Greentown Labs is especially busy this summer, as we have over 30 interns joining our member companies! They come from all over the country, with a wide variety of backgrounds, and each one has different career goals and aspirations for the summer. To give you a true taste of what the experience is like, we have asked three interns to write a summer blog series, kicking off this week!
To start off, we wanted to introduce the authors and let them tell you a bit about themselves. The first intern blogs will be published tomorrow, then check back every week to hear more about life at Greentown!
Meet the bloggers:
Laura Parrish
Program: The Ohio State University, Logistics – Fisher College of Business (Junior)
Summer Company: Refresh
Role: Business Development Intern
I’ve always been involved in some type of cause, so working in clean tech has definitely been an easy decision for me especially coming from Beijing, China, one of the most polluted environments in the world. This has definitely strengthened my concern for environmental sustainability and interest to work in clean tech. I hope to use this unique experience to learn as much as I can about creating shared value through entrepreneurship and to use all the powers I possess to help my company’s green vending machine to become the most influential mean, green, vending machine that it is meant to become in the home and office market.
Shashank Donthi
Program: Carnegie Mellon University, Masters in Energy Science
Summer Company: Dynamo Micropower
Role: Electrical Engineering Intern
I think it’s important and about time that humanity in general addressed the problems of global warming, air quality and dwindling energy supply. Although estimated reserves of oil and gas forecasts availability for a minimum of 50 years, the current maturity of the non conventional energy industry lacks the technical prowess of harnessing it in a sustainable way. I would therefore like to contribute to the engineering effort in these fields to help us move forward in developing technology and tools for a sustainable future.
Anna Hagadorn
Program: Northeastern University, Environmental Science, Policy and Ethics, Fourth year (out of five)
Summer Company: Greentown Labs
Role: Operations and Community Management Intern
My interest in clean tech stems from my understanding that the status of clean and green technologies and where they fit into the market is imperative in developing sustainable policies which aim to deploy or rely upon such technologies on larger scales. Greentown is a unique place to work and observe the tools and machines of the future being built, and I hope the insight into the clean tech industry I gain from working here will sharpen my ability to develop more effective policies based on cutting-edge, efficient technologies. I plan to go on to graduate school for an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy, and hope that I can apply interdisciplinary knowledge in the context of salient environmental political issues, such as halting tar sands production, regulating hydrofracking, or developing scientifically-informed international and national policies to address climate change. I want to attack global environmental challenges in my career and possibly delve into natural resource management sometime in the distant future. Some fun facts about me would include:
– I’m an avid cat-lover
– I’m a news addict
– I recently volunteered in South Africa for a month
– I hate bananas and therefore the nickname “Anna Banana,” and as a result the only nickname that has ever stuck to me is Nanners.
Meredith McWeeney
Program: Ithaca College, History & French (Graduated 2013)
Summer Company: Greentown Labs
Role: Marketing and Operations Intern
I am interested in clean tech because it is such a diverse field with a singular goal: to improve the way we live.
Things I like: Greentown Labs, presidential biographies, chocolate
Things I don’t like: Cross-country skiing, Ranch dressing, stepping in puddles
Aside from expertly avoiding puddles, my free time is mainly spent boating and preparing for the LSAT. Never both at the same time though — well, at least not after “The Incident.