Fund a Student Project or Internship

You are here

Are you interested in supporting the Office of Sutainability and Environment? The most popular donation methods are listed below. If you are interested in donating for other purposes, contact Program Manager Blake Rupe at blake-rupe@uiowa.edu or at 319-335-5121.


FUND A SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT LEAD INTERN

Internships open doors for student job placement. However, for students who need part-time jobs and financial aid to pay for college, unpaid internships are impossible to complete. Internships are feasible only when wages are paid, and those can be hard to find. To make internships more accessible for students, the Office of Sustainability and the Environment created Project Lead Internship opportunities to provide students with the opportunity to develop professional skills, build personal connections, and improve their resumes to help them become even more marketable after graduation. 

Your donation will aid the Office of Sustainability and the Environment by funding an intern on a semester basis. The Office of Sustainability currently has openings for up to 5 student internships for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters. A sliding scale of funding opportunities are available, based on internship length, weekly time commitment, and project scope. Noted sponsorships are available for certain intern projects.

Examples of past Project Lead topics include:

  • Green Athletics
  • Local and/or Organic Food Sourcing
  • Outreach and Web Development
  • Energy and Water Conservation
  • Zero Waste/Campus Zero Waste
  • Data Analytics
  • Green Cleaning
  • Green Landscaping
  • Water Planning and Stewardship
  • Toxic and Hazardous Waste

Funding Commitment Levels:
There are various funding levels for supporting a project lead, based on internship length and time commitment required. Average funding amounts range from $1,250 to $2,500. Contact Program Manager Blake Rupe at the OSE via email at blake-rupe@uiowa.edu or phone at 319-335-5121 for a detailed breakdown of support levels.

Sustainability Intern Profiles:

eden dewaldEden DeWald graduated in Spring of 2019 with a degree in Environmental Policy and Planning and a Sustainability Certificate. Eden was a Project Lead Intern for five semesters, during which time she coordinated our Eco Hawk program and created a new extension of the program called Eco Hawk GOLD for students interested in learning and practicing sustainability skills. In addition to her work with our Office, Eden was the Sustainability Director of the UI Student Governnment, a Co-President of the UI Environmental Coalition, and a Student Representative on the Iowa City Climate Action Steering Committee.


gustave stewartGustave Stewart was a Project Lead Intern for three semesters before he graduated in Spring of 2019 with degrees in Economics and Political Science and a Social Science Analytics Certificate. In his time with the Office of Sustainability, Gustave built on his lifelong interest in bicycling to advocate for improved biking infrastructure at the University and within Iowa City. In addition to his work with our Office, Gustave was a Research Fellow with the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates, a Senator and Deputy City Liaison for UI Student Government, and a Resident Assistant with UI Housing. In the future, he hopes to work on policy and to promote smart growth through community organization.


emily mandersEmily Manders was brought on as a Project Lead Intern in Spring of 2019 and is studying Environmental Science with a Minor in Geographic Information Sciences and a Certificate in Sustainability. Emily has always been interested in sports, leading her to work on improving sustainability in UI's Athletics programs. In addition to her work with our Office, Emily is the elected Sustainability Director of the UI Student Governnment, a Co-President of the UI Environmental Coalition, and a Student Representative on the UI Sustainability Charter Committee.


FUND A SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT

Rather than final exams, a growing trend among University of Iowa courses is the completion of physical and tangible final projects. These experiential learning opportunities have proven beneficial for building skills valued in the job market, including systems-thinking and design as well as project management skills. However, there are rarely resources or funding available for students in these courses to transform their project ideas a reality. By donating to this fund, you will aid the Office of Sustainability and the Environment in funding student projects on campus that are implemented during the academic year. These project funds will support small-scale, eco-friendly, and interdisciplinary initiatives on campus, Iowa City, and the greater State of Iowa.

Examples of projects supported previously are:

  • Creating a small-scale bee pollinator garden
  • Planting and curating a small-scale campus prairie
  • Creating and implementing a packing material reuse program
  • Creating dorm room compost program
  • Create a guide to sustainability curriculum
  • Create, test, and implement boat-deployed water quality sensors
  • Conducting an experiment on permaculture

Funding levels:
There are various funding levels for supporting a project, ranging from $50 to $500.  Contact Program Manager Blake Rupe at the OSE via email at blake-rupe@uiowa.edu or phone at 319-335-5121 for a detailed breakdown of support levels.

Sustainability Project Examples: 

IMU pollinator  gardenA group of student volunteers worked with the Office of Sustainability in Spring of 2019 to create a pollinator garden at the base of the IMU Foot Bridge in response to a 50% decrease in Iowa's bee population in 2015. Seven types of plants of varying sizes were planted, meant to attract bees and butterflies. The garden will act as a "biological island" for bees to find food as they awake in Spring. Bees actually hibernate throughout winter and awake when plants should be flowering. However, with climate change and erratic temperature changes, bees can be awakened by warmer weather before their plants have flowered, and they can die searching for food.


gardenFormed in the Spring of 2009, the University of Iowa Student Garden produces a variety of spring, summer and fall produce that is distributed among members, volunteers and local hunger relief organizations, including the Food Pantry at Iowa. The Student Garden provides an educational opportunity for several colleges and departments and is directly linked to the academic and residential Green Adventures Living Learning Community, which aims to contextualize a diversity of environmental issues topics.