Spring 2025 Science Internship – Fossil Fuels Team

Earthjustice’s Fossil Fuels Team is accepting applications for one part-time science intern for spring 2025. This is a paid position. We are seeking graduate students who share a passion for health, justice, and the environment. The successful candidate may work remotely from the U.S. or on a hybrid schedule from one of Earthjustice’s offices.

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the U.S. and work with partners in other countries who are leading these cases in their own domestic contexts. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy, and combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals, and communities to engage in the critical environmental issues of our time and bring about positive change. We are guided by a passionate, ambitious vision for the future for people and our planet: until justice stands for all, we will never rest. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

At a time when we desperately need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, the oil and gas industry is aggressively expanding fossil fuel infrastructure, locking us into decades of future fossil fuel use and directly harming the communities already hardest hit by climate disruption. Earthjustice’s Fossil Fuels program is confronting this massive build-out along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast and in the Ohio River Valley. We use litigation, administrative advocacy, scientific rigor, and partnership to advance an end to U.S. oil and gas extraction and production, and stop new infrastructure (e.g., petrochemical facilities, export terminals, and pipelines).

Responsibilities:

• Summarize research findings relevant to Earthjustice advocacy in writing, including helpful tables and figures (e.g., plots, maps, and diagrams).
• Review, analyze, and summarize regulations, environmental planning documents, technical support documents, and other scientific and technical information to support litigation and advocacy.
• Organize scientific information for use by lawyers.
• Draft, fact-check, and summarize scientific and technical information in fact sheets, press releases, blogs, news articles, slides, reports, and other materials for internal use or external use with clients, coalitions, the media, and others.
• Research potential technical experts to contribute to legal cases.

Qualifications:

• Enrolled in a graduate program during spring 2025, preferably in fields related to environmental management, including (but not limited to) geosciences, atmospheric sciences, ecology, environmental sciences, oceanography, coastal/marine science.
• Demonstrated commitment to environmental protection and environmental or social justice.
• Excellent research, analytic, writing, and oral communication skills.
• Strong work ethic.
• Initiative, creative thinking, and the ability to work collegially with others.
• Ability to efficiently identify, evaluate, and synthesize scientific and technical information that is both scientifically sound and compelling for non-scientific audiences.
• Ability to conduct literature reviews and basic quantitative analyses and mapping skills.
• Awareness and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.
• Commitment of at least 12 hours per week.

Compensation:

Internships at Earthjustice are paid. Graduate students will receive $26.80/hour, less applicable taxes.

To Apply:

Interested candidates should submit the following materials by 5:00pm PT on September 11, 2024 via Jobvite. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications may be reviewed on a rolling basis and offers will be extended no later than October 18.

• Resume
• Cover letter — In one page, address:
  • (1) Why you want to work with the Fossil Fuels team specifically, and any information about yourself that is not apparent or fully explained in the resume;
  • (2) Include the approximate date range and number of hours you will be able to work each week;
  • (3) The city, state from where you plan to work; and
  • (4) Indicate any applicable deadlines or requirements that are relevant to your submission or ability to accept an offer.
• Additional Documents (select “Add Files” in Jobvite):
  • List of graduate school courses applicant will have taken through spring 2025.
  • 2-5-page writing sample (can be an excerpt of a longer piece, and writing done for school assignments is fine).
  • Finalist(s) will be asked to submit 2 references, including one academic and one professional reference.

Information about our hiring process and tips for success can be found at https://earthjustice.org/about/jobs/hiring-process. Please reach out to jobs@earthjustice.org if you are having technical difficulties submitting your application. No phone calls, drop-ins, or hard copies. Earthjustice only considers applications submitted for current openings via Jobvite. Unsolicited resumes or resumes for posted positions that are not submitted via Jobvite will not be reviewed or retained.

As an equal opportunity employer, Earthjustice is committed to employment practices that ensure that employees and applicants for employment are provided with equal opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other factor specified under applicable laws that is not related to the position.

For positions located within the City and County of San Francisco: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

For positions located within the City of Los Angeles: We will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.