Student Internship Program

The Office of Sustainability is committed to providing a valuable experience by offering students the opportunity for rapid personal and professional growth. The projects the students take on, paired with聽聽curriculum and other trainings, will allow students to both sharpen and expand their environmental professional skill sets.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2026-27 INTERNSHIP ARE OPEN!

The internship is an academic-year cohort-based program. To be eligible, students must:

Be an undergraduate student in good academic standing.
Be able to participate for both the fall and spring semester.
Be able to work seven to ten hours per week on internship related activities, including weekly meetings and workshops.

Applications for the 2026-27 academic year are here: .听

Interns are assigned projects and programs which they will be responsible for coordinating, running, and tracking progress. Interns will communicate progress with Office of Sustainability staff and project stakeholders on a weekly basis. Each intern is expected to spend at least two shifts in the office for a total minimum of 5 hours in-office. During that scheduled time, all interns will participate in resource reviews, professional development workshops, and check-in meetings with office staff. Students are expected to do work on their own, outside of their scheduled office time.

In order for our intern projects to be successful in the coming year, we are seeking students who:

Have a passion for sustainability.
Have some previous knowledge of environmental issues.
Are creative, innovative, and not shy about voicing new ideas.
Have strong written and verbal communication skills.
Are outgoing and personable.
Work well in a team environment.
Are reliable and meet deadlines.
Are energetic and excited about taking on new challenges.
Conduct themselves in a professional manner.
Are not afraid to have fun while working hard.

PROJECTS

Interns work on a variety of tasks, including:

Partner Projects:聽partner with various departments such as Energy Management, Stormwater Management, Sustainable Dining, and Housing & Residence Life to complete technical projects.
Education & Outreach: plan and execute outreach events in partnership with community organizations such as The YMCA, Town of Blacksburg, and Blacksburg Farmers Market. Past events include Thrift Swaps, Pop-up Farmers Market, and seed plantings.
Universitywide Campaigns:聽assist in executing large-scale campaigns including Earth Month and Sustainability Week.

Maddy Glanz
Major: Environmental Science
Minors: Environmental Policy and Planning and Wetland Science
Graduation Term: Spring 2026

Throughout my internship, my focus has been on student engagement. My biggest project this year has been establishing a new initiative on campus called Greeks Go Green. Greeks Go Green aims to encourage sustainable practices and behaviors among students in Greek organizations across campus. I host monthly meetings to educate our members about how to live and act more sustainably and we host events such as a canned food drive and trash cleanups to better our overall campus community. This year Greeks Go Green will be hosting The Big Clean which is a campus-wide trash cleanup during Earth Month. Through my internship I was able to apply to the New Initiative Fund and secure a $5,000 dollar grant for us to purchase supplies and pay for marketing in hopes to drastically grow The Big Clean this year!

Outside of Greeks Go Green, I have been working on building out our GRITS program which calculates how much money Green RFP projects save the university every year. Throughout my internship so far, I have gained so many skills such as public speaking, collaborating and working in teams, and reaching out and advocating for my projects. I love meeting people who have similar values and priorities as I do and working with a cohort of interns that are all working to improve the 91麻豆 community. I would recommend this program to anyone who has an interest in sustainability and having a long-lasting impact at 91麻豆. This program has shaped who I am and given me the skills to allow me to succeed in my future career.

Jordan Lavey
Major: Environmental and Engineering Geosciences聽
Graduation Term: Spring 2026

Hey! My name is Jordan Lavey, I am a Senior majoring in Environmental & Engineering Geosciences, and I will be graduating this Spring!聽This is my fourth year in the program, and I have聽valued聽every minute of it!聽As an intern, I work on multiple projects聽related聽to water use and sustainability on a year and semester basis. This year聽I had聽multiple聽projects聽that have felt聽really meaningful聽to me in promoting sustainability, but聽there鈥檚聽one that聽I would love to highlight: the聽Streamkeepers聽Program!聽Through this project, I manage 5 awesome聽streamkeepers, who volunteer their time to collect water quality data spanning multiple locations of聽Stroubles聽Creek. The goal of this program is to examine聽how water quality is affected聽throughout聽the year due to environmental and potential human impacts, with the opportunity to act as a warning system聽if聽discrepancies聽are聽identified聽in quality data.听As interns, we also complete Green RFPs each year, and聽have the opportunity to聽collaborate with professionals across multiple university departments.听I love how friendly the office is, and spending time with聽the other聽interns and ambassadors. Everyone in the office is聽very聽passionate聽about their work and sustainability, and their effort is clear in聽all of聽the hosted events and projects! If you have聽a passion聽for sustainability,聽promoting聽environmental聽awareness, and community outreach, this is the perfect program for you!

Han Nguyen
Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering聽
Minor: Statistics
Graduation Term: Spring 2028

Hi! My name is Han Nguyen, and I am a sophomore majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering with a minor in Statistics. As an intern, I focus on sustainable energy and transportation initiatives. I value that the program encourages interns to explore self-directed, meaningful ways to improve sustainability on campus, and helps connect me with others who share a passion for sustainability. Out of the office, I enjoy cooking, spending time with friends, and discovering new music!

Diana Newbauer聽
Major: Environmental Resource Management
Minor: Spanish
Graduation Term: Spring聽2028

As an intern, I help with the office鈥檚 events, programs, and tabling opportunities that aim to engage Hokies and incorporate sustainability on campus! With a special focus on waste, my primary project revolves around developing and hosting workshops that educate students on the impacts of waste and how they can reduce consumption. I also serve as the office鈥檚 Communications Representative, collaborating with VT Facilities to create content for our social media. During my time as an intern, I鈥檝e learned about different sustainability initiatives at VT, developed skills in leadership and outreach, and had the opportunity to collaborate with other amazing student interns!

Jordyn Lewis
Major: Environmental Conservation and Society
Graduation Term: Spring 2026

At the Office of Sustainability, my work focuses on connecting campus and community sustainability efforts. I primarily support the New River Environmental Coalition (NREC), a group of students, employees, and community members promoting sustainability through collaborative partnerships. I plan and facilitate meetings, manage group communications, and have presented our work at conferences as a student presenter. I also coordinate the Big Clean at 91麻豆, a campus and community-wide trash cleanup event!