Internship Location: Berkeley, California
Organization Type: Think Tank
Policy Areas: Environment
For my summer internship, I worked at an environmental think tank called The Breakthrough Institute (BTI) in Berkeley, California as a “generations fellow.” During the fellowship, I attended a week-long boot camp; I learned about environmental policy and how to prepare research for advocacy. At the end of the week, I went to a conference in Sausalito, where I met researchers, CEOs, lobbyists, journalists, and other environmental policy insiders; I networked and heard expert panels on the topic of progress related to climate change. Following the conference, I began work on my guided research project that produced an article for the BTI website and a memo for congressional staffers in D.C. My research focused on strategies to sustainably upscaling offshore aquaculture in the U.S. EEZ. The project led me to interview numerous government regulators, politicians, CEOs, and aquaculture researchers. I utilized the knowledge about the legislative process I gained in Dr. Teodoro’s Policy Making Process class as I tracked a congressional bill called the AQUAA Act. I also spent considerable time using the research and policy analysis methods I learned in Dr. Weimer’s Policy Analysis class. I weighed policy alternatives and provided recommendations for regulating offshore aquaculture in the U.S. EEZ. On the weekends, I explored the Bay Area with my cohort.