BU URBAN Internship Course
BI/EE/EH 795: Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health: From Research to Policy
Spring 2025 meetings TBD – based on enrolled students’ schedules
Download Syllabus
Course Description
This course prepares graduate students to address urban environmental challenges through hands-on training in a semester-long internship with the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and/or the private sector, to learn how cities are tackling environmental challenges, including but not limited to mitigation and adaptation to climate change, protecting vulnerable populations from air pollution, and issues related to water quality and quantity.
How to Register for the Course
If you are a GRS student:
- In MyBU, register for GRS BI/EE 795: Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health: From Research to Policy. Unless otherwise instructed, sign up for 2 course credits if you are devoting 6-11 hours/week to your internship, or sign up for 4 course credits if you are devoting 12 or more hours/week. (If your internship is more than 12 hours/week but for fewer than 6 weeks, consult with the instructor.)
If you are an SPH student:
- If you are in the first two years of your PhD, register for SPH EH 795: Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health: From Research to Policy. Unless instructed otherwise, sign up for 2 course credits if you are devoting 6-11 hours/week to your internship, or sign up for 4 course credits if you are devoting 12 or more hours/week.
- If you are in the third year or later of your PhD, you will take the internship course as an independent study for 1 credit. Please complete the form linked here and email it to Jon Levy (jonlevy@bu.edu), Birgit Claus Henn (bclaus@bu.edu), and the URBAN Program Manager (urban@bu.edu). You do not have to fill out the Project Proposal section.
If you are unable to register for the course directly, contact your departmental administrator.
Course Materials
Please note that sessions are subject to change, and you will be notified of any changes made.
Session 1: Orientation
December 6, 2024
- Share internship status/progress
- Review Syllabus and discuss timing
- Identify interested partners/stakeholders/experts for informational interviews.
- Assignment(s) for next class:
- Complete pre-internship self-assessment if you have started your internship already
- Readings on developing sustainable cities. Read one of the papers below and be prepared to discuss:
- Egerer, M., et al. (2021). “Urban change as an untapped opportunity for climate adaptation.” Nature Partner Journals, 1(22). pdf
- Harman, B.P., et al. (2015). “Urban partnerships and climate adaptation: challenges and opportunities.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 12: 74-79. pdf
- Ramaswami, A., et al. (2016). “Meta-principles for developing smart, sustainable, and healthy cities.” Science, 352(6288), 940-943. pdf
- Templer, P., et al. (2024). “Strengthening graduate education and addressing environmental challenges through solutions-oriented partnerships and interdisciplinary training.” Sustainable Earth Reviews, 7(3). pdf
- Brainstorm three individuals you would be interested in inviting for an informational interview. Who may be interested by your internship work, and what you would prioritize communicating to them? Consider organizations, community groups, impacted parties, offices, or individuals that are doing (or might want to do) similar work. Try to find specific people that you could connect with – who you could imagine sharing a policy brief with, inviting to a meeting, or calling for an informational interview. Send the names (or at least the organization) to Emily sometime on or before the day of the next class session.
Session 2: The Big Picture
December 20, 2024
- Share internship status/progress
- Share what your internship deliverable(s) will be/were
- Discussion of the Big Picture: How do public-private partnerships contribute to ecologically sustainable and healthy cities? What are key challenges, gaps in knowledge, and areas of opportunity? How does your work fit into the big picture?
- Assignment(s) for next class:
- Review resource on the elevator pitch and complete all six steps (come ready to share your elevator pitch). Email Emily a written version of your elevator pitch before the next class session (date TBD).
- Optional: Review the Message Box Science Communication planning tool to tailor your message to a specific audience
- Directions for using the Message Box (click on the different parts of the blue message box to find out more about each section)
- Explore examples
Session 3: Elevator Pitches
January 31 (tentative)
- Practice prepared elevator pitches and workshop with Emily (and peers?)
- Work on personal elevator pitch with BU Center for Career Development or practice using the Message Box to tailor your pitch to a different audience than the one you initially planned for (if there is time)
- Share internship progress
- Assignment(s) for next class:
- Complete the following readings:
- Required:
- Recommended:
- Look over handout on policy briefs from The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill
- Review sample policy briefs:
- Optional: Check out additional materials in the Policy Brief Guides folder
- Find an example of a policy brief online written by a researcher, relevant to your field or internship.
Session 4: Policy Briefs
On Your Own – at some point during February 10-21
- Send an email to the class with the following:
- Internship progress – how is it going?
- Attach the policy brief example you found and one thing that inspires you about it
- Reflect and share: What could you achieve with a policy brief that resulted from your internship? Who would you share it with and why? You may want to speak with your internship host to find out if they are planning a policy brief or anything similar from your work with them, and who they think are relevant stakeholders.
- Assignment(s) for next class on February 28:
- Review this explainer on Public Policy Communication from the MIT Policy Lab
- Begin thinking about the final internship presentation/lightning talk, due March 28.
- Check out the following resources on Data Visualization:
- Data to Viz Tool link
- Kelleher, C., and Wagener T. (2011) “Ten guidelines for effective data visualization in scientific publications.” Environmental Modelling & Software 26.6: 822-827 pdf
- Recommended: Review the Message Box Science Communication planning tool to tailor your message to a specific audience
- Directions for using the Message Box (click on the different parts of the blue message box to find out more about each section)
- Explore examples
- Optional:
- Making Data Meaningful. Part 2: A guide to presenting statistics link
- Johns Hopkins Data Visualization Guide: Guide for technologies, techniques, and best practices for data visualization link
- Making Data Meaningful. Part 3: A guide to communicating with the media link