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Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Student Transformative Engagement Pathways (STEP)
Accelerating student pathways to careers in climate, sustainability, and the environment
Student Transformative Engagement Pathways (STEP)
Accelerating student pathways to careers in climate, sustainability, and the environment
About the STEP Program
Launched in 2026 in response to rising student demand, IBES’ Student Transformative Engagement Pathways (STEP) Program offers a growing suite of hands-on learning and career-building opportunities, strengthening Brown’s capacity to prepare students for meaningful, mission-driven careers in climate, sustainability and the environment.
Built upon strong cross-campus partnerships, collaboration with the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Career Exploration, and active involvement from faculty and alumni, the STEP Program is designed to serve all Brown students with a diverse set of opportunities to cultivate the skills, experiences, and network to jumpstart their professional training and career planning.
Quick Links
For Students
Explore internships and research assistantships
For Employers
Host a Brown student intern
For Faculty
Apply for research assistantships
Current Offerings
Connecting Brown undergraduates with paid internships at organizations that offer hands-on experience in climate, sustainability, and the environment.
Supporting multi-semester, faculty-led undergraduate research that builds skills, mentorship, and career readiness.
An annual competition supporting faculty-led undergraduate research.
STEP Highlights
Funded by a generous gift to IBES, STEP represents a major expansion in hands-on professional development and career training for undergraduates:
- Significantly expanded paid internships across climate, sustainability, and environmental sectors
- Long-term research pathways, including paid research assistantships and interdisciplinary research teams
- An expanded Climate Career Fair held during Brown Climate Week
- Alumni engagement and networking to connect students with professionals in the field
- Skill-building workshops focused on career readiness, communication, and applied problem-solving
- Collaborative team-based learning that brings together students, faculty, and partners across disciplines
- A new marquee speaker series
“ Students are hungry for the kind of real-world, on-the-job training that the STEP program provides, and we’re excited to showcase the wide variety of organizations working in climate and sustainability - a set of prospective employers that grows larger and more diverse every year. ”
Impact by the numbers
The STEP Program represents Brown’s largest expansion of undergraduate experiential learning opportunities in climate, sustainability, and the environment.
Over the next three years, IBES will:
- Increase funded summer internships from 10 to 50
- Introduce a suite of new academic-year internships to support longer-term engagement
- Provide 25 student-semesters of paid research assistantships annually
- Offer competitive funding to faculty leading interdisciplinary research teams that provide research opportunities for undergraduates
Contact the STEP director
To learn more about the STEP Program or discuss opportunities for involvement, please contact the program director: