Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) brings together experts in science, law and economics to create innovative, equitable and cost-effective solutions to society's most urgent environmental problems. The MNC works with a variety of EDF programs, including its Center for Conservation Incentives, Corporate Partnerships, Innovation Exchange, and Oceans programs. The MNC helps recruit MBA students for summer jobs within EDF; some of these jobs are funded in part by the Packard Foundation. MNC recruiting for EDF summer jobs is different from EDF's Climate Corps, which partners with Net Impact to place students in green internships at major companies. (Learn more about Environmental Defense Fund.)
Jessica Feingold (Yale)
EDF/Center for Conservation Incentives
Environmental Defense Fund's Center for Conservation Incentives focuses on improving environmental stewardship on working lands without impacting profits. In California, the Center is working with scientists, agriculture commodity associations and others to create accounting mechanisms for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and carbon-sequestration opportunities associated with different land-use management practices. Jessica assessed the farm-scale economic viability of land-use conversion from production agriculture to carbon-capture-managed wetlands in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley through access to emerging carbon markets. She also analyzed the costs to agriculture of California's AB 32 regulation. Learn more about the Center for Conservation Incentives, or view previous placements with Environmental Defense Fund. (Summer 2010)
Allyson Fish (Yale)
Environmental Defense/Corporate Partnerships
Environmental Defense Fund's Corporate Partnerships program works with U.S. companies to reduce the lifecycle environmental impacts of the products and services they sell. Allyson spent the summer helping the program evaluate the feasibility of new project ideas. She is shown here on a visit to a construction site in Boston after testifying before the Massachusetts legislature on a bill to retrofit diesel construction equipment. Learn more about the Corporate Partnerships program. (Summer 2007)
Jon Gensler (MIT Sloan)
Environmental Defense Fund/California Fisheries Fund
EDF’s California Fisheries Fund (CFF) is a revolving loan fund that supports coastal communities working to improve the sustainability of their fisheries. Jon (far L), shown here with CFF colleagues, spent the summer working with CFF borrowers to help them develop a strategic marketing plan for local seafood from Morro Bay, California. He also analyzed CFF fund metrics and produced recommendations to enhance the way the fund measures its environmental, social and financial success. He blogged about his internship in the Financial Times, at http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/author/jgensler/. Learn more about The California Fisheries Fund. (Summer 2009)
John Paul Jewell (Yale)
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund's Corporate Partnerships program works with U.S. companies to reduce the lifecycle environmental impacts of the products and services they sell. John Paul (JP) spent the summer developing a partnership to rapidly scale up adoption rates of energy efficiency technology in office buildings. (Summer 2008)
Kyle Kearney (Haas)
Environmental Defense Fund/Oceans Program
Environmental Defense Fund's Oceans Program supports the development of a healthy fishing industry that embraces conservation measures, reducing bycatch and habitat damage. Kyle worked with several fishing communities in California to assess market demand and branding potential for sustainably caught seafood. He explored methods to track the product value chain of the catch and proposed strategies to make sustainable fisheries economically viable. Learn more about the Oceans Program.(Packard Environment Fellow Summer 2008)
Jamie Ponce (Harvard)
Environmental Defense/Oceans Program
Environmental Defense's Oceans Program is working to address the gap between the supply of local sustainable seafood and growing marketplace demand in California. Currently, a port community attempting to improve its management of fish resources can only work at a “boutique” level. Jamie wrote a business plan for consolidating sustainable seafood landings from multiple ports, with the goal of protecting marine resources while supporting sustainable local economies. Learn more about the Oceans Program. (Packard Environment Fellow Summer 2007)