Location: Remote
Reports to: Senior Project Associate
Salary: $20/hour (40 hours/week)
Travel: None
About Blue Forest
Blue Forest is a conservation finance non-profit whose mission is to accelerate the pace and scale of ecological restoration. Since 2018, Blue Forest has managed investor capital through its flagship financial product, the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB), which deploys private capital to finance forest restoration projects on private and public lands to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. More recently, Blue Forest has also established Blue Forest Asset Management (BFAM), an investment management platform connecting investors to compelling, mission-aligned opportunities in a broader set of asset classes beyond FRB projects, such as private equity and private credit investments.
Blue Forest is an interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, foresters, finance, and communications professionals. We are harnessing financial innovation and building partnerships with investors, non-profits, private companies and the public sector to design sustainable solutions to systemic climate resilience challenges faced by vulnerable communities and ecosystems. As we grow and develop new financial solutions to pressing environmental problems, we are committed to promoting social equity and amplifying historically excluded voices in the burgeoning field of conservation finance.
Position Summary
The Utility Engagement Student Summer Intern will work primarily with our science and project development teams on a strategic initiative to better understand utility perspectives on and activities related to watershed and landscape management. The intern will focus on 1) understanding and synthesizing existing research on the ways that utilities participate in landscape management across the electric power and water supply sectors; 2) describing enabling conditions that support such participation; and 3) identifying barriers, including regulatory, social, economic, and informational, that limit utility engagement in this space.
Job requirements
Responsibilities & Duties
Existing Utility Programming Research
- Review and summarize existing research on water and electric utility participation in watershed and landscape management in the Western U.S., including understanding the type and structure of participation, utility motivations, and relevant policy conditions.
- Compare existing case studies to identify themes, enabling conditions, and common limitations among utility watershed management programs.
Stakeholder Interviews
- Collaborate with science and project development team members to design a qualitative outreach and information-gathering initiative with particular focus on water utilities. This will include identifying candidates for interview, developing interview questions, helping lead interviews, and synthesizing results. relevant interview questions.
Report Writing
- Summarize and synthesize finds from desktop research and interviews into internal guides for project development engagement with utilities and recommendations for longer-term policy and research suggestions for improving utility engagement in landscape management.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
- Active contributor: Ability to work independently; detail-oriented, executes assigned tasks, follows through, manages time effectively, owns workstreams. Identifies and communicates bottlenecks with support, proactively researching and identifying solutions to bring to the team.
- Communication: Strong written and oral communication skills, including distilling and communicating complex ideas into presentations and written memos, facilitating conversation, etc.
- Partnerships & Collaboration: Strong, active listening skills, inclusive approach, and values engaging diverse perspectives to design effective solutions and projects.
- Conservation Finance, Ecosystem Services, Utilities, or Forestry Experience: Passionate and some understanding of conservation finance, role and structure of water and electric utilities, forestry, or other relevant fields. Experience working with utilities is a plus but not required.
- Continuous learner: Committed to continuous learning, including seeking opportunities to incorporate feedback and learn from others, learning, listening, and engagement that understands historical place-based context and empowers and supports diverse communities within the conservation and financial communities.
Qualifications
Blue Forest will prioritize the following qualifications in the hiring process; however, we only expect candidates to fulfill some criteria and encourage all interested candidates to apply.
- Current undergraduate student
- Clear written and verbal communication
- Demonstrated interest in and commitment to environmental conservation and climate resilience
- Experience with qualitative research methods, interviews, policy analysis, literature review, utility engagement, and/ or land management is highly preferred
COVID VACCINE REQUIREMENT
All Blue Forest staff are required to be “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines that term. Proof of full vaccination shall be a condition of employment and must be provided prior to starting work, except where prohibited by law. Blue Forest is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and the company will engage in the interactive process regarding reasonable accommodations for candidates who cannot be vaccinated due to a disability/medical condition; a sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance; or a claimed exemption under applicable state law.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply to this position, submit a resume on recruitee. People from historically underrepresented populations and candidates with non-traditional career paths are especially encouraged to apply. Applications will be accepted by May 1st, 2024.
Blue Forest provides equal employment and opportunities for advancement, compensation, training, and growth according to individual merit, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable Federal, state, or local law. Applicants must have authorization to work in the United States.
