PICS funds record-breaking number of internships across B.C.

The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) has awarded climate internship grants to a record-breaking 29 host organizations across the province. Internships will take place this upcoming summer, giving students hands-on experience in addressing urgent climate challenges, while providing host organizations with the additional capacity needed to advance climate-related projects.

“The PICS Internship Program is invaluable.”

– Lily Yumagulova,
North Shore Emergency Management (2024 host organization)

The 2025 internships cover a diverse range of projects, from public outreach and communication initiatives to developing climate adaptation plans for Indigenous communities. Other projects include agricultural climate data analysis, ancestral food system revitalization, assessing EV charging infrastructure, drought planning, and more. Internships will be hosted across six regions in B.C., including Northern B.C., the southern interior, the lower mainland, and the capital district.

The table below provides an overview of each host organization and the climate action project their PICS intern will support this summer.

PICS 2025 Climate Internship cohort:
- Community Energy Association: Enhance the B.C. Local Government Community Climate Action Dashboard tool by performing evaluations, user engagement surveys and more.
- Bowen Island Municipality: Update climate action strategy, and develop climate communication strategy.
- Clean Energy and Major Projects Office: Evaluate various green energy solutions in British Columbia's mining industry.
- Interior Health Authority: Evaluate a rural health authority’s public health response in the face of extreme temperature events.
- Emergency Planning Secretariat: Understand risk, enhance preparedness, and improve capacity in drought planning.
- City of Prince Rupert: Develop a nature-based solution strategy for Prince Rupert to promote revitalization.
- Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions; Clean Transportation: Conduct policy review for accessibility and reliability of EV charging infrastructure.
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC): Monitor, survey, and document cyanobacteria in B.C. lakes using satellite imagery. Develop a dashboard that includes early detection of blooms across B.C.
- West Coast Climate Action Network: Train WE-CAN members on social media best practices to increase climate engagement.
- Quw'utsun Cultural Connections Society & Social Planning Cowichan: Take action to protect and restore Quw’utsun cultural values on private land in the Cowichan Valley.
- Engineers and Geoscientists BC: Assist with the development of a voluntary sustainability program that will help prepare member firms to meet growing climate and regulatory demands, and climate risk reporting.
- BC Council for International Cooperation: Develop a framework to assess the environmental and climate impacts of travel for B.C.-based international development organizations to other countries.
- Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society: Evaluate environmental and social benefits of existing carbon offsetting projects in B.C.
- BC Lung Foundation: Assist in delivering BREATHE workshops to rural and urban communities in Northern B.C. that are impacted by wildfire smoke events.
- Coast Capital Federal Credit Union: Develop guidelines to support the financial industry towards a low-carbon transition.
- Citxw Nlaka'pamux Assembly: Assess the impact of climate change on harvest productivity for the 8 Nations who are part of the Assembly.
- Habitat Acquisition Trust: Review climate impacts on conservation sites in the Southern Gulf Islands to identify adaptation solutions, and engage with Songhees Nation on ecological restoration and mapping.
- Generation Squeeze: Research anti-carbon tax narrative, and assess and deploy communication strategies that dismantle this narrative.
- XwÍsten (Bridge River Indian Band): Revitalize ancestral food systems.
- BC Parks Foundation: Conduct geospatial data analysis and visualization to identify the most impactful project proposals to the Conservation Fund.
- Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions: Support development of the PICS community code sign program stream. Focused on advancing the BC First Nations Climate Strategy and Action Plan.
- Kamloops Food Policy Council: Assess the Food Policy Council’s impact on food access, and ensure resilience against climate-related disruptions to local supply chains.
- Northern Health: Create a climate and health communication strategy for Northern communities in B.C.
- Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions: Enhance meaningful opportunities for First Nations in the clean energy sector.
- Producing for the Planet: Assist in improving the sustainability and climate impacts of the movie production industry.
- Ministry of Water, Lands & Resource Stewardship: Develop a spatial tool to identify hazard and water source protection for small water systems across B.C.
- BC Nature: Survey member organizations to identify current practices and gaps linking biodiversity and climate change impacts.
- Forager Hill Consulting: Assist in designing and facilitating the climate adaptation planning process with Indigenous communities.
- Peak HydroMet Solutions: Analyze and manage agricultural data and tools. Create a network of weather and climate monitoring data for rural B.C.

Students, are you interested in applying for a PICS internship?
Positions are being posted now through April 2025 on the PICS careers page.

Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to meaningful climate solutions while gaining valuable experience!

This year’s program is supported by a generous $100,000 contribution from Coast Capital Federal Credit Union.

Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions

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