Posting Title

Graduate (Year-Round) Intern – Public Policy and Environmental Affairs

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Location

CO - Boulder

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Position Type

Intern (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week

40

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Working at NLR

NLR’s 305-acre Flatirons Campus is the nation’s premier wind energy, water power, and grid integration research facility. Nestled south of Boulder, Colorado, and north of NLR’s main South Table Mountain campus, Flatirons Campus sits adjacent to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and countless acres of open space and parks with stunning views of the Flatirons rock formations.

Join the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From our mission to our collaborative culture, NLR stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions. Our work helps strengthen U.S. industries, support job creation, and promote national economic growth.

At NLR, you'll find a mission-driven environment supported by state-of-the-art facilities, multidisciplinary research teams, and strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other national laboratories. We offer robust professional development opportunities, and a competitive benefits package designed to support your career and well-being.

Job Description

The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) is seeking a graduate intern with experience in public policy, social science, and/or environmental affairs to contribute to its Wind Energy Impacts and End of Service Technical Assistance project. This work will focus on improving access to information about planning and local opposition related to the end of service of energy projects while advancing community preparedness through policy-focused research/analysis. Specific projects that the successful candidate may work on include:

Research, collection, and/or analysis of end of service planning documents at the project, local, state, federal and international level Research, collection, and/or analysis of local opposition related to wind end of service activities Development of a community-facing database for navigating end of service planning documents Production of webinars to inform the public about different aspects of end of service planning.

For this project, end of service generally refers to the decommissioning and processing (landfilling, repurposing, and/or recycling) of energy infrastructure and components after a project’s lifetime and/or during project operations.

The successful candidate may support several projects, including conducting data collection through direct outreach to local communities and/or desktop research, analyzing planning documents, assisting in web tool design and prototyping, and sharing information with communities through resource development. Typical tasks may include:

• Conducting outreach to community organizations, local/state representatives, and subject matter experts
• Collaborating with web design team to develop an end of service planning document database
• Developing resources and information material to support knowledge sharing between stakeholders
• Assisting in writing quality reports analyzing energy policy
• Conducting ordinance reviews
• Supporting research and analysis on end of service, collaborating with other researchers across NLR as appropriate
• Leveraging community engagement and analysis skills to gather stakeholder input related to end-of-service and understand local opposition

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Basic Qualifications

Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a Bachelor's, Master's or PhD degree program, or graduated in the past 12 months from an accredited institution. Candidates who have earned a degree may work for a period not to exceed 12 months. Must have a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

Please Note:
•You will need to upload official or unofficial school transcripts as part of the application process.
•If selected for position, a letter of recommendation will be required as part of the hiring process.

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated skills in stakeholder engagement and interviewing
• Strong research and policy analysis skills
• Strong technical communication skills
• Prior experience applying research, methodologies, or frameworks for policy analysis
• Demonstrated ability to work well within a team and independently with guidance from staff.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience or background in public policy, political science, journalism, communications, law, environmental studies, or a related field

• Experience with social science research methods and data analysis

• Experience with GIS

• Familiarity with wind energy decommissioning and recycling

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Job Application Submission Window

The anticipated closing window for application submission is up to 30 days and may be extended as needed.

Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)

Job Profile: / Annual Salary Range: $51,200 - $81,900

NLR takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value, including seniority and merit systems, and internal pay alignment when determining the salary level for potential new employees. In compliance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, a potential new employee’s salary history will not be used in compensation decisions.

Benefits Summary

Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match*; and sick leave (where required by law). NLR employees may be eligible for, but are not guaranteed, performance-, merit-, and achievement- based awards that include a monetary component. Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement. Internships projected to be less than 20 hours per week are not eligible for medical, dental, or vision benefits.

* Based on eligibility rules

Badging Requirement

NLR is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. All employees must also be able to obtain and maintain a federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which includes a favorable background investigation. Intern assignments extending beyond six months will be subject to this requirement.

Drug Free Workplace

NLR is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace in accordance with the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug.

If you are offered employment at NLR, you must pass a pre-employment drug test prior to commencing employment. Unless prohibited by state or local law, the pre-employment drug test will include marijuana. If you test positive on the pre-employment drug test, your offer of employment may be withdrawn.

Submission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at NLR you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified. Applications are not kept on file for future positions. Please include a cover letter and resume with each position application.

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Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic partner status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Reasonable Accommodations

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