Intern season is one of our favorite times of year! The EarthLab Summer Internship Program is a nine-week paid internship for UW undergraduate students to build knowledge in environmental and climate justice through a cohort-based peer learning model. Every summer, the Climate Impacts Group hosts interns who reliably provide fresh and valuable input on our projects while receiving career development support. This year, our five interns entered the program representing a breadth of disciplines — computer science, education, business marketing & sustainability, medical anthropology and biology. They worked with the Washington State Climate Office on a flood modeling analysis project and Inclusive Excellence evaluation; with the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center on science communications and invasive mussel research; and with CIG scientists on mutual aid research. 

Take a look at the two cohort products that have been published: NW RISCC Management Brief (Kaper Greenfield ‘25) and NWCASC Science Spotlight (Gavin Graham ‘27).

We’re already looking forward to hosting next year’s cohort. Before we close this chapter, we would like to share a few of the interns’ experiences – read on for a Q & A with Gavin Graham, MJ Powers, and Vickey Ye.

Q & A’s:

How has your internship with CIG shaped your perspectives on working in the field of climate adaptation?

Vicky: I came in with zero background in climate science, only with a lot of motivation to learn something outside my usual world of computer science. In my department, conversations about climate rarely come up. It almost feels like a different universe. At CIG, I got to step into that universe and see how climate change isn’t just an abstract idea but something that directly affects daily decision-making. One surprising part was how differently people in other fields view technology. Some of my friends in environmental engineering and public health hold a deep skepticism toward AI, and spending the summer at CIG helped me understand why. In climate adaptation, the priority isn’t state-of-the-art large language models, but instead it’s trust, communication, and clarity. That perspective has made me rethink how I want to apply my skills: less about building the “best” or “smartest” tool, but more about making tools that people actually trust and find useful.

MJ: Before I applied for this internship, I did not believe that working in the field of climate adaptation was an option for me. As an education, communities, and organizations major, I often think about my future career being in a formal educational setting , so I had never considered the intersection between my program and climate services. But, this internship has pushed me outside of my comfort zone and shown me that my career options are broader than I once thought. Also, I got to see firsthand the love and care that gets put into climate science and adaptation work. Everyone I met at CIG was so passionate about their work and so kind—the work environment alone has incentivized me to look into climate adaptation work down the line. 

Gavin: Before this [internship], I thought of climate adaptation as a scientific, technical process. After this internship, it is clear that climate adaptation is collaborative, applied, and interdisciplinary. Through my experiences at CIG, I saw that climate adaptation is successful because of partnerships between researchers, community leaders, Tribal nations, and policymakers. I saw firsthand that climate adaptation isn’t just about modeling for the future but making information useful and accessible to all of those who need it. 

“Before this [internship], I thought of climate adaptation as a scientific, technical process. After this internship, it is clear that climate adaptation is collaborative, applied, and interdisciplinary.” – Gavin

Describe a time from your summer internship when you felt proud: You can write about a personal growth moment, a product you created, or a challenge you gained perspective on or overcame. 

Vicky: When I first started my internship, I knew very little about climate science. I’ve heard of terms like streamflow and hydrology but I didn’t know exactly what that meant. Over the summer, I slowly pieced together how changes in climate directly shape the rivers and environment around us. One of my proudest achievements was realizing that the data analysis that I had done was going to be able to help the general audience understand these topics which seemed like an abstract concept to me. My favorite part of this process was the back-and-forth with my supervisors. I could take feedback, rework my approach, and rapidly iterate through my ideas. It made me feel like I wasn’t just “an intern doing tasks,” but someone contributing ideas that mattered. Even though my final product, which is an interactive dashboard website, is still in progress, I’m proud of the foundation I built. By the time I presented my findings, I had created something that people from different backgrounds could read, understand, and actually use. 

“My favorite part of this process was the back-and-forth with my supervisors. I could take feedback, rework my approach, and rapidly iterate through my ideas. It made me feel like I wasn’t just ‘an intern doing tasks,’ but someone contributing ideas that mattered” – Vicky

MJ: I created a report based on thematic coding (a qualitative social science method) and this was completely new to me. I had no tangible experience with social science during undergrad and I was intimidated by this aspect of my internship—I thought my supervisors were referencing computer programming when they initially mentioned it. It was a tedious process that definitely tested my patience at times and required me to use an analytic lens that was completely unfamiliar. My first draft was somewhat solid, but had a messy amalgamation of takeaways from other research I did and tangents that did not reflect the data I worked with. But, thanks to a few hours spent on Zoom with my supervisor we were able to recenter the focus of the report and refine my writing style to be more appropriate for its purpose. I was proud of how the final report turned out, but I was more proud of my ability to adapt and collaborate throughout the process. During my time at UW, I have noticed how this academic landscape can be so individualistic, making it difficult to simply ask for help sometimes. I have a hard time not taking criticism personally and, in the end, I was so grateful for the outside perspective (and social science expertise) that my supervisor provided in this humbling process. Overall, I am proud of my ability to swallow my pride and accept help in the writing process. 

Gavin: I felt proud publishing my Science Spotlight story on the NW CASC website. I worked on this project throughout my internship as it took many steps to complete, including the interview process, translation, outline, drafting, back and forth with the researcher, and designing graphics. Through this project, I learned how to conduct an interview, translate it, and turn it into a story. After completing all of these steps throughout the internship, I felt very proud of the hard work and time I put into the Science Spotlight. 

What was one of the most interesting things you learned during your internship?

Vicky: One of the most interesting things I learned this summer was how important it is to document and share my work. In my first year at the UW, most of my assignments were solo projects. I’d write the code, turn it in, and that was it. We didn’t even have to leave comments. At CIG, it was completely different. I had to write up detailed notes on my research, comment on my code so the next person could follow along, and put together progress reports so my supervisors always knew where things stood. At first it felt like extra work, but I quickly realized how much it helped me too. On days when I’d get lost in my own project, I could go back to my notes and pick up the thread without starting over. I’ve heard from friends in tech internships that code reviews and team standups work in a similar way: you don’t just write code, you explain it so other people can trust and use it. Practicing that this summer has made me more organized and confident about working in a team setting. It’s one of those skills I didn’t expect to learn here, but I know it will be just as valuable as the technical side of what I built.

MJ: It was super interesting to see the many approaches that researchers and organizations take in community engagement endeavors. Especially being housed in an academic institution like the UW, community engagement can be incredibly complex, considering various power dynamics and general perspectives surrounding academia. In my internship with WASCO, it became clear very quickly that struggles with funding and staffing were standing in the way of the office’s ability to widen outreach. Community engagement is difficult to navigate, especially in efforts to engage equitably, and I learned so much about the logistics behind this work. As an idealistic person, it was eye-opening to see how many factors inform an organization’s approach to community engagement and how its complexity often deters both communities and organizations from pursuing it.

Gavin: One of the most interesting things I learned this summer during my internship was how to conduct and turn an interview into a story. I learned how to professionally communicate and conduct an interview with a researcher. Next, I learned how to translate that interview and pull out the key themes, main ideas, and potential quotes. After that, I outlined and drafted my story. On a side note, I also learned many formatting and skills in Canva and Google Slides.

“This internship has pushed me outside of my comfort zone and shown me that my career options are broader than I once thought.”

 – MJ