The Packard Environment Fellows Program places MBA students in high-impact summer jobs with conservation organizations seeking creative ways to balance community-building, economic activity and environmental protection. The program is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. See examples below of Packard Environment Fellow summer jobs from 2009 and prior years. The MNC's Summer Jobs Program also includes Farber Internships and Summer Associate jobs.
Justin Adams (Ross)
Blue Ocean Institute
Blue Ocean Institute uses science, art, and literature to inspire a closer bond with nature, translating scientific information into language people can use to make better choices on behalf of the sea. Justin developed a strategy for Blue Ocean to create partnerships that will build most effectively on the organization's strengths. He also caught a 31-pound striped bass off the coast of Montauk, NY. Striped bass populations reached severe lows in the 1980s, but strong management has helped them rebound. It is rated as a green species in Blue Ocean’s Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood. Learn more about Blue Ocean Institute. (Summer 2009)
Katie Appel (Ross)
Chefs Collaborative
Chefs Collaborative is a national nonprofit working with chefs and the greater food community to foster a more sustainable food supply; its members embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies. Katie researched distribution models around the country for most effectively getting local food to restaurants. Learn more about Chefs Collaborative. (Summer 2008)
Emily Gerry (MIT Sloan)
Community and Conservation Investment Forum
The Conservation and Community Investment Forum (CCIF) works with leading conservation and sustainable development organizations, investors, and their partners to help ensure the success of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development efforts worldwide. To advise a major foundation on its grant-making strategy in marine protected areas (MPAs), Emily assessed the funding sources of Ecuador’s MPA system, developed a model to project long-term financing needs, and reviewed key policies and institutional capacities for effective MPA management. Learn more about CCIF, or view previous placements with CCIF. (Summer 2010)
Ian Hepworth (Haas)
The Coral Reef Alliance
The Coral Reef Alliance protects coral reefs worldwide by educating and engaging local communities with solutions that benefit both people and the reef. Ian developed a business plan for a Marine Protected Area in Roatan, Honduras that included strategic priorities, marketing plans for tourists and the community, and five-year financial projections. Ian is pictured with the Roatan Marine Park patrol boat and crew that enforce park regulations and discourage illegal poaching within the park. Learn more about The Coral Reef Alliance. (Summer 2009)
Jon Gensler (MIT Sloan)
Environmental Defense Fund/California Fisheries Fund
EDF’s California Fisheries Fund (CFF) is a revolving loan fund that supports coastal communities working to improve the sustainability of their fisheries. Jon (far L), shown here with CFF colleagues, spent the summer working with CFF borrowers to help them develop a strategic marketing plan for local seafood from Morro Bay, California. He also analyzed CFF fund metrics and produced recommendations to enhance the way the fund measures its environmental, social and financial success. He blogged about his internship in the Financial Times, at http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/author/jgensler/. Learn more about The California Fisheries Fund. (Summer 2009)
Jessica Feingold (Yale)
Environmental Defense Fund/Center for Conservation Incentives
Environmental Defense Fund's Center for Conservation Incentives focuses on improving environmental stewardship on working lands without impacting profits. In California we are working with scientists, agriculture commodity associations and others to create accounting mechanisms for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and carbon-sequestration opportunities associated with different land-use management practices. Jessica assessed the farm-scale economic viability of land-use conversion from production agriculture to carbon-capture-managed wetlands in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley through access to emerging carbon markets. She also analyzed the costs to agriculture of California's AB 32 regulation. Learn more about the Center for Conservation Incentives, or view previous placements with Environmental Defense Fund. (Summer 2010)
Kyle Kearney (Haas)
Environmental Defense Fund/Oceans Program
Environmental Defense Fund's Oceans Program supports the development of a healthy fishing industry that embraces conservation measures, reducing bycatch and habitat damage. Kyle worked with several fishing communities in California to assess market demand and branding potential for sustainably caught seafood. He explored methods to track the product value chain of the catch and proposed strategies to make sustainable fisheries economically viable. Learn more about the Oceans Program, or view previous placements with Environmental Defense Fund/Oceans Program. (Summer 2008)
Edwin Ou (Haas)
Marine Aquarium Council
The Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) is a global conservation enterprise that encourages environmentally and financially sustainable business practices within the aquarium and fisheries industries. Edwin worked in Hawaii and Bali, conducting an evaluation of key measures of organizational performance and developing targeted recommendations for improvement. He is shown here (R) attending a strategic planning session in Bali with MAC executive director Paul Holthus. Learn more about the Marine Aquarium Council, or view previous placements with the Marine Aquarium Council. (Summer 2006)
Jos Hill (Presidio)
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium created the Center for the Future of the Oceans (CFFO) to inspire action for conservation of the oceans. One of the CFFO's key goals is to work with the public, restaurateurs, retailers and the seafood industry to transform the seafood market so that it favors sustainable fisheries. Jos developed and conducted a survey to assess business motivations and influencing factors behind engagement in sustainable seafood initiatives and related NGO-business partnerships. The information gathered will be used by CFFO management and the Seafood Watch team on the design, marketing and structuring of new service programs for major buyers of seafood products. Learn more about the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or view previous placements with the Marine Aquarium Council. (Summer 2010)
Paul Davis (Ross)
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
NRDC is a national non-profit environmental organization with more than 1.2 million members and on-line advocates. NRDC’s staff of attorneys, scientists, policy analysts and educators work to protect the environment and public health. NRDC recently launched an initiative to foster sustainability throughout the produce industry. Paul helped the initiative develop outcomes-based metrics for measuring environmental performance from farm to fork. At the beginning of the summer, Paul (far R) joined NRDC colleagues on a farm field trip in California’s Sacramento Valley. Learn more about NRDC. (Summer 2009)
Tanaya Kilara (Wharton)
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy works to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy is exploring development of a new fishing business entity, a Community Fishing Association (CFA), that is intended to preserve a community’s fishing heritage while contributing to conservation, community stability, and improved management of fisheries. Tanaya created a business plan for a CFA for California's central coast. Learn more about the Conservancy's work in California. (Summer 2009)
Jenny Trucano (UCLA Anderson)
Rare
Rare is a fast-growing conservation organization that runs state-of-the-art communications and outreach projects in more than 40 countries. Rare provides training in social marketing to conservationists from around the world through university programs in the U.K., Mexico, China, and Indonesia, and is considering opening a new training site in the Francophone and/or Portuguese-speaking world. Jenny provided Rare with strategic assessments of both markets, in addition to conducting an on-site assessment of one of Rare's current university partnerships. Learn more about Rare, or view previous placements with Rare. (Summer 2008)
Megan Baehrens (Yale)
The Sonoran Institute
The Sonoran Institute (SI) works collaboratively with local people to conserve and restore important natural landscapes in western North America. Megan developed a marketing and financial plan for the Ruta del Rio Hardy, an ecotourism initiative in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Megan (standing) met to discuss the project with Mary Rivera and Laura Esquer from the Baja California Tourism Office (far L and second from R respectively) and SI's Dr. Francisco Zamora. Learn more about the Sonoran Institute or view previous placements with the Sonoran Institute. (Summer 2007)
Rachel Curtis (Haas)
Sustainable Conservation
Sustainable Conservation partners with business and other stakeholders to find environmental solutions that make economic sense. The organization is interested in expanding its water-use efficiency efforts to urban areas and asked Rachel to evaluate what opportunities would be worthwhile and a good match for Sustainable Conservation's approach. After evaluating a broad array of opportunities and based on the fact that the greatest potential gains in urban water-use efficiency are possible with urban landscapes, Rachel recommended partnering with nursery retailers and irrigation technology manufacturers to promote broader adoption of water-wise irrigation for gardens and landscapes. Learn more about Sustainable Conservation, or view previous placements with the Sustainable Conservation. (Summer 2010)
Lisa Newman-Wise (Stanford)
Sustainable Conservation
Sustainable Conservation advances the stewardship of natural resources using innovative, pragmatic strategies that actively engage businesses and private landowners in conservation. Sustainable Conservation’s newest program, Ecosystem Services, aims to value the benefits we gain from nature and develop and implement market-based strategies to finance the maintenance of these benefits. Lisa conducted an economic analysis of one California watershed, comparing costs of various approaches to protecting and enhancing nature’s services, such as water filtration, to aid Sustainable Conservation and its partner organizations in launching their first ecosystem services pilot project. Learn more about Sustainable Conservation, or view previous placements with the Sustainable Conservation. (Summer 2010)
Katherine O'Hare (Ross)
The Sustainable Food Lab
The mission of The Sustainable Food Lab, a consortium of 70 businesses and social organizations, is to accelerate the shift of sustainable food from niche to mainstream. Katherine worked with the Food Lab to evaluate strategies for farms and companies to access agricultural carbon markets. During a trip to California she helped field-test a soil carbon quantification methodology soon to be submitted as a protocol to key voluntary carbon market standard-setting bodies. Learn more about The Sustainable Food Lab. (Summer 2009)