Student Affairs Sustainability Communications Intern

The Student Affairs Sustainability Communications Intern worked to promote and increase visibility of sustainability efforts connected to Student Affairs and associated departments initiatives and practices across Duke's campus. Main responsibilities of the internship included developing content and branding that could advertise sustainability initiatives, writing articles to highlight varying actors in Duke's sustainability efforts, and overall managing the Student Affairs Sustainability Instagram (@sas.duke) to grow engagement and online presence. The work was aimed at the general community but also students specifically as the target demographic and the ones initiatives could most benefit. Partnerships with Duke Dining, Duke Wellness, and the Office of Climate and Sustainability were key aspects of the internship in creating wider consciousness of overarching sustainability efforts.  

During their internship, the student played a central role in developing and executing marketing campaigns for key sustainability initiatives, most notably No Meat November and Earth Fest. For No Meat November, the student produced a series of videos, one introducing the initiative and another showcasing Duke Dining's vegetarian offerings, with the goal of encouraging students to reduce their carbon footprint through manageable dietary changes. The campaign was strategically designed to present the initiative as low-commitment and easily integrated into students' daily routines, which was reflected in the targeted, option-specific online marketing content created. The campaign generated over 15,000 views on Instagram reels, resulting in more than 100 in-person signups and 30 cashier registrations, demonstrating measurable real-world impact. 

For Earth Fest, the intern leveraged their firsthand understanding of the student demographic to craft a campaign designed to drive in-person attendance, using their peer perspective as a creative lens to evaluate what content would genuinely resonate. Throughout both projects, the student managed cross-departmental collaboration, frequently serving as the primary point of contact with professionals across university offices. This experience strengthened their ability to communicate and build relationships in a professional and administrative context. The main takeaways from this experience included growth in professional communications, cross-departmental relationship-building, data tracking and organization, and audience-informed marketing strategy. These were all skills the student that could be directly transferred to future careers in climate and sustainability communications.