Internship: Graduate Fellow Plastics

Hennepin County • Downtown Minneapolis, MN

22h • Hybrid

About The Position

Hennepin County’s Environment and Energy department is seeking to hire a graduate fellow to work on several plastic waste prevention projects. The fellow will support both the county’s Zero Waste and Climate Action plans through preventing plastic waste in businesses and homes. The fellow will be managed by the Waste Reduction and Recycling Unit. The fellow will be responsible for researching a range of topics focused on specific hard-to-recycle plastic products within business and households, and engaging businesses and household in education and waste reduction activities. Current Hennepin County employees who refer a candidate hired into an open competitive position may be eligible for a $500 referral bonus. For more information visit the employee referral program. Find us here at upcoming career fairs!

Requirements

• Enrollment for the entire 2026-2027 academic school year in a master's or PhD degree program in environmental science, behavioral science, adult education, sustainability studies, marketing, or another related field.
• Note: If you are currently completing a bachelor’s degree in spring or summer 2026 and will be enrolled in a master’s degree program for the entire 2026-2027 academic school year you will be eligible.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with conducting community and business outreach, including engaging diverse audiences and documenting questions, themes, and feedback.
• Applying strong analytical and research skills, such as synthesizing literature, reviewing data, and developing clear summaries or reports.
• Working in small business settings or supporting small business operations.
• Communicating effectively and organizing complex or ongoing work.
• Working independently while managing multiple tasks or projects simultaneously.
• Education or training others in a community, business, or academic setting.
• Applying a racial equity lens to research, program work or project design.
• Knowledge of principles and practices of community outreach, behavior-change programs, or waste-reduction initiatives.
• Knowledge of federal, state, or municipal regulations relevant to waste prevention, recycling, or business compliance.
• Ability to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders, including business, community groups, and residents.
• Ability to work both independently and as a part of a team to advance programs goals.
• Ability to communicate effectively across cultures and languages, including verbal communication in Spanish, Hmong or Somali.
• Candidates with fluency in another language in addition to English are encouraged to apply.
• Bilingual candidates who pass a language assessment may qualify for additional bilingual pay and duties.

Responsibilities

• Document the availability, pricing, customer sentiment, and typical uses of polystyrene products sold in household-facing formats, helping the county understand the market and potential leverage points for reduction.
• Conduct literature reviews and analyze county data to document the current information on flexible film and other plastic waste streams, identify knowledge gaps, and summarize findings in a way that supports internal teams working on waste preventions initiatives.
• Design and implement outreach and engagement with businesses to increase awareness of flexible film reduction strategies, available plastic reduction resources, and county waste-prevention programs.
• Challenge and identify opportunities to strengthen community involvement in plastic waste reduction.
• Participate in community events to engage residents in conversations about plastic waste prevention, gather data and insights about behaviors, motivators, and challenges.
• Support other projects related to zero waste.

Benefits

• Up to $5,250 tuition reimbursement for one semester.
• Approximately 12 days paid time off.
• Professional development provided over summer.
• Fellows who successfully complete the program will be given hiring preference for approved positions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Intern