Sustainability team looking for volunteers and interns
Anyone can join the Sustainability Team, no matter what your major or position with the college.
Help make Purchase more environmentally conscious and sustainable through a variety of programs aimed at reducing waste and stewarding our environmental resources on campus.
Initiatives the Sustainability Team works on:
- Food Recovery Network – group collects unused catering food and redistributes to students who need it
- FreeStore – campus totally free “thrift shop”, functions as a place for anyone to donate or pick up needed clothing or housewares
- Campus composting – industrial composter (the Rocket) helps take food scraps from students and turn into compost that can be used in our campus garden
- Native plant garden – a place to grow native plants that benefit pollinators and wildlife
- Land stewardship – group focused on helping to steward our campus natural areas, including education and outreach about our natural resources
- Invasive species management – focuses on controlling invasive plant species in our natural areas and restoring with native plants that provide habitat and food for wildlife
- Maybe something else? We are constantly evolving and changing, so if you have an idea – let’s talk about it!
Ways to get involved:
Join the mailing list and teams chat group
Are you interested in hearing what is happening in the sustainability world at Purchase? Faculty, staff, and students can fill out this short google form to be added to the Sustainability Team mailing list and get information about how you can join the Teams Chat group.
Volunteer
Once you are on the mailing list, we will circulate information about volunteer opportunities related to sustainability initiatives. We ask everyone who wants to apply for an internship in the future to volunteer at least 5 hours before applying for the internship. This helps you understand the sustainability programs already in place and get a feel for whether you would enjoy doing a full internship. You get to help move sustainability internships forward and meet other people working on these projects, including students, faculty, and staff.
Intern with us!
For students, once you have volunteered and have at least sophomore status, you can apply to be a Sustainability Team Intern. In this position, you must be able to work 75 hours in the semester and sign up for 2 credits of upper level academic credit. You will need to have at least 6 hours a week where you can work for the first 13 weeks of the semester (then we will have some time off so you can focus on finals).
You must make sure you have time in your schedule for the work and also can add 2 credits without going over 18 credits for the semester. You get real life work experience and mentoring from faculty and staff across campus. You can also apply for the Career Development Center intern and travel stipend.
Become Lead Intern
Once you have interned, you can consider returning as a lead intern. Moving into lead intern means that you can help train new interns and volunteers and oversee projects independently. Being able to manage your own projects is a great resume builder that will set you apart when looking for jobs! You can only move into lead intern if you got great evaluations from your academic sponsor and site supervisor in your previous internship.
Ready to apply for an internship for spring 2025? Fill out the application form here.
Spring 2025 applications must be submitted by Jan 21, 2025 at the latest.