The Packard Environment Fellows Program places MBA students in high-impact summer jobs with conservation organizations seeking creative ways to balance community-building, economic activity and environmental protection. The program is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. See examples below of Packard Environment Fellow summer jobs from 2008 and prior years.
Katie Appel (Ross)
Chefs Collaborative
Chefs Collaborative is a national nonprofit working with chefs and the greater food community to foster a more sustainable food supply; its members embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies. Katie researched distribution models around the country for most effectively getting local food to restaurants. (Learn more about Chefs Collaborative.) (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.) (Summer 2008)
Zoë Robins (Darden)
Community and Conservation Investment Forum
The nonprofit Conservation and Community Investment Forum (CCIF) specializes in applying the tools, strategies, and capital sources of the private sector to address urgent conservation issues worldwide. Zoë (left) assessed the feasibility of conservation trust funds for protected areas networks in Cambodia and Indonesia, and contributed to the design of analytical tools that can be used in developing conservation finance strategies. She is joined in this picture by CCIF Bali office manager Putu Padmawati. (Learn more about CCIF.) (Summer 2008)
Carly Smolak (Presidio)
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sustainable Seafood Initiative is helping to create a marketplace for sustainable seafood through work with consumers, suppliers and major buyers of seafood products. Carly, shown here just outside the Aquarium's offices, carried out an in-depth study of the seafood procurement structures and relationships of major seafood buyers. Her work has fed into the Sustainable Seafood Initiative program strategy and will help inform the broader marine conservation community, so that they can work more effectively within the existing business structures of their corporate partners. (Learn more about Seafood Watch.) (Summer 2008)
Jenny Trucano (UCLA Anderson)
Rare
Rare is a fast-growing conservation organization that runs state-of-the-art communications and outreach projects in more than 40 countries. Rare provides training in social marketing to conservationists from around the world through university programs in the U.K., Mexico, China, and Indonesia, and is considering opening a new training site in the Francophone and/or Portuguese-speaking world. Jenny provided Rare with strategic assessments of both markets, in addition to conducting an on-site assessment of one of Rare's current university partnerships. (Learn more about Rare.) (Summer 2008)
Carlos Asalde (MIT Sloan)
The Sonoran Institute
The Sonoran Institute works collaboratively with local people to conserve and restore important natural landscapes in western North America. Carlos developed a marketing and financial plan for ecotours in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. He is shown here (far R) with colleagues from the Sonoran Institute and a local ecological association, taking a break from spreadsheets to help improve an irrigation system along the Rio Hardy. (Learn more about the Sonoran Institute.) (Summer 2006)
Megan Baehrens (Yale)
The Sonoran Institute
The Sonoran Institute (SI) works collaboratively with local people to conserve and restore important natural landscapes in western North America. Megan developed a marketing and financial plan for the Ruta del Rio Hardy, an ecotourism initiative in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Megan (standing) met to discuss the project with Mary Rivera and Laura Esquer from the Baja California Tourism Office (far L and second from R respectively) and SI's Dr. Francisco Zamora. (Learn more about the Sonoran Institute.) (Summer 2007)
David Bernardo (Darden)
Rare
Rare is an international conservation organization whose mission is to protect wildlands by enabling local people to benefit from their preservation. David helped Rare launch an ecotourism marketing alliance in the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras. (Learn more about Rare.) (Summer 2005)
Julie Gavage (Harvard)
Marine Aquarium Council
The mission of the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) is to conserve coral reefs and other marine ecosystems. Julie worked in Southeast Asia on a variety of business-related projects under the umbrella of the Marine Aquarium Market Transformation Initiative. (Learn more about MAC.) (Summer 2005)
Joanne Nelson (Kellogg)
Redefining Progress
Redefining Progress (RP) works with a broad array of partners to shift the economy and public policy towards sustainability. Joanne developed a marketing plan and collateral which RP uses to encourage municipalities and businesses to calculate their "Ecological Footprints." (Read more about this tool that measures an activity's impact on nature.) (Summer 2004)
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.) (Summer 2007)
Simon Poon (MIT Sloan)
Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center
The Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center (PACRC) at the U. of Hawaii/Hilo provides support for sustainable aquaculture development in Hawaii and the Western Pacific. Simon traveled extensively in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, consulting with sponge and black pearl farmers on business development. (Learn more about PACRC.) (Summer 2004)
Aaron Smith (Darden)
Rare
Rare is an international conservation organization whose mission is to protect wildlands by enabling local people to benefit from their preservation. Aaron consulted for Rare on the development of Ecoturismo Sian Ka'an. This enterprise provides conservation-focused ecotours run exclusively by community members within the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Aaron (right) is shown here with Pastor Caamal Uitzil, a member of a local tourism cooperative. (Learn more about Rare.) (Summer 2004)
Dan Svoboda (Harvard)
Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center
The Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center (PACRC) at the University of Hawaii/Hilo provides support for sustainable aquaculture development in Hawaii and the Western Pacific. Dan trained over 100 small business and entrepreneurs, mostly natural product producers, in marketing and sales. He is shown here on a field trip to investigate cinnamon bark tea, one of the products he developed marketing materials for. (Learn more about PACRC.) (Summer 2005)
Matthew Welch (Ross)
The Center for Sustainable Environments
The Center for Sustainable Environments (CSE) brings together scientists, business leaders, government agencies, non-profits, and community members to seek creative solutions to environmental problems. Matthew helped CSE develop a Fair Trade marketing strategy for sustainably harvested fish and coastal plant products in northwestern Mexico. On a trip to the Gulf of California he helped the Seri Indians with the harvest of diver scallops. (Learn more about CSE.) (Summer 2007)
Edwin Ou (Haas)
Marine Aquarium Council
The Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) is a global conservation enterprise that encourages environmentally and financially sustainable business practices within the aquarium and fisheries industries. Edwin worked in Hawaii and Bali, conducting an evaluation of key measures of organizational performance and developing targeted recommendations for improvement. He is shown here (R) attending a strategic planning session in Bali with MAC executive director Paul Holthus. (Learn more about the Marine Aquarium Council.) (Summer 2006)