Climate Commitment Communications Internship

Timeline

2025

Description

Affiliated programs: Green Devils Intern Program, Duke Climate Commitment 

Summary 

This intern worked to amplify sustainability initiatives, creating profiles celebrating the people, behaviors, systems, resources, or other activities that are happening at Duke. This year, the intern coordinated a new social media campaign for OCS called "Sustainable Sparks". The series involved interviewing and writing stories about students, staff, faculty, and alumni who are unexpected leaders in sustainability. The intern designed social media content, including text, video, and photo narratives about campus and community projects that support the Duke Climate Commitment. The intern developed skills in communication, organization, and graphic design to produce compelling stories to inspire sustainable action among the Duke community members and beyond.

Goals

1) Expand engagement with the Duke Climate Commitment across campus
2) Spotlight the “unseen” campus sustainability leaders.
3) Research and curate social media stories to strengthen OCS and Duke Climate Commitment visibility.
4) Coordinate communication with OCS and unconventional climate leaders at Duke.

Experience and Learning Outcomes

This project was part of the year-long, paid Green Devils Internship program managed by the Office of Climate and Sustainability. The intern worked to uncover and highlight sustainability at Duke that embodied the vision of the Duke Climate Commitment. With the support of a supervisor, Kirsten, the intern explored sustainability initiatives across all different facets of campus life to produce “Sustainable Sparks” posts. They coordinated the campaign: from initial contacts to interviewing, production, and distribution. Through this experience, the intern learned more about the Duke Climate Commitment, OCS, and how Duke is weaving sustainability throughout the entire university. The intern was able to highlight sustainability initiatives across each corner of campus, from athletics to arts to medicine. 

Working within the marketing branch of OCS, they developed professional, written, and verbal communication skills, learning about the OCS message framework and brand guide of the Climate Commitment. Through communication with various stakeholders, the intern advanced interpersonal communication skills, gained experience in project management, meeting deadlines, and organized coordination. On the production side of the internship, the intern improved graphic design skills through Canva, developed a stronger intuition for design, and learned how to enhance message impact through visual media

Recommendations

The student recommends continue to uncover the “unseen” sustainable activities at Duke, specifically focusing on branches of campus that might not have apparent connections with sustainability. Also, focusing on storytelling around key cultural phenomena at Duke (ex. Basketball), and consider sustainability within these spheres for increased engagement with social media content. Finally, the student recommends work with partners to share, collaborate, and amplify social media posts.

Student Interns: Aliza Savin

Intern Supervisor: Kirsten Khire, Director of Marketing and Communications for Climate and Sustainability