Internship, SURF, or Other Opportunities
Would you like an opportunity to work with Green Labs?
If so, please see below for some potential project ideas, and keep an eye out for postings for internships, SURF positions, and more! If you are interested in volunteering with our group, please reach out to greenlabsinfo@caltech.edu.
What internships has Green Labs supported?
In 2024 we supported a summer intern who worked on a Shut the Sash Campaign for fume hoods. This work was exceptional, so please check out the webpage we have dedicated to this project. We hope in the future to continue to work with students across campus on various Green Labs and sustainability projects.
General Description of Role
Caltech Sustainability Office and Caltech Green Labs seeks a student(s) to work in support of Caltech Green Labs summer programming. This internship will focus on creating more sustainable lab practices, and explore new ways to reduce environmental impact of Caltech labs. This position will entail a variety of tasks that may include but are not limited to:
- Choosing a unique project specific to laboratories and create and manage summer programming related to that project, including recruiting labs to participate, collecting data, developing and installing educational tools such as signage, data analysis, and follow-ups
- Attending the monthly Green Labs meetings and helping the organizer plan and implement meetings.
- Conducting research related to energy, waste, water, chemical use and recycling, ventilation, procurement, and behaviour change in university laboratories.
- Collaborating with Green Labs volunteers as needed for research and other needs or projects identified by the intern or Green Labs volunteers.
- Drafting creative outreach and educational materials for program implementation, such as social media posts and posters.
- Writing reports or case studies to be posted on the Sustainability and Green Labs websites, website content, Sustainability Reports, etc.
- Presenting findings at the Green Labs Lightning Talks Meeting (if possible) or other forum.
Desired Skills:
- Knowledge about wet labs.
- Passion for sustainability and environmental stewardship.
- Demonstrate initiative and creativity.
- Motivated individual comfortable creating solutions for difficult problems.
- Strong organizational skills including the ability to handle multiple tasks and job functions.
- Being professional, prompt, reliable, and able to set and meet reasonable deadlines.
- Proficiency in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
- Comfortable working independently with regular check-ins on activity and progress, and comfortable working coordinate goals in a team.
- Willingness to contact outside organizations for research purposes.
- Ability to communicate well with other Caltech departments.
- Strong writing skills with some writing experience.
Potential Project Ideas
- Lab energy metering program
- Life Cycle Analysis (for example, of gloves or Styrofoam or lab plastics)
- Autoclave share program
- Pipette tip washing
- Green chemistry
- Lab waste diversion and recycling programs (especially for lab plastics)
- Other recycling related projects, including Styrofoam recycling
- Outreach and engagement (Educational tools (fact sheets, slide decks etc on various topics), sticker development for various programs etc.)
- Energy use in labs (collecting resources on energy usage, energy vampires, plug loads, usefulness of plug timers)
- Environmental justice
- Carbon capture
- Sustainable food/event projects (such as composting or creating a carbon footprint kit)
- Food waste (could work with Plant-Based Universities group on campus, do carbon footprint analysis of menu items for dining services etc)
- Pipette tip washing and reuse
- Or other projects that fall under Green Labs or Sustainability
Additional links:
- Here also is a good list of other projects that may spark your interest! from UIowa
- And another good list from UVA
- A quick google search may also help in finding a project that sparks your interest, if the ones discussed above aren't up your alley!