The Office of Sustainability provides hands-on, applied internships to enhance the personal, professional, and academic goals of Johns Hopkins graduate and undergraduate students. Grouped into Engagement, Communications, and Research & Operations cohorts, the 2024-2025 academic year welcomed both new and returning students to create meaningful impact in each of these areas.
Over the course of this academic year, our team of 12 interns held 40+ engagement events, reached 2000+ people, partnered with 11 JHU departments, published 14 newsletters (across both Blue Jay’s Green Guide and Green Labs), wrote 9 OCS blog posts, conducted data and cost-benefit analyses, helped to divert 4,900 lbs of food waste through the community food scraps program, supported the Sustainability Symposium, and so much more!
Engagement
Engagement interns foster participation within and increase awareness among the student body and members of the JHU community through programming events, organizing wellness programs, leading speaker series, and more.
Simrin Carlsen (she/her)
Majors: Environmental Science; Public Health
Graduation Year: 2025
Hometown: Edison, NJ
I can typically be found in between two trees on Keyser Quad in my hammock! It’s my favorite green space on campus and the perfect place for a frisbee toss.
Katelyn McShine (she/her)
Majors: Public Health; Biology
Graduation Year: 2025
Hometown: Lexington, MA
Helping out at the Sustainability Symposium with OCS this year was amazing! I loved that even though everyone was interested in climate and sustainability, they had diverse backgrounds and specific interests that were fun to learn about!
Srigouri Oruganty (she/her)
Majors: Environmental Science; Public Health Studies
Graduation Year: 2026
Hometown: Pennsylvania
My favorite project as an intern was working with the CSC on Environmental Justice events. Favorite greenspace is Decker Quad during sunset.
Kalista Fong (she/her)
Major: Environmental Science
Minor: Earth and Planetary Science
Graduation Year: 2026
Hometown: El Paso, TX
My favorite green place on campus is the Sculpture Garden!
Communications
Communications interns connect the JHU community to the work of the Office of Climate and Sustainability through social media, blog posts, newsletter development, graphic design, and a variety of other communicative means.
Skye Neulight
Major: Interdisciplinary Studies in Environmental Humanities for Climate Action
Graduation Year: 2025
Hometown: California
My favorite green space is riiiight off campus, but Stony Run (access behind Bloomberg!)
Izzy Nobili (she/her)
Majors: Environmental Science; International Studies
Minor: Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture
Graduation Year: 2026
Hometown: Massachusetts
My favorite time of year on campus is spring, when everything begins to bloom!
Vara Qi Gunananthan (she/her)
Campus as a Living Lab/Sustainability Leadership Council Intern
Majors: Materials Science and Engineering; Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Minor: Energy
Graduation Year: 2026
Hometown: Selangor, Malaysia
My favourite project has been working on the Campus as a Living Lab Spotlight Series, and my favourite green space on campus is between UTL and the rec center!
Kaitlin Williams (she/her)
Green Labs Intern
Major: MD-PhD, School of Medicine
Graduation Year: 2026
Hometown: Michigan
I’m responsible for all trash can designs on JHU campuses!
Research & Operations
Research & Operations interns track, analyze, record, and work to reduce JHU’s environmental footprint, in terms of carbon emissions, waste production, responsibility in the laboratory, and more.
Swastik Jha
Bloomberg School of Public Health Sustainability Intern
Major: Engineering Management
Graduation Year: 2025
Hometown: India
As part of my sustainability internship with the Bloomberg School of Public Health, I’ve been working on a project to reduce lab energy use—and it was fascinating (and wild!) to discover that some of our campus freezers consume 3x more energy than an average household. It’s been eye-opening to see how small changes in research spaces can lead to big climate wins. Also, shoutout to Keyser Quad at the Homewood campus—my favorite green escape spot!
Atif Akhtar (he/him)
Major: Engineering Management
Minor: Sustainability Management
Graduation Year: 2025
Hometown: India
I really enjoyed researching and establishing benchmarking metrics for our sustainability courses—it was especially insightful to see how peer universities approach evaluation and reporting. I also found the data analysis for our 2024 commuting survey both engaging and rewarding. Additionally, being part of the volunteer team for the Sustainability Symposium was a highlight—I truly appreciated the opportunity to contribute and found the sessions incredibly inspiring.
Eden Teodorovici (she/her)
Majors: Environmental Science; Economics
Minor: Business
Graduation Year: 2026
Hometown: Maryland
My favorite project was the JHU affiliate commute emissions data project.
Hazim Aisyoul
Community Food Scrap Program Intern
Major: Computer Engineering
Graduation Year: 2026
Hometown: Malaysia