41 Harvard Graduate Students Embark on Climate Internships Across Five Continents 

The HCIP is a university-wide program supporting graduate students working in climate policy-oriented summer internships. In 2022, an inaugural cohort of 17 HCIP fellows undertook projects ranging from supporting the White House Council on Environmental Quality to working on stormwater management projects with the City of Boston. In 2023, the program expanded to support 41 graduate students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School.  

The program aims to complement the classroom climate learning experience, build the climate community, and showcase future climate leaders.  

Explore the 2023 student fellows:  

Momi Afelin (HSPH MPH) is conducting a study on subsistence practices (fishing, hunting, etc.) with Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi in Hawaii to determine the impact of various social and ecological changes such as climate change on subsistence. She will be partnering with various community organizations involved in climate resilience planning to carry out this research. (Kaunakakai, HI, USA) 

Pragun Aggarwal (HKS MPP) is working with Initiative for Climate Action—an environmental non-profit based in India—focusing on understanding traditional knowledge systems and leveraging nature-based solutions of indigenous communities to inform climate adaptation and mitigation at local and state level. (Bristol, UK; Bangalore/Delhi, India) 

Natalie Baker (HKS MPA2) is working with the Climate Bonds Initiative, an international organization mobilizing global capital for climate action. Natalie is researching government financial institutions and their role in enabling sustainable finance. (Boston, MA, USA) 

Tara Bassi (GSD MA1) is working with the city of Vancouver, Washington, on Equity in Climate Action, specifically on a project to establish a frontline communities advisory panel on climate resilience and mitigation. (Vancouver, WA, USA) 

Joe Beck (HLS JD) is working with EarthRights International, where he will support attorneys serving frontline communities facing climate catastrophe and holding corporations accountable for the harms they impose. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Amina Benzakour Knidel (HKS MPP) is working as a Climate and Energy Communications intern at the Gaspard Gantzer Agency in Paris, helping clients develop and implement their communications strategies to raise awareness of public opinion on climate-related initiatives. (Paris, France) 

Sebastian Berns (HKS MPA/ID) is working at the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action on climate policy projects. Sebastian will support the implementation of large-scale funding programs to incentivize industrial decarbonization with a special focus on Carbon Contracts for Difference schemes. (Berlin, Germany) 

Anya Bharadwaj (HKS MPP) is working with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on the Climate, Environment, Energy and Disaster-Risk Reduction strategy (CEED) that aims to ensure the rights of children in a changing climate. She is researching and designing programs across 190+ UNICEF offices for the delivery of greener and safer social services. (London, UK) 

Tori Borlase (HLS JD) is working at the New York Attorney General’s Office in the Environmental Protection Bureau using litigation to advance and enforce climate regulations. (New York, NY, USA) 

Richa Chaturvedi (HKS MPP) is working at the US Department of Energy in the Loan Programs Office, where she supports portfolio strategy to accelerate the deployment of critical clean energy technologies and conducts research on renewable energy market making. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Nabig Chaudhry (HBS MBA) is interning at Climate X, a climate tech startup that provides data analytics on climate risk and climate change impacts. Nabig will focus on developing climate adaptation capabilities and features for the company’s existing platform, Spectra. (London, UK) 

Vincent Chen (HKS MPA/ID) is working with the Bezos Earth Fund to develop its Decarbonization Pathways strategy. He will focus on assessing the impact of shifts in international trade and industrial policy on global climate action and identifying opportunities for philanthropy to spur innovation and progress. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Vidit Doshi (HKS MPP) is working with Forested, a climate start-up across London and Ethiopia that is building a marketplace for ingredient insets—value chains that are climate-neutral, nature-positive, and socially-just. (London, UK; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) 

Alejandra Guardia Muguruza (HKS MPA/ID) is interning at the Office of the Honorable Commissioner for the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Lagos State Government, where she is leading the implementation strategy for the Lagos Electricity Market. This strategic initiative aims to improve reliability and efficiency in the state’s electricity sector, while reducing associated carbon emissions, directly benefiting the 69% of unconnected or off-grid households in Lagos and the 92% of households experiencing less than 16 hours of daily electricity supply. (Jakarta, Indonesia) 

Andrea Guardia Muguruza (HKS MPA/ID) joins the World Bank’s Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice, where her role involves supporting the WB team in evaluating countries and offering recommendations for the development of eco-industrial parks. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Louis Guerin (HKS MPP) is working with 300ppm, a company accelerating the path to net-zero by developing, financing, and scaling proven technologies and infrastructure with a measurable decarbonization impact. (Paris, France) 

Oliver Harfield (HKS MPP) is working with the Office of the CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), supporting projects to enable the organization to better achieve its ambitious development and climate agenda. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Gabriel Harrison (HKS MPP) is working for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Adaptation Division to assist least developed countries implement their National Adaptation Plans and enhance their resilience to climate and disaster risks. (Bonn, Germany) 

Miriam Israel (HDS MTS) is working with the UN Environment Programme’s Law Division on the Faith for Earth Initiative which works with religious communities to mobilize climate action. She will support the Initiative’s research priorities as well as strategic programming for faith-based engagement during the upcoming UNFCCC COP28 in Dubai. (Nairobi, Kenya) 

Manisha Jha (HKS MPA/ID) is working with the Investment team of Blueleaf Energy India, a Macquarie GIG portfolio company, towards project development of a hybrid renewable project, assessing policy incentives, navigating regulatory frameworks, and understanding financial and business drivers that affect commercialization of renewable power projects in India. (Bangalore, India) 

Bora Ju (GSD DDes) is working as a consultant at the World Bank, conducting research on decarbonization of Industrial Parks (IP), among others, and issues related to mitigation and adaptions in the East-Asia Pacific region, including Vietnam and China. (Cambridge, MA, USA) 

Yilin Li (HKS MPP) is working with DeepVerse AI’s product division where he will analyze the Chinese government’s green transition policy, identify material science innovation bottlenecks, and apply generative AI to expedite the R&D process. (Shanghai, China) 

Mijiddorj Lkhagvasuren (HKS MPA/ID) is working with the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice (FCI) at the World Bank to analyze industrial parks’ datasets featured in the “Eco-industrial Parks Technology Portal.” He will support the FCI’s team to examine the decarbonization and resource savings potential of industrial parks. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Monserrat Magaña Ocaña (HKS MPP) is working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Platform on Financing SMEs for Sustainability program. Monserrat will research and draft policy notes on the key topics of the Platform: bridging small to medium sized enterprises’ sustainability-related data and reporting gaps; boosting SMEs’ demand for sustainable finance; and strengthening access to transition finance for SMEs in hard-to-abate sectors. (Paris, France; Reykjavik, Iceland) 

Alejandro Martín Rodríguez (HKS MPP) is working with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at the United Nations Headquarters. He is supporting the Rule of Law Unit in their transitional and climate justice efforts. (New York, NY, USA) 

Adriana Melchor (HKS MPP) is interning for the Climate Policy Initiative’s Climate Finance program. Her work is focused on producing research and policy analysis to evaluate national and international climate finance mechanisms and the overall effectiveness of climate finance, particularly in emerging and developing economies. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Femi Olamijulo (HKS MPP) works as an Economics Affairs Intern at the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa. In this role, he supports regional climate adaptation and resilience across the continent, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in African Countries and Agenda 2063 of the African Union. (New York, NY, USA)  

Grant Pace (HLS JD) is helping AIR COMPANY, a Brooklyn-based carbon conversion/sustainable aviation fuel startup, facilitate a paid research program for high school students from environmental justice communities to study the intersection of carbon capture and conversion technologies and EJ impacts. (New York, NY, USA) 

Kaamila Patherya (HKS MPP) is working at the World Bank’s Mind, Behavior, and Development Unit (eMBeD) to apply behavioral insights in developing interventions aimed at clean cooking adoption in Africa. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Antonio Perry (HKS MPP) is working with the National Energy Authority of Iceland on a variety of projects related to the development and implementation of renewable energy solutions. (Bogota, Colombia; Reykjavik, Iceland) 

Emily Ratté (HKS MPP) is an Innovation and Disaster Management Intern at the International Telecommunication Union, the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Emily will support work on the use of emerging technology in early warning systems and assist with research on ICTs for natural disaster management. (Geneva, Switzerland) 

Rushabh Sanghvi (HKS MPA/ID) is begin his summer working with Cybage Asha on international business development for an electrolyzer startup on a mission to make green industrial hydrogen affordable. He will later explore the feasibility of carbon markets for sustainable agricultural practices in India. (New York, NY, USA; India) 

Jess Shakesprere (GSD MUP) is working with the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) to conduct research and evidence-based policy on a just transition to green hydrogen and improvements to farmers livelihoods, soil health, and climate change. (Tokyo, Japan; UK) 

Alisha Shaparia (HKS MPP) is interning at CrossBoundary in Nairobi, focusing on unlocking private sector investment into nature-based carbon projects in fragile and underserved markets. She is also helping set up Africa’s first project finance platform, the Fund for Nature, which will make natural capital investments across the continent by leveraging the voluntary carbon markets. (Nairobi, Kenya; London, UK) 

Jyoti Sharma (HKS MPA2) is interning with the United Nations Environment Program’s Climate Finance unit. She will undertake research for scaling up current finance for nature both globally and at the country level. Her work will feed into the State of Finance for Nature 2023 report of the UNEP. (Geneva, Switzerland) 

Gigi Sung (GSD MUP) is working at Climate Alpha, which develops climate-related indices in the real estate market and models to help stakeholders make an informed decision on investments across various asset classes. She will support index and model development by assessing data sets, identifying risk indicators, and training machine learning models. (New York, NY, USA) 

Hazel Tan (HBS MBA) is interning with Clean Energy Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage climate tech startups. She will be working with the firm’s investment team to diligence new investments and research the trajectory of the climate ecosystem. She will also support their portfolio of hardtech startups that are dedicated to reshaping the future of energy production and consumption to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The firm’s portfolio companies focus across climate sectors, ranging from revolutionizing the extraction of critical battery minerals to pioneering grid management technologies in emerging markets. (Boston, MA, USA) 

Emily Tench (HKS MPP) is working with Dalberg Catalyst to develop the business case for private sector investment in climate adaptation in both developed and emerging markets. She hopes the research will inform discussions at COP28 on adaptation. (London, UK; Bogota, Colombia) 

Leandro Urbano (HKS MPA/ID) is helping the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs, which oversees the country’s energy transition policy, to define industrial policies for the post-coal Indonesian economy and the development of key transition sectors (e.g., alternative fuels). (Jakarta, Indonesia) 

Kusha Verma (HKS MPA/ID) is working at the World Bank’s Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice, and supporting empirical analyses that measure the impact on the private sector as production becomes less carbon intensive. The goal is to help evaluate policies and incentives that foster green competitiveness-enhancing investments of the private sector. (Washington, DC, USA) 

Cynthia Yue (HKS MPP) is serving as the U.S. Youth Delegate for Climate at the G20 Youth Summit, where she will negotiate climate policies and develop a communique to advise G20 leaders on the youth perspective on climate action. She will also be conducting qualitative research and engaging with diverse communities to include the perspectives of historically marginalized populations in the negotiation process. (Varanasi, India)