High school environmental science internship and research fellowship
This high school environmental science internship lets students in Grades 9 to 12 run real field surveys near home, with a mentor who guides the method and checks the results. You survey waste, water or green cover, record what you find on the Earth5R app and write it up as a research report.
For school students taking IB ESS, geography or biology who want to learn how environmental field research works from the first survey to a finished report. Online, with field work near home and a parent or guardian present at every self-guided activity. The fellowship is paid because every student receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why environmental science matters for sustainability
Environmental science looks at how air, water, soil and living things affect each other, and how people change them. Take a lake full of plastic. To fix it, you first need to know what kind of waste is there and how it gets in. Environmental scientists answer questions like these with surveys, counts and careful records, so a city or a housing society knows where to act.
Earth5R collects this kind of data in 150+ Indian cities. Volunteers log photographed, geo-tagged records on the Earth5R app, from waste audits at lake and river cleanups to door-to-door household surveys. Its TERRA Score work compares what 1,200+ companies listed in India report with what field data shows. As a fellow you gather data near home in the same way and analyse it with your mentor.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 12, Responsible consumption and production and Goal 15, Life on land.
Available projects in this high school environmental science internship
Each project fits around school work and takes place near home. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
Waste audit at school or in a park
Collect litter from your school grounds or a local park with classmates, sort and count it by item and brand, and log the results on the Earth5R app.
Lake survey from a public promenade
Walk a public lakeside promenade with a parent, photograph and geotag the drains and dumping points you can see, and map where waste enters the water.
Green cover survey
Map the trees and green cover across your school campus or neighbourhood, geotag them on the Earth5R app and compare the shade in areas with more and fewer trees.
Checking company environmental claims
Read a listed company’s sustainability report, pick out its claims on waste or water and test them against field data with the TERRA Score method. Company names stay masked.
What you do in the field
- Plan a survey with your mentor, deciding what to measure and where
- Log photographed, geo-tagged records on the Earth5R app
- Sort and count waste for a waste audit
- Enter and check your data in a spreadsheet
- Compare your results with published studies for your city
- Write a research report and present it in a research conversation
Skills you build
On a high school environmental science internship, you collect your own data near home with a parent or guardian, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How a high school environmental science internship fits your school programme
For IB, IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE students. Your school decides what counts towards its own requirements.
IB CAS
A school waste audit, shared with staff and students along with ideas to cut litter, can support a CAS project. Your CAS coordinator decides what fits.
Extended Essay and IA
The ESS Internal Assessment and an ESS Extended Essay both need a focused question and primary data. Your survey data can give you a strong starting point.
MYP, IGCSE and CBSE projects
A local waste or green cover survey can fit the MYP Personal Project and the project work in IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE geography or environmental studies.
University applications
Data you collected and a report your mentor reviewed give you a real research project to describe in an environmental science personal statement.
How the high school environmental science internship works
Every student moves through four phases. Your mentor checks each phase before you move on, and sessions pause during board exams.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near home, with a parent or guardian, and collect primary data for your project in Environmental Science and ESS.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on earth5r.org.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
University courses this leads to
- BSc in Environmental Science
- BSc in Earth and Environmental Sciences
- BA or BSc in Geography
- BSc in Ecology and Conservation
- BA in Environmental Studies or Sustainability
Careers in this field
- Environmental scientist
- Environmental consultant
- Environmental impact assessment analyst
- ESG and sustainability analyst
- Conservation or field researcher
Universities to aim for in Environmental Science and ESS
Environmental science admissions tutors look for students who have collected field data and can explain their method and its limits. A high school environmental science internship gives you data you gathered yourself, a report your mentor reviewed and a verified profile on earth5r.org. Students use a high school environmental science internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
USA · Earth Systems Program, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Stanford’s Earth Systems Program is an interdisciplinary environmental science major that awards a BS, with a coterminal master’s option. Students study environmental problems caused by people alongside natural change in the Earth system, and the major includes an Earth Systems internship and a senior capstone project.
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
USA · Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM)
Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management offers undergraduate majors that include Environmental Sciences, Conservation and Resource Studies, and Molecular Environmental Biology. Its faculty work in three divisions, Ecosystem Sciences, Organisms & Environment, and Society & Environment.
USA · Environmental Studies (EVST) major, Yale College
Yale College’s Environmental Studies major offers a BA for students heading towards law, policy or management, and a BS for those aiming at ecology, environmental health or climate science. Students choose a concentration such as Energy & Climate, Biodiversity & Conservation or Urban Environments.
USA · Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment offers undergraduate majors in Environmental Sciences & Policy, Earth & Climate Sciences, and Marine Science & Conservation. Undergraduates can also study at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina. The school’s research areas include water, climate change and the urban environment.
University of East Anglia (UEA)
UK · School of Environmental Sciences
UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences offers undergraduate degrees in Environmental Sciences, Geography, Marine Sciences and Geophysics, with options for a placement year or a year abroad. Its research covers climate change, atmospheric and ocean science, natural resource management and biodiversity conservation.
Switzerland · Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS)
ETH Zurich’s Department of Environmental Systems Science offers a BSc in Environmental Sciences and a BSc in Agricultural Sciences. Its research is organised around strategic areas that include climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, natural resources and sustainable transformations.
Wageningen University & Research
Netherlands · Bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences
Wageningen’s Bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences is taught in English and rooted in the natural sciences, with first-year courses on soil, water and environmental technology. Students later follow a technological, social or systems-oriented track and finish with a thesis they design themselves.
University of British Columbia (UBC)
Canada · Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science (UBC Science)
UBC Science’s Environmental Sciences programme, available as a Major or Honours, builds a base in physical, earth and ocean, and life sciences. Students learn GIS, statistics and programming, and every student completes a team project with a community partner organisation in the final year.
UK · Environmental Science BSc, School of Earth and Environment
Leeds teaches its Environmental Science BSc in the School of Earth and Environment, with fieldwork in every year. From the second year, students follow an applied pathway on pollution, contamination and biodiversity or an Earth system science pathway on climate change, meteorology and oceanography.
This list is for guidance. These universities offer undergraduate study in Environmental Science and ESS. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Students get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The Multi-Year Fellowship can run from Grade 9 to Grade 12, with more scope each year.
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
High school environmental science internship: common questions
Is this high school environmental science internship a good fit for IB ESS students?
Yes. ESS students learn sampling and data analysis in class, and this fellowship puts those skills to use in the field. Students who take geography, biology or general science join too.
What kind of field work will I do?
You might audit litter on your school grounds, map drains along a lake from a public promenade or geotag trees in your neighbourhood. You choose a topic with your mentor and do the field work near home.
Does my child need any special equipment?
Very little. A phone with the Earth5R app, a notebook, gloves and bags for waste audits are enough. Your mentor shows your child how to design a survey that gives reliable results with simple tools.
Is the high school environmental science internship paid?
Yes. FIELDWORK is a paid, mentored programme. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can my child do this high school environmental science internship online?
Yes. Mentoring sessions run online, and field work takes place near where you live.
Is a parent or guardian present during field work?
Yes. A parent or guardian is present at every self-guided field activity. Online sessions are for students.
Does FIELDWORK pause during board exams?
Yes. Sessions pause during board exams, so the fellowship fits around school work.
What do students get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on earth5r.org, where universities can check the work.
Related subjects for school students
Already at university? See the Environmental Science internship fellowship for university students.
Apply for a FIELDWORK fellowship in Environmental Science and ESS
This high school environmental science internship is for students in Grades 9 to 12. Work on a live Earth5R project with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
