Get Involved in Building a Better Future for Our Planet
As you might guess from our name, the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability is the place to be if you’re seeking sustainability opportunities for USC students. Find your next course, internship, grant, or project below!
Undergraduate Student Opportunities
Whether you’re looking to learn more about sustainability in the classroom, or contribute to sustainability projects outside it, we’ve got an option for you. Best of all, most of these opportunities are open to all USC students.
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When you’re enrolling in courses for the fall or spring, check for these options. Curious about a different aspect of sustainability? Search all ENST courses for more possibilities!
ENST 320a: Soil and Water Sustainability
Every student who takes this class gets hands-on research experience in the field and the lab.
ENST 320b: Energy and Air Sustainability
This course is also offered on Catalina Island as part of our Catalina Residential College Julymester (see below).
ENST 400: Environment and Sustainability Colloquium
Learn directly from sustainability scholars and practitioners through invited lectures, plus related readings and discussions.
ENST 499: Sustainable Operations: Zero-Waste Events
Students in this class get to practice what they’ve learned at zero-waste Trojan football games in the Coliseum.
ARCH 549: Test Plot (sustainable landscape design)
Students taking this class in fall 2024 will visit the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island for a tour of the Test Plot in our Green Ravine.
PSYC 499: It’s Not Easy Being Green (the psychology of sustainability and sustainable policy)
This class includes a spring break trip to see sustainability projects in Switzerland, one of the world’s most sustainable countries.
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Internships sponsored or offered by the Wrigley Institute give you up-close, real-world experience with all aspects of sustainability, from corporate sustainability to nonprofits supporting sustainable ecosystems, communicating about sustainability, and more.
Academic-Credit Internships
Through the Dornsife Environmental Studies Program’s directed internship course, juniors and seniors can participate in sustainability internships for academic credit–like Muna and Jack, who interned with The Garden School to help local elementary school students learn about sustainable food.
Paid Internships
The Wrigley Institute offers two types of paid summer internships: sponsored internships and environmental summer awards. Sponsored internships include positions arranged, hosted, or fully funded by the Wrigley Institute. Environmental summer awards help you with funding for an unpaid or underpaid internship you’ve landed on your own.
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Spend some time on island time with the Wrigley Institute while you gain course credit or skills for jobs and grad school! Our Catalina Residential College is a USC experience like no other.
Maymester
Our Urban Oceans Maymester includes ENST 483L: Coastal Zone Sustainability, a course on the characteristics of sustainable coastal ecosystems.
Julymester
Our Julymester is entirely sustainability-themed, including both science and humanities courses.
Weekend Workshops
Our Weekend Workshops are 2- or 3-day experiences that train you in specific skills needed for sustainability careers or graduate school – all in an environment immersed in sustainability.
Graduate Student Opportunities
Graduate students are students too! We also offer options for graduate students who are already engaged with sustainability, as well as those who are new to USC and looking for a sustainability place to land.
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If you’re a Dornsife Ph.D. student conducting research along sustainability themes, we want to connect!
Our graduate fellowship program offers cohort-building activities, plus a summer stipend you can use to conduct research at the USC campus, on Catalina Island, around the U.S. or even overseas.
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Our online Master of Sustainability Management degree is designed for working professionals who want to become sustainability leaders, regardless of their exact role in an organization. It’s backed by the best-in-class USC Online platform and taught by leading sustainability practitioners and scholars from around the country.