offer relocation assistance for the summer.
• Stipend: This is a paid internship with a stipend equivalent of $7,000.00 paid bi-weekly over the course of the assignment.

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.

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.

NRDC operates under a hybrid work model. Interns are required to come into the office 3 days a week.

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.

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