Empowering Our Students- Sustainability Office Internship Experience

Every year, the Sustainability/Net-Zero Office recruits a number of interns for a range of positions including life cycle lab, marketing and outreach, ESG reporting, data analytics and 8 Universities Sustainable Campus Consumer Program. We look for passionate and talented students who want to contribute to sustainability on campus and work closely with our colleagues for personal development while understanding more about your own strength and interest for future career goal. 

Here are the sharings by our interns, hope you enjoy reading them. 

~Sharing by Joy Hsiang

Hello everyone, this is Joy Hsiang from Taiwan! As a third-year student from SBM MARK with a minor in sustainability, I had the privilege of interning at the sustainability office for the second time. During my three-month journey, I had the opportunity to manage the office's social media and outreach to potential partners. It was an exciting and fulfilling journey that involved organizing a game booth on HKUST Fun Day, interviewing 4 alumni and sharing their stories with the UST community, and promoting sustainable food on campus.

Through my experiences, I gained valuable communication skills and a deeper connection to the sustainability industry. Most importantly, I felt that I made a positive impact through my initiatives. For example, I collaborated with various offices to improve the display of vegetarian menu options on campus and promoted sustainable food alternatives through social media, to encourage more sustainable consumption. This sense of accomplishment solidified my desire to pursue a career in sustainability.

Being an intern at the sustainability office is worth experiencing. I highly recommend the sustainability office internship to anyone seeking to gain valuable experience in the field. The office provides ample opportunities for learning and welcomes creative ideas and initiatives. I encourage future interns to think big and act boldly, seizing opportunities to implement their ideas and commit to their beliefs.

~Sharing by Amy Wong

Hi! I'm Amy, a Year 3 student majoring in Marketing and Economics. During Fall-Spring 2022-2023, I worked as the Marketing and Outreach intern at the Sustainability Office. Working at SUST office was a valuable experience that required me to constantly output things to provide updated information on social media on time. It allowed me to learn a lot about sustainability while developing my skills as well. For example, I had the opportunity to create a recycling campaign that aimed to motivate people to recycle more during the promotional period. Throughout the process, I had to communicate with different people and design promotional materials for the campaign. From preparing signage to distributing gifts, I had to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Of course, I received a lot of support from the SUST office!

Launching the campaign was a great achievement, and the feeling is indescribable. I highly recommend working as a marketing intern in the SUST office if you're interested in the field. You'll have the opportunity to use your creativity and apply the knowledge you've learned in class. Additionally, you'll meet interesting people and have the chance to learn from them!

~Sharing by Kriti Dwivedi

Hello everyone, My name is Kriti and I study aerospace engineering at HKUST! When I joined this internship, the Life Cycle Lab wasn’t even created yet so, I got to learn so many things about what it takes to build the Lab up from scratch. I took on several roles such as resource curation, video editing, poster creation, interviewing skills and most importantly, the technical aspects of our website since it was our only platform available to the public. About a year later in this internship, I found that I have learnt a lot more than just technical design and marketability but also event planning. The most special aspect of this internship was collaborating with Evelyn, another team member of the lab, where she acted like the brains behind much of the content and I would execute them. This taught me a lot on pushing my technical capabilities so I can achieve the intended result! The launch event was also particularly memorable since we discussed many important life cycle issues in Hong Kong and globally with others who were also passionate about this topic. In relation to my future career, I aim to take this open-minded outlook into my workplace so I can continue to examine a problem from multiple points of view to find an optimal solution. I will be working on more technical design in my future career so this will be very helpful!

~ Sharing by Venus Yeung

Hi everyone, this is Venus Yeung here.  As a year 4 student majoring in Operations Management and Management, I’ve been spending the past 7 months interning as a Research Analyst in the Sustainability Net-Zero Office.

Under Marcus’ guidance, I’ve been supporting the research and implementation of several innovative sustainability initiatives.  My first major project was assisting in developing a first-in-kind energy KPI and user outreach campaign for fume hood users in our labs.  Witnessing the week to week improvements in energy savings was incredibly rewarding. This experience taught me that even small changes make a big impact and inspired me to continue working towards creating a more sustainable future. Conducting research projects on Net Zero policies and technologies has taught me so much about sustainability. One of the most fascinating concepts I discovered was Carbon Pricing, which assigns a monetary value to carbon emissions. This tool allows businesses to make decisions and highlights the importance of sustainability in business practices. It really expanded my imagination for what sustainability solutions can look like.

I also had the opportunity to volunteer with the entire team at Food Angel, where I learned that taking action is just as important as doing research. It was inspiring to see everyone at the office working with such passion and dedication to making a real difference in our world.

"Happiness is working with great people." The passion and dedication of the sustainability team have been nothing short of inspiring. My internship has been instrumental in my personal growth and future career development. If you're looking for an internship that not only impacts the greater good but also enhances your skills, then join the journey with us!