This summer, UChicago students completed internships at a broad range of climate-related organizations with support from one of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth’s three internship programs.
The largest-ever intern cohort included all levels of undergraduates and graduate students from the Harris School of Public Policy. Their positions at non-profits, for-profits, governmental organizations, international organizations, and academia allowed them to connect what they’re learning in the classroom to the “real world” — widening their perspectives and their networks. From helping to build business strategies for new climate technologies to examining how certain policies can lead to economic gains at the World Bank, it was a summer of learning and skill building as they consider their future careers. Read more about our 2026 summer interns below.
Climate and Growth Internship Program
E
ll Admaja
ReNew Energy, India
Ell Admaja (College ’29) worked as a Data Engineering Intern at ReNew Digital, focusing on building and improving end-to-end data pipelines. His work explored data quality frameworks to ensure that datasets were accurate and ready for analytics, among other tasks. His role was to understand the complete data lifecycle, from ingestion and transformation to quality validation and delivery, while also contributing practical ideas for creating more scalable and trustworthy data systems.
“I developed technical skills in data engineering, including building end-to-end data pipelines, applying Medallion Architecture, managing data lakes, and implementing data quality checks. I also gained experience with data mesh principles and learned how reliable data systems support business decisions. Beyond technical skills, I strengthened my communication skills and ability to translate complex concepts into practical solutions while collaborating in a professional environment.”
Laura Bornhoevd
R&D B2B Marketing, Chicago, IL
Laura Bornhoevd (College ’28) worked for R&D B2B Marketing, a marketing agency that works with clean technology companies. Bornhoevd joined client calls and got to participate in the development of marketing campaigns. She helped draft press releases, write LinkedIn posts, edit presentations for clients, write media briefs for clients when they were giving interviews, and spent a lot of time learning how to effectively integrate AI tools into the workflow of R&D. She also spent time learning about the back-end and front-end of AI in marketing, exploring how to optimize for AI through GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) work, and testing how to best use AI tools like scheduled tasks to support the work that R&D does.
“I really enjoyed getting to see the marketing process for certain campaigns from start to finish, being in the initial client calls during the planning stage and then by the end of my internship getting to see how much more traffic the clients were getting from these campaigns. Learning about the technology that all of R&D’s clients are working on was also a highlight of my internship, from medium voltage uninterruptible power supply systems to metal regeneration machines, the work that these startups are doing is really exciting.”
Danielle Duble
ReNew Energy, India
Danielle Duble (College ’28) interned in India with ReNew Private Limited, a leading renewable energy company that builds and operates large solar and wind power projects. As an ESG & Sustainability intern, she conducted a feasibility study regarding ReNew’s Scope 3 Category 2 emissions, finding less carbon intensive alternatives for ReNew to consider regarding their manufacturing and procurement processes. Beyond that, she assisted in the creation of ReNew’s annual integrated report.
“During this internship, I improved my research skills greatly. Since I was completing a feasibility study, I had to look deeply into ReNew’s inventory, partnerships, and projects in the past, present, and planned future. With that, I determined what next steps ReNew could take from an IPP and manufacturing point of view. I also learned how to interact with stakeholders internally and externally throughout my study. I also improved my presentation and communication skills.”
Avi Duggirala
GreenFire Energy, Chicago, IL
Avi Duggirala (College ’28) worked as a Financial Analyst intern building and maintaining GreenFire Energy’s multi-sheet financial models. His work spanned a six-project geothermal portfolio model, a unit economics model comparing standalone versus phased buildout scenarios, a two-case pro forma for a 50 MW site, and a full single-project carve-out model for a new prospective site (Bolthouse Fresh Foods’ Brundage facility in Bakersfield, CA), rebuilt from the portfolio model with over ten thousand formula references rewritten and verified to the cent. His role covered model construction, formula debugging, sensitivity analysis on price, depth, and interconnection assumptions, and reconciling figures between the model and investor-facing materials.
“This internship gave me hands-on experience with the financial mechanics that actually determine whether a climate technology gets built: capital structure, PPA pricing, ITC monetization, and the sensitivity of project returns to physical resource characteristics. I now understand geothermal project economics from the ground up, from subsurface well design to portfolio-level fundraising materials, which is a level of technical-financial fluency I couldn’t have gotten from coursework alone. It confirmed that I want a career at the intersection of finance and climate infrastructure, where I can use quantitative modeling to help make projects like this bankable.”
Dan Gunlogson
GreenFire Energy
Dan Gunlogson (College ’28) worked as an Investments and Corporate Development intern for GreenFire Energy, a geothermal energy technology developer. His work focused on the commercial, financial, and competitive landscape for next-generation geothermal energy. He researched industry trends, competing technologies, project economics, financing activity, and commercialization strategies to support the company’s growth and fundraising efforts. His role involved analyzing market and technical data, benchmarking GreenFire against other geothermal developers, and translating complex findings into clear business implications. He also reviewed investor-facing materials and financial assumptions, helped refine strategic messaging ahead of the company’s Series B process, and developed research on topics such as drilling cost reductions, project economics, offtake structures, and investor activity across the geothermal sector.
“This internship gave me a much clearer understanding of how climate technologies move from technical innovation to commercial deployment. It also gave me practical exposure to the challenges climate companies face when raising capital, positioning themselves in competitive markets, and proving commercial viability. Going forward, I hope to use these skills to evaluate and support climate and energy companies as they grow and deploy new technologies.”
Climate and Growth Fund
Iris Badezet-Delory
Brown University, Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences, Providence, RI
Iris Badezet-Delory (College ’27) conducted research at Brown University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences with Professor Emanuele Di Lorenzo in Providence, Rhode Island. She worked on how the relationship between a precursor of California winter precipitation and subsequent precipitation varies across different atmospheric background states. She then used an idealized atmospheric model to explore the dynamical mechanisms behind this sensitivity and understand why the precursor enhances precipitation predictability under certain conditions.
“The experience really strengthened my interest in atmospheric dynamics and climate variability and gave me greater independence in developing and testing research questions. I also enjoyed having to coordinate collaboration between different research institutions; it was definitely a challenge at times but I learned a lot from it.”
Iram Siddique
Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Chicago & Washington, DC
Iram Siddique (Harris ’27) is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the Harris School of Public Policy, focusing on the intersection of environment, climate change, and international development. Prior to joining the University of Chicago, Siddique spent 12 years as a journalist, building a career centered on governance, climate resilience, and socio-political change across urban and rural India. This summer, Siddique interned with the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world’s largest publicly-funded agrifood research network.
Gabriel Thomas
Earth Biometrics, Santa Barbara, CA
Gabriel Thomas (College ’28) joined Earth Biometrics as a researcher stationed at the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. In this role, Thomas contributed to a high-impact trial program conducted in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Caltech, and the Enterprise Neurosystem consortium to deploy a global AI sensor network for climate change monitoring. He served as a technical researcher developing both hardware and software for the sensor stacks. Thomas built and tested sensor systems, set up the network to connect them, and is now fine-tuning and building ML systems to process the data on the back end.
“Getting to work with this organization is exactly what I should be doing right now to advance my career in climate. I got to work at a small research startup meaning I was given real responsibility and could engage with scientists from [NASA’s] JPL and those leading the project. Furthermore, the data from this project feeds directly into the economics work I am doing, so it sets up an ongoing relationship where I can leverage up the work from this summer in years to come.”
Will Vanman
Brightline Defense, San Francisco, CA
Will Vanman (College ’28) worked with Brightline Defense, an organization that advances environmental justice by ensuring that underserved and frontline communities both benefit from and shape sustainable development. His work focused on environmental justice policy and community engagement in California. He supported advocacy through the California Offshore Wind Now coalition, including research, public comment hearings, and policy workshops. He also contributed to direct-service efforts such as air purifier distribution, air quality monitoring, and youth environmental education. A major component of his work was researching and contributing to a policy report on California utility rates and their impacts on communities. His role involved conducting policy research, synthesizing information, supporting coalition and community outreach, and contributing to written materials. Through these projects, he explored how environmental policy is developed and implemented and how community perspectives can shape policy outcomes.
“One major success I had was expanding my professional network beyond my immediate workplace. Through the internship, I took advantage of opportunities to connect with people working in environmental policy, advocacy, and community organizing. These conversations gave me a better understanding of different career paths and helped me become more confident in reaching out to professionals and building relationships. This was especially valuable because it pushed me outside my comfort zone and gave me connections and perspectives that I can carry forward beyond the internship.”
Liz Villegas
The World Bank, Washington, DC
Liz Villegas (Haris ’27) interned at the World Bank, where her work focused on the drivers of sustainable and inclusive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. In particular, she examined how foreign direct investment, technological change, and industrial policies can contribute to productivity, economic resilience, and long-term development in the region. Her role involved analyzing cross-country and sectoral data, conducting literature and policy research, and preparing analytical inputs and figures for a regional flagship report. Through this work, she explored how investment patterns, technological adoption, and productive transformation can help LAC economies achieve more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable growth.
“One of my major successes was contributing analytical research to a regional flagship report produced by the World Bank’s Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean. I was able to take ownership of several research tasks, including analyzing cross-country and sectoral data and developing evidence on foreign investment, technology, productivity, and long-term growth. Seeing my analysis contribute to a broader policy discussion for the region was particularly rewarding. I was also very grateful that, toward the end of my internship, my team invited me to continue working with them as a part-time consultant during the academic year, which I saw as a meaningful recognition of my contributions over the summer.”