Research Assistant Internship

Organization Background:

Greenspace NCR, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating the region's green economy, catalyzing green policies, and stewarding green communities. Leveraging an exceptional network of regional public, private and non-profit partnerships, Greenspace builds the skills, knowledge and capacity of professionals, policymakers and the public to create ground breaking green communities. Greenspace is evolving from GreenHOME, whose mission was to make affordable housing and its neighborhoods green.

GreenHOME was a leader in creating and passing the groundbreaking DC Green Building Act, and came to understand that new policies alone were not enough to accomplish the scale of the impact we were seeking. GreenHOME worked with affordable housing professionals to achieve successful implementation of those green development policies. GreenSPACE has grown beyond the scope of GreenHOME to leverage collaborations with an exceptional network of some of the region's key public, private and non-profit partners producing programs and policies to develop industry-wide capacity among development professionals. This ultimately results in fulfilling our goals of developing the skills and competence required to improve the performance of buildings, landscapes, business practices and policies, ultimately resulting in green communities.

Over the next year, Greenspace will construct the DC region's first green learning and resource center. This new 13,000 square foot space in Washington, D.C.--designed to meet LEED platinum standards-- will be a place to showcase ideas, approaches and resources, as well as build the skills and relationships necessary, to create our green communities. Greenspace will house innovative programming, trainings and demonstrations that articulate pathways for green businesses and job creation, enhance the performance of existing buildings and landscapes, engage the community in creating and supporting green policies that are affordable and sustainable, and cultivate a robust network of cross-sector learning and action.

Position Description:

Greenspace is developing an online tool that will be piloted locally to strategically develop the DC Region's capacity to incorporate sustainability into its buildings, sites and infrastructure. In its first phase, the tool will assess the Metro Region's Green Education and Training Capacity and Retrofit Market.

The Research Intern will collect content through primary and secondary sources and will work with Greenspace staff to design how the content is most effectively presented online. Because the tool is in the early stages of development, the intern will have significant opportunity to manage data collection and collaborate with staff and regional partners from the business, nonprofit and government sectors. He/she will gain firsthand knowledge of the region's green organizations and players and have the satisfaction of being responsible for a product that will have a lasting impact on the region.

Responsibilities:

* Collect and aggregate data from the internet about the region's current sustainable opportunities.
* Work with Greenspace staff to identify individuals who can be interviewed about the region's sustainability.
* Help with interviews and their transcription to build a robust database.
* Work with web intern to create a database that can be transformed into a web-friendly tool.

Qualifications:

Past experience with research and data management and a proven ability to collaborate on a team are necessary. Intern must have strong writing skills. Applicants with interest in sustainability required.

Benefits:

Internships with Greenspace, NCR are unpaid. Because we are a small organization, intern will have the opportunity to work closely with staff and will be exposed to multiple projects. By the end of the internship, intern will have extensive research experience and will produce materials for use on- and offline.

Time Commitment:

Hours are flexible. Greenspace will work with the intern to orchestrate a schedule that fits both Greenspace's needs and the intern's availability.

To Apply:

Send resume, cover letter and writing sample to [email protected]