Mason Climate Action Team Internships

Duration: Spring 2010 Semester, 10 hours per week
Location: Fairfax Campus

Description: Mason’s Climate Action Team will be a group of students engaged by the Office of Sustainability as part of Mason’s Climate Action Plan Education and Outreach Campaign. The team will be utilized to educate the majority Mason’s student body on the goal of the Climate Action Plan and the projects that it lays out. The Climate Action Team will all also be responsible for engaging Mason faculty and staff members. Through persistent grassroots outreach efforts, the Climate Action Team will be essential in helping Mason become climate neutral. Interns will work collaboratively with Office of Sustainability staff. Additionally, interns will seek to identify Mason faculty members with practical experience to solicit advice for best practices.

The Climate Action Team will be utilized to spread information and messages relevant to The Climate Action Plan Education and Outreach Campaign. Individual team members will be assigned to specific segments of the university and will be responsible for encouraging people in those segments to make the Mason Climate Commitment and keep track of those that do. Additionally, Climate Action Team members will encourage their peers to take steps to reduce their individual climate impact using the instructions set out in the CAP Climate Action Plan Education and Outreach Campaign Strategy Guide. The Climate Action Team will help to organize events, assist in creating educational and promotional materials as needed, and perpetuate the social proof aspect of the campaign.

In addition to performing work related to the daily maintenance of the garden, interns may also design and implement a directed research project, focusing on issues either directly related to the Mason Climate Commitment or to climate change in the local community. The research projects will culminate in a research paper and a presentation to interested members of the Mason and local community.

Specific Duties:
Manage operations
− Assign tasks to volunteers and supervise their work, while maintaining responsibility for the completion of work.
− Coordinate and oversee community plots, if they are available.
− Coordinate and oversee the use of the garden for environmental education.
− Collaborate with students and faculty doing research on climate change.
− Coordinate and oversee the distribution of promotional materials.
− Maintain a positive and motivating atmosphere

Maintain good relations with others
− Collaborate with Sustainability Manager and the representative(s) of the Climate Action Plan Core Working Group, seeking their advice and permission whenever appropriate.
− Introduce yourself to neighbors and provide contact information in case of questions or concerns.
− Maintain an appropriate and positive relationship with outside environmental organizations

Promote the Mason Climate Commitment and its values
− Keep the Mason community informed about the climate commitment and promote its goals and work with public presentations, updates, et cetera.
− Recruit volunteers for the campaign.
− Keep the Mason community and the national campus sustainability movement informed about our efforts.

Maintain detailed records
− Keep records of all activities related to the campaign

Stay informed
− Be informed of what other schools are taking to reach climate neutrality including their approach and organization, and important ideas and insights, et cetera.
− Stay informed of best practices in climate change communication techniques and practices.

Qualifications: Interns must have a basic understanding of climate change, including its cause, effects and solutions. Candidates must be:
− Passionately committed to ending the climate crisis
− Able to work independently
− Able to recruit, manage, and motivate volunteers
− Able to work effectively with Office of Sustainability staff & other members of the Mason community
− Able to publicize and promote Mason’s commitment to climate neutrality including its value, purpose, and importance on and off campus

Detailed knowledge of climate change mitigation practices, field experience with climate change related issues, people management skills, and time management skills are preferred.

The Climate Action Team will receive detailed instruction in order to be able to further train campaign volunteers. The team will work with Office of Sustainability staff members to design the training programs and materials that campaign volunteers will receive. As part of all their outreach efforts, team members will actively recruit campaign volunteers, including faculty, staff and students, to participate in the campaign. When appropriate, the team will work with members of the faculty and staff “Green Reps” program.

In order to fully utilize the capability of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, the Climate Action Team will help to record video testimonials of influential members of the Mason community in order reinforce the ‘social proof’ aspect of social marketing. The Climate Action Team will also create creative videos showcasing ways that other members of the Mason community can take individual actions to reduce their carbon footprints.

Finally, in order to sustain the interest and engagement of the people working on this campaign, and to recruit more people in to the effort, the Climate Action Team will plan fun, team-building activities. These activities could include hiking trips, movie nights, potlucks, or other similar events.

Funding: This is an unpaid position. However, interns are encouraged to find outside sources of funding for their positions in the form of grants.

About the organization: The mission of the Office of Sustainability is to use the strengths of George Mason University - innovation, responsiveness, flexibility, and community strength - to provide leadership in environmental, social, and economic stewardship on our campuses and throughout the local and global communities of which we are a part.

Application Instructions: Forward a letter of interest, resume, and the name, phone number and email address of two references to Colin Bennett at cbennet6@gmu.edu.