P2 Intern Program
Good for Businesses, Students, and the Environment
- Technical assistance to New York businesses
- Positive learning opportunities for students
- Top engineering and science students introduced to New York businesses
Six students completed internships in 2008
Through an EPA grant, DEC's Toxics Reduction & Green Chemistry Unit funds summer interns to work on environmental projects that go beyond
compliance. Internships start as early as mid May and end in mid August.
The interns help New York businesses:
- Reduce pollution at the source
- Reduce energy use
- Reduce water use
- Enhance water quality
- Design green infrastructure
- Divert solid waste from landfills
- Reduce permitting burdens
- Reduce costs
- Research and implement sustainability programs
The program began in Summer 2008 with six interns placed in host facilities throughout New York, working on diverse projects.
Intern Sarita Upadhyay discusses home composting
with a visitor to the Chemung County Fair
Funded projects have included numerous program areas:
- Water, stormwater and green infrastructure
- Recycling and composting
- Air quality and greenhouse gas reduction
A number of facilities also benefited from reductions in energy use, although this was not the project focus.
Businesses hosting summer interns have included a variety of New York businesses and organizations:
- Chip fab plant
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing facility
- Waste disposal facilities
- Local government
- Nonprofit organizations
To learn more, see the project summaries.
Information for Businesses
What Students Will Do for You
- Assist you on environmental projects that go beyond compliance
- Work at your company full time during the summer
- Provide you with a future recruitment opportunity
- Research and recommend new technologies, product substitutions, recycling or reuse options
- Assist with project planning to minimize permitting requirements in sensitive or critical jurisdictional areas, such as wetlands.
What We Ask of You
- Provide a supervisor to work with the student on a daily basis
- Hire the student
- Share the cost, contributing $1200 end-of-summer salary bonus
- Provide a safe work environment with access to a phone and computer.
What DEC Will Do
- Work with companies to develop projects
- Interview and match students with companies
- Reimburse you for student's salary and expenses, plus 15% on salary to cover fringe costs
- Conduct a site visit to meet intern and supervisor and discuss project
- Host an end-of-summer Presentation Day in Albany, mandatory for interns, supervisors are encouraged to attend
- Prepare a brief case study on project success, subject to editorial approval by your company.
Goals for a Pollution Prevention (P2) Project
Covanta waste to energy facilities hosted interns in
2008, on very different projects
Eligible projects should seek to eliminate or reduce waste at the source or the front end of a process or a system by one or more of the following:
- modifying production processes to eliminate the use of toxic materials
- substituting non-toxic or less-toxic substances
- implementing conservation techniques, and re-using materials.
P2 projects submitted from the energy and agricultural sectors that seek to prevent impairment of wetlands, groundwater sources, or other critical resources are also eligible. Interns can work on project development or implementation, as needed to assist the company.
Applications are due by February 17, 2012. Environmental managers are encouraged to contact the Intern Program manager earlier to discuss project ideas.
Internships start as early as mid May and run through mid August. The company, student, and DEC sign a contractual Work Agreement (PDF) (25 kB), which spells out the responsibilities of all parties.
More about P2 Intern Program:
- Information and Application for Students - Information and Application for P2 Summer Interns
- Project Summaries - Project summaries of P2 summer interns
