The Nicholas Institute is seeking a student intern for summer 2026, supporting our work to track and report on benefits of natural climate solutions projects funded through the Atlantic Conservation Coalition (ACC). The ACC was awarded $421 million by the US Environmental Protection Agency through the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program to conserve and restore peat wetlands, coastal habitats, and forests across four states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland). Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sequestration is the ACC’s primary goal; projects will create a variety of additional benefits for communities including enhanced water quality, reduced hazardous air pollutants, building resilience to climate hazards, and supporting economic activity related to forestry, recreation, and agriculture.
Our team at the Nicholas Institute is leading tracking and reporting of ACC project benefits. We collaborate with ACC members to compile information on project implementation progress, which is publicly shared via an online dashboard. As on-the-ground project work moves forward, we will combine this information with scientific literature, project monitoring and remote sensing data, and published models to quantify greenhouse gas benefits and multiple other project outcomes.
The intern will process and analyze implementation progress data collected from ACC partners in spring 2026 and update the online dashboard to reflect ACC progress. Other project work will include designing methodologies and workflows for quantifying project benefits, integrating feedback from ACC partners and subject matter experts. There may be some benefit quantification analysis depending on progress on ACC on-the-ground work by the summer.
This position will report to senior policy associate Katie Warnell under the guidance of program director Lydia Olander. The intern will also work with collaborators including state agency staff, The Nature Conservancy and other partner NGOs, and researchers at Duke and other institutions. This is a full-time (40 hours/week), paid position for summer 2026. Work will be conducted in person or on a hybrid model. This position is open to students enrolled at Duke University.
Key Tasks
- Organizing and analyzing project implementation data from ACC members
- Updating the ACC dashboard to reflect project progress
- Searching academic literature, gray literature, and online resources for information, data, and models relevant to quantifying benefits of ACC projects
- Developing workflows to estimate ACC project benefits, combining project information, literature, external data, and models
- Creating materials (slides, methods summaries, etc.) to seek feedback from partners
- Engaging with ACC partners and subject matter experts to get feedback on dashboard updates and benefits quantification methods
Skills
- Literature review and synthesizing information from multiple sources
- Advanced use of Excel to organize data and perform analysis
- Geospatial analysis (ArcGIS Pro required; Python or R preferred)
- Experience with ArcGIS Online (Experience Builder, Dashboards, web maps, and Survey123 are particularly relevant to this project)
- Familiarity with or interest in natural climate solutions and forest, coastal wetland, or peatland ecology
- Expert and stakeholder engagement (e.g., via formal or informal interviews, facilitated discussion, surveys, etc.)
- Strong organizational skills
- Excellent oral and written communication
To Apply
To apply, please send your resume or CV and a cover letter to Katie Warnell, katie.warnell@duke.edu. We will begin interviews on Tuesday, February 17th on a rolling basis.
The intent of this job description is to provide a representative and level of the types of duties and responsibilities that will be required of positions given this title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.
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