Volunteer or intern with the Sustainability Team

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:

1. Food Recovery Network – group collects unused catering food and redistributes to students who need it
2. FreeStore – campus totally free “thrift shop”, functions as a place for anyone to donate or pick up needed clothing or housewares
3. Campus composting – industrial composter (the Rocket) helps take food scraps from students and turn into compost that can be used in our campus garden
4. Native plant garden – a place to grow native plants that benefit pollinators and wildlife
5. Land stewardship – group focused on helping to steward our campus natural areas, including education and outreach about our natural resources
6. 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
7. Maybe something else? We are constantly evolving and changing, so if you have an idea – let’s talk about it!

Ways to get involved:

Volunteer

Email allyson.jackson@purchase.edu to be added to the volunteer email list. 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 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.

Academic Interns must

• be in good academic standing
• have at least sophomore status
• have volunteered at least 5 hours on sustainability initiatives
• be able to add 2 credits to your fall 2025 schedule and not go over 18 credits and
• be able to work 6 hours a week during the fall 2025 semester 

Applications for fall 2025 internships are now open. 

To apply, make sure you hit the qualifications above and then send a resume and cover letter to allyson.jackson@purchase.edu. In your cover letter, make sure you answer the following questions:

1. What is your major and anticipated graduation date.
2. Explain why sustainability is important to you and why you are interested in this internship. 
3. Explain what work you have already done related to sustainability (can be on campus volunteer work or at a previous job/school)
4. Explain what experience you have working collaboratively and how you navigate working as part of a team (can be in classes, jobs, anything and doesn’t have to relate to sustainability)