Chloe Wetzler, a Master of Environmental Management (MEM) and Juris Doctor student, spent her summer as a presidential Stanback fellow at the Rachel Carson Council.

Each year, Nicholas School of the Environment students complete internships with organizations around the world. These internships provide valuable opportunities to gain career-related experience and build a professional network. 

Duke Environment recently caught up with Wetzler to learn more about her experience.

What projects did you work on during your internship? What did you find most rewarding or memorable?

Wetzler and two others in front of Congressional office

This summer I was co-lead of the Oceans and Coasts program, which meant I tracked news stories and policy developments relating to ocean and coastal environmental justice. Each month I synthesized these updates into a newsletter for the Rachel Carson Council鈥檚 subscribers. I also got to write blogs on topics of my choosing related to the oceans and coasts. This was a rewarding experience because I got to spend time researching and diving into topics I was personally interested in. The last project I focused on was a policy capstone, where I picked a piece of environmental legislation to study and follow. I picked a bill on wetlands and wildlife conservation, the America鈥檚 Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act of 2024. This was the most practical and memorable part of the internship because I got to really study the details of my bill, wrote policy memos about it, and set up meetings with my Congressional representatives to advocate for the bill鈥檚 passage. This helped me better understand the ins and outs of the legislative process.

How did the coursework and resources at the Nicholas School prepare you for success in this role as well as your internship search?

My American Environmental Politics course with Jack Zhou helped the most in making sure I understood some of the nuances involved in getting bills through Congress. It also helped me design an advocacy or lobbying campaign with strategic targets in mind. My Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy course with Steve Roady also helped because most of the important ocean and coastal news this summer was grounded in what I had discussed in class or read about already. As far as being prepared for the internship search itself, I am really grateful I took the Career Development for Environmental Professionals seminar class with Allison Besch.

Did you collaborate with any Nicholas School alumni during your summer experience?

In my Stanback fellowship, I was working alongside many current Nicholas School MEM students so that was fun. Also, one of the full-time staff at the Rachel Carson Council, Joy Reeves, had just graduated from the MEM program in May and was starting around the same time as the summer fellows. Joy was a super helpful resource and a great ally to have in my corner. Then finally being located in D.C., I got to interact with many Nicholas School alumni at various marine and environmental policy events.

How do you envision this experience contributing to your long-term career goals?

I have been considering a career in environmental policy, but have been debating whether or not I would enjoy working for an environmental nonprofit or for a government agency better. So this was a good experience to test out what it is like to work for a nonprofit. Also as part of the fellowship, the Rachel Carson Council arranged some career speakers for us to meet, so I also got insight into what it is like in various placements within government agencies and in the nonprofit space for organizations working closely with the government as well.

Then just physically working in D.C. for a summer on top of our career speaker series was really eye-opening to see many kinds of positions in the environmental law and policy space that I didn鈥檛 even know existed before. So now I have some new goals and have added more organizations to my list of places to apply to jobs after graduation. Finally, I met a ton of really cool people also working in this space I will keep in touch with and add to my network of amazing environmentalists I would be excited to work alongside and ask for advice along my career journey.