Living Lab Fellowship Program for Sustainability

The Living Laboratory Fellowship Program for Sustainability provides Stanford students real-world sustainability leadership and project management opportunities that meaningfully advance Stanford’s operational sustainability goals. Offered in partnership with the LBRE Office of Sustainability, the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, and the Bill Lane Center for the American West, the program collaborates widely with schools, departments, and operational units across Stanford, including the O'Donohue Family Educational Farm, Residential & Dining Enterprises, and Business Affairs.

Fellows are matched with pre-vetted campus sustainability projects, in topic areas including Zero Waste, Climate Action, Behavior Change, Procurement, Building Systems/Operations, Education & Outreach, Environmental/Social Equity and Justice, Food Systems, Data Management & Analytics, Transportation, and Land Use. Read more about the program in the Stanford Report.

Program Overview

As a fellow, you will be part of a prestigious program that entails additional responsibilities and benefits over the course of an academic year, including undertaking coursework, joining a close-knit cohort of other fellows, consulting with a project advisory board, and serving as a project manager.

Additionally, a project under the internship program is intended to support and benefit a specific department or division need, whereas the Fellowship program is intended for more complex projects that benefit and demand collaboration across Stanford’s schools, departments, offices, and initiatives.

Applications for new student fellows open February 2025

Living Lab Fellows:

• Gain professional, real-word experience as a sustainability leader & project manager
• Meaningfully & measurably contribute to the advancement of operational sustainability goals at Stanford
• Receive mentorship & advice from dedicated experts in their project field
• Expand their professional network
• Join a high-caliber cohort of applied student scholars helping to define and demonstrate sustainability leadership at Stanford
• Are paid between $25/hour to support their participation in the program
• Students in the program will be supported by Stanford staff, faculty, and fellow students and will develop project-specific advisory boards comprised of subject-matter experts and industry professionals

Program requirements:

• During Fall quarter, Fellows enroll in the complementary "Leading Organizational Change for Sustainability" course (SUSTAIN 120)
• Fellows are expected to work 10+ hours per week during the entire academic year: September - June. Some fellows may continue during the Summer as agreed upon by their mentor

Thank you for your interest. All positions for AY 24-25 have been filled. Please check back during winter quarter for next year’s opportunities! Sign up to receive the monthly Sustainable Stanford newsletter for the latest updates.

In Their Own Words: Insights from the 2023-2024 Living Lab Fellowship Cohort

"This fellowship was an awesome experience! Incredible opportunity to help make meaningful change on- and off-campus! Would recommend it to anyone. Learned a ton and feel like I gained such impactful work and life experience. I don't think I'd have gotten the job I'll be at post-grad if not for the skills I learned from the fellowship."

- Jeremy Rubin

"I will wholeheartedly recommend this fellowship to future students, as it has been a transformative experience for me and a great source of inspiration for my PhD research! Through this fellowship, I developed skills in change management, had the privilege of meeting renowned experts, and got to practice the art of adding just enough detail to a document to strike the right level between simplicity and complexity." 

- Eleni Alexandraki

"Project management for systems change intervention is incredibly complex and not something I would have been able to learn without this hands-on experience."

- Emily Blackwell

"Very valuable experience. Will be recommending to others!"

- Sam Bunke

"The Living Lab Fellowship was more than an internship, extracurricular, or class to me. Instead it helped showcase that the goals and values that I strive to achieve are present here at Stanford while giving me pathways to continue my journey."

- Justin West

Living Lab Fellowship Program Cohort for AY 24-25

Want more info?

• Send your questions via our contact form.