BU URBAN Internship Course
CDS DS 795: Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health: From Research to Policy
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 organization (NGO), 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 environmental stressors, and forming or adopting relevant policies and strategies.
How to Register for the Course
If you are a GRS student:
- In MyBU, register for CDS DS 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 CDS DS 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), Kevin Lane (klane@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: Course Introduction
- Review syllabus and course expectations
- Share internship goals and progress
- Identify interested partners/stakeholders/experts for informational interviews.
- Assignment(s) for next class:
- Complete pre-internship assessment.
- Read one or more 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
Session 2: Big Picture - Tackling Urban Environmental Challenges
- 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 this bigger picture? How can you engage relevant community members and stakeholders in your work?
- Assignment(s) for next class:
- Review Policy Elevator Pitch resource
- Review Message Box Science Communication planning tool
- Click on the different parts of the blue message box (about half-way down the page) to find out more about each section
- Explore 1-2 examples
- 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.
Session 3: Science Communication
- Review options for the Science Communication Assignment: Effective science communication includes concise, well-packaged statements about the who, what, why, and how of a project that can be conveyed to various audiences. Students should create an elevator pitch, policy brief, white paper, or something similar to meet this requirement. Due any time before the last scheduled class.
- Crafting an elevator pitch and adjusting it to different audiences
- Connecting the elevator pitch to informational interviews
- Assignment(s) for next class:
- Read at least 2 of the following policy briefs:
- Read the following white paper resources:
- White Papers Overview from the Writing Center at George Mason University
- “Eight lessons on how to influence policy with evidence” Brief Summary
- Optional: “Using Evidence to Influence Policy: Oxfam’s Experience,” Nature, 2018. Full Article on which the summary above is based
- Smith, I., et al. (2022). “On the use of ‘cool roofs’ to reduce residential heat exposure disparities in Boston, MA.” pdf
- Optional: Smith, I., et al. (2023). “Urban green space and albedo impacts on surface temperature across seven United States cities.” Science of the Total Environment, 8(3), 1-12. link to pdf (Full article on which the white paper above is based)
Session 4: Policy Briefs and White Papers
- Revisit the elevator pitch
- Discuss purpose and structure of policy briefs
- Compare white papers and policy briefs
Session 5: Asynchronous Assignment
- Pick one:
- EITHER… Write a draft policy brief on an issue you are working on and email to the group by the end of the week.
- Additional resources related to policy briefs to help you:
- OR… Find an example of a policy brief or white paper that is relevant to your field (or internship); and email a copy/link to the group with a short written reflection by the end of the week:
- What makes this policy brief effective? (What do you like about it?)
- 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.
Session 6: Internship Impacts
- Communicating the work of your internship
- Internship Write-Up Assignment
- Stakeholder Presentation Overview
- Identifying key audience: Who are the key audiences for your URBAN internship project? Considerations of power, equity, inclusion.
- What information should be included? What is the story you want to tell?
- Discussion: Best practices for presentations to non-experts
- Assignment(s) for next class:
- Complete an Internship Write-Up and email it to urban@bu.edu before the next class session.
- Complete your slides for the Stakeholder Presentation/lightning talk and practice.
- We will be presenting (and recording) the talks next session. The recording of your talk will ultimately be public – posted on the URBAN website and our YouTube channel. Plan accordingly. If there are things you can’t share publicly yet, aim for something higher-level that still explains the problem and the general outline of what you worked on. Please email your slides to urban@bu.edu before the next class session.
Session 7: Stakeholder Presentations
- Assignment(s) left to complete:
- If you want to re-do and re-record your presentation, please send the updated recording to urban@bu.edu within 24 hours
- Complete the Post-Internship Assessment (if internship work is completed; if not, please complete within one week of completing your internship)
- Please complete the Course Evaluation Form (below)