IAP Climate Program:
Working together for climate resilient communities
MIT is launching a cohort of student researchers to work collaboratively with Institute offices and local city and community leaders to tackle shared challenges related to climate change. The focus for IAP 2025 (January 6 – January 31, 2025) will be understanding and communicating heat risk and developing heat risk reduction efforts.
IAP Climate program applications open on September 9th, and close on October 21st!
Come to a tabling or info session to learn more about our program:
| Date and Event | Time and Place |
| Sept. 11th, 2024 (Tabling Session) | Lobby 10, 11 AM – 2 PM |
| Sept. 19th, 2024 (Info Session) | The PKG Center (W20-549), 5 PM – 7 PM |
| Oct. 2nd, 2024 (Info Session) | Zoom, 5 PM – 6 PM |
This July, Earth experienced the hottest day on record. For communities around the United States, extreme heat is a leading weather-related cause of health problems. To address this, campuses and cities are developing innovative strategies to respond to heat impacts. IAP 2025 will be an opportunity for students to help strengthen pathways of collaboration, learning, and solutions among MIT and our local government and mission-driven partners in the region.
Student researchers will meaningfully contribute to enhancing preparedness efforts and present project deliverables and recommendations to campus and community stakeholders for shared learning. The goal is to develop longer-term projects and working relationships that continue after the winter session. Students in the program may be eligible for PKG Fellowship funding to continue these projects during the summer of 2025. IAP Climate is part of a series of opportunities engaging students at the intersection of climate, community, and careers, building towards a campus-wide MIT Climate Corps. This program is sponsored by the PKG Center, MIT Office of Sustainability, and the Urban Risk Lab.
When you participate in the IAP Climate Program,
- You and our community partners benefit from your commitment to sustainability and developing innovative solutions.
- Practitioners benefit from your energy, insights, and projects.
- You benefit from the opportunity to develop your professional skills while learning firsthand about climate change.
HOW IT WORKS
Open to MIT undergraduates ONLY, you will take part in the program for four weeks in January 2025 through a full-time, hybrid work model. IAP Climate matches you with campus/community partners and projects that seek to address climate change with innovative solutions. Our partners seek students with a wide variety of skills; this experience is open to students across all courses at MIT with an interest in sustainability and climate – from science to policy to the arts. We will pay your associated travel expenses, provide a stipend, and help with the cost of materials.
IAP Climate will provide you with experience in the field. You will work with professionals, collaborate with fellow students to serve clients and work on assigned projects based on your skills and the needs of the host organization. You will attend workshops to prepare you to consult with your host/s and implement your project. During IAP, you’ll also participate in community dinners with your cohort of MIT students to share and process your experience in the field.
IAP Climate Host Sites – IAP 2025
The City of Cambridge’s Community Development Department alongside the newly created Office of Sustainability are working to foster a livable, sustainable, just, and equitable community. They work to enhance the character and diversity of the city’s neighborhoods, preserve and increase affordable housing, create and promote accessible and sustainable mobility, build climate resilience, and support sustainable economic growth. Learn more here.
The City of Boston’s Office of Climate Resilience is implementing climate resilience projects across the city to address coastal flooding, stormwater flooding, and extreme heat. Learn more here.
The Architecture Group of New York
The Architecture Group of New York works on books, exhibitions, advertisements, merchandising, fashion, research, websites, and last, but not least, architecture. They currently operate out of Boston, Mexico City, Chiloe, and sometimes, New York City. For IAP Climate, they are teaming up with the MIT Urban Risk Lab and the Common Good Co-Op. Learn more here.
The MIT Office of Sustainability was established in 2013 and has set out to ensure that sustainability is a critical part of MIT’s standard operating procedures and is fully integrated into the working, research, teaching, social and cultural spheres of campus. Its mission is to transform MIT into a replicable model—one that generates just, equitable, applicable, and scalable solutions for responding to the unprecedented challenges of a changing planet. Learn more here.
Click here to learn more about climate resiliency efforts at MIT.
Note: Applications open September 9th and will close on October 21st.
Talk to us about IAP Climate!
Questions? Email iapclimate@mit.edu.
