Carbon Neutrality Student Fellowship: UCOP Fellowships for 2015-2016
Applications Due: September 20
Eligibility: All currently enrolled UC undergraduate or graduate students
Location: UC Office of the President in Oakland
Duration: September/October 2015 – June/July 2016
Compensation: $13/hour (higher rate for grad students, based on experience)
Program Description
The UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative grows out of a commitment by President Napolitano and the 10 UC
campus chancellors to work collectively to intensify and expand the efforts of the world’s premier public
research university to emit net zero greenhouse gases from its buildings and vehicle fleet by 2025.
To ensure that students are engaged in this critical effort, the President created the President’s Carbon
Neutrality Student Fellowship Program. In addition to funding student fellowships at each campus, the
UC Office of the President also received funding to hire 2-3 fellows to work on projects at UCOP and in
support of system-wide Carbon Neutrality Initiative projects.
The selected student fellows will be invited to attend an orientation and leadership development retreat
with fellows from throughout the UC system. Selected fellows will also have an opportunity to attend the
2016 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference at the end of their fellowship.
All UCOP fellows will work within the UCOP Energy and Sustainability Department and will report to
Matt St. Clair, Director of Sustainability, or Janika McFeely, Sustainability Specialist.
Two UCOP fellowship projects are described below. Applicants should specify which project(s) they are
interested in and how they are qualified for that specific position.
Position #1 – Communications and Engagement
The Communications and Engagement Fellow will support the Carbon Neutrality Initiative’s
engagement campaigns in the following ways:
1. Coordinating communication and promotion for the Cool Campus Challenge amongst staff,
faculty, and students on all 10 UC campuses. The Challenge is a competition between UC
campuses during fall 2015 to motivate and reward staff, faculty, and students for reducing their
carbon footprints and to get them involved in helping the UC system reach its 2025 Carbon
Neutrality goal.
2. Leading and coordinating the efforts of the Student Engagement Fellows at each of the 10
campuses. This will include managing social media, blog posts, and internal communication
within the community of student engagement fellows.
3. Sharing information and experiences among the community of student fellows and with the
broader UC community.
Position #2 – Climate and Sustainability Strategic Planning
The Climate and Sustainability Strategic Planning Fellow will be extremely well versed in Climate Action
Planning and ideally familiar with the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System
(STARS). The fellow will work closely with the UCOP Office of Sustainability to support UCOP
leadership in developing a system-wide climate action plan and in the potential development of a
strategic plan to guide the contributions of education and engagement to President Napolitano’s
Carbon Neutrality Initiative. Tasks will include financial analysis and modeling of system-wide carbon
neutrality scenarios as well as a gap analysis of STARS reporting across the UC.
This position is ideal for a graduate student in energy and resources, environmental policy, or energy
engineering.
Selection Criteria
The ideal candidates will

Be a student currently enrolled at a UC and located in the Bay Area (Note: UC Davis and
UC Santa Cruz are eligible to apply if they are available to work in Oakland one day a week.
However, the fellowship unfortunately does not include funding for commuting to Oakland)

Have an understanding of climate change issues and mitigation strategies.

Be a self-starter who needs minimal guidance; leadership experience is a plus.

Is comfortable working as part of a team.

Is comfortable reaching out to people and has some communications experience (journalism
and web or graphic experience required for the communications/engagement fellow).

Can commit to working at least 5 hours/week.

Can commit to working through the end of the spring 2016 semester or quarter.
Please email your application and resume in PDF form to Janika.mcfeely@ucop.edu.
Applications are due by September 20.