As an environmental research and journalism intern, I assisted Years with its usual functions: environmental and archival research, drafting and editing video scripts, writing articles, transcribing interviews, and writing for social media platforms. As for specific projects, I collaborated with other interns to draft our own script, Environmentalism’s Racist History, which we will also be narrating in order to create a video. In addition, I single-handedly pitched, drafted, and finalized two articles: “How can the public trust doctrine help fight climate change?” and “Why environmentalists must make more space for BIPOC, and how we should do it.”

To support Years's’ mission to engage and educate the public on climate change, I contributed new social media strategies, story pitches, and inclusivity initiatives. Specifically on inclusivity, I led discussions between management and interns on how we could tell stories focused on frontline and sacrifice communities affected by climate change. Because Years is an almost entirely white and male-led company, these minority perspectives have been successful in reaching younger and more diverse demographics.

As a sustainable development major, my knowledge on climate change and sustainability was invaluable in facilitating my internship work. I was able to seamlessly join discussions and fact check on our reporting with the technical, political, and legal knowledge I had on climate change. Moreover, the writing and collaborating skills I’ve learned as a student were also very helpful because so much of my work was on content creation and group work.

To develop more on the application of academic skillsets, this was the first opportunity I had to apply my climate knowledge to a real-life context. It was initially challenging to enter a non-academic climate sphere, but in the end it was incredibly enriching to gain complementary perspectives on climate justice and storytelling. My coursework thus far has focused heavily on climate processes, law, and policy — all of this knowledge was incredibly useful in familiarizing me with my internship organization’s content.

Adjusting to a remote internship was a challenge, but ultimately I was able to adapt smoothly thanks to my manager’s efforts, as well as to the friendships I forged with my fellow interns. Other challenges I hadn’t expected were learning how to talk about climate change to the public, rather than my classmates and professors. It required me to condense and clarify the technical knowledge I had in a way that was both palatable and accessible for the average viewer.

Furthermore, I struggled to reconcile my own moral and personal perspectives on climate change with those of my superiors. The leadership team of Year is composed of older activists who have been working in the climate sphere for longer than I’ve been alive. While their knowledge and experience are undeniably valuable, it also means that we are coming at this issue with different lived experiences and internalized narratives. Specifically, my own perspective on climate is one rooted in social justice and intersectionality, which was not necessarily shared with my superiors. This resulted in some challenges and light tensions, but ultimately, both our perspectives were mutually beneficial. I can say with confidence coming out of my internship that both Years and I have gained from this internship.

A main takeaway from this internship was my new people-focused perspective on climate change. My program at Columbia has a more top-down approach, focusing on technical science and international emissions reductions strategies. I know now that this is just one part of the puzzle to solve climate change. My reporting on frontline communities and grassroots organizing has contributed a bottom-up approach, and deepened my personal commitment to an ethics-based approach to climate solutions.

This internship has inspired me to pursue law school to practice climate and environmental law. Through this skillset, I will be able to serve these frontlines communities and use my legal knowledge to write on climate lawsuits for media outlets. This is a direct product of my new realization, thanks to Years, that involving the public is a crucial part of tackling climate change.

Another important takeaway from this experience is how much I thrive in collaborative and social work environments. As much as I enjoy research and academia, my temperament and intellectual strengths serve best when I am working directly with people, as I was constantly throughout my internship.