María Barreiro Palafox ‘22
Title: Impact and Sustainability Intern
Organization: Someone Somewhere FDM, LLC
Major: Economics; Minor: Sustainability Studies/Rhetoric
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
I really liked the idea of making an impact on the communities the company was working with and helping the company move toward a more sustainable future for corporations and industries. The work that I especially enjoyed was researching the flaws in the carbon market and coming up with solutions that the company could implement to avoid greenwashing. This work was challenging and exciting, it also made me feel like my work had a purpose I was proud of. I also enjoyed the team meetings where we discussed our ideas and progress. The team was very creative and knowledgeable so I learned a lot from these meetings. I got the opportunity to share some of my insights and my contributions were included in the team's plans.
What was a typical week like in your position?
On Monday, I would meet with the senior and junior Sustainability team to talk about last week's progress and lay out the goals for the week. I would work with the junior team throughout the week to meet our objectives. I would spend a lot of time researching initiatives and implementation methods. I also attended many meetings with other companies for possible collaboration. On Thursday, the junior team would meet with the supervisor to present each individual's advancements and findings. Friday was used to tie up pending issues or tasks and prepare for the next week's Monday meeting with the senior team. Occasionally, we had company-wide meetings to discuss the introduction of new initiatives.
How did you find your internship?
I found this internship through networking. A friend of mine had started in the same position a few months before and talked to me about the company and his experience. I really liked that the company seemed dedicated to having a positive impact in the communities it worked with and was getting into improving the sustainability of its operations. I asked my friend to connect me with one of their supervisors. After meeting two people on the sustainability team to talk about the company’s mission and the value I could add to the team, I was offered the internship.
How did your coursework help you in your internship?
Thanks to my Economics classes, I was able to showcase my knowledge in many different scenarios during the internship. My supervisor mentioned multiple times the idea of a circular economy and a circular business model, which are topics that I learned from ECON181 and was therefore able to participate in the conversation by providing a knowledgeable opinion.
Taking ECON306 was useful because the lessons about how the optimal production quantity depends on the cost helped me understand why plans such as changing to more sustainable materials could affect the amount of units that could be produced while maintaining the same profit levels.
ECON481 helped me dive deep into the incentives that companies had to become more sustainable. This allowed me to understand what kinds of company policies could be interesting for Someone Somewhere, which refined my suggestions to the team.
ECON486 was one of the most relevant classes I took because it covered the carbon credit market and surrounding policies and problems. This knowledge was useful when talking to the offsetting companies, explaining my conclusions to the team, supporting the marketing team with possible carbon credit criticism, and the designing of emissions goals.
ECON424 was incredibly useful when I was looking into methodology design for emission measurement, variable inclusion, and data collection. The senior individuals in the sustainability team were especially strict about the proper collection and manipulation of data because their decisions were going to be the base of the sustainability initiative, so I was glad I could contribute with valuable work and insights.
Any general internship advice for students?
Before accepting an internship, especially during the Fall or Spring semesters, you need to make sure that you will have the time to produce quality work and be available when the company needs you. Not doing so could hinder your academic success and won't let you reach your full potential during the internship.
Searching for internships can be hard because there are millions of options and you never know where to start. I would recommend making a list of the internships you are interested in and ranking them in order of importance to you. Then, keep track of what you need to apply, deadlines, and progress to help you organize your search process better and avoid feeling overwhelmed. To make the most of your internship, never be afraid to ask questions and learn as much as you can from the people around you.
What interested you about the internship?
What interested me about this position was learning about the different ways that a company can become more sustainable through initiatives in all sectors. The sustainability team had an intricate process, and supporting the team through the different phases taught me a lot about turning ideas into reality. Ideas would pass from brainstorming to research, to analysis of research, to proposal, to implementation. Seeing the best ideas develop and being implemented showcased how change within the company and the industry is both possible and beneficial in many cases. There are very innovative technologies and systems that can improve production and operation practices, which is what I want to do in my career.
How do you anticipate that this internship might help you in your future? What could this lead to?
I expanded my network and got to know the members of the sustainability team very well. I also picked up a wide range of very useful skills. From the meetings with possible collaborators, I practiced professionally representing a company and asking questions to make sure that their services were compatible with what we were looking for. From the Climate Neutral Reduction Action Plan I helped design, I learned how goals are set based on specific benchmarks and quantities. From the extensive research I did on the emissions measurement standards I learned about data gathering, methodology design, and reporting. Since I was asked to gather data and try out emission measurement methodologies in Excel, I explored ways to use formulas and organize information in a straightforward and efficient way.
