2026 Summer Sweetened Beverage Tax Intern
The Center for Science in the Public Interest offers a paid internship program for students in undergraduate, graduate, law and medical schools, and we also consider postgraduates. These paid internships offer structured work experiences and an opportunity to:
- Gain substantial skills in locating and analyzing state policies
- Gain experience crafting advocacy resources and translating policy research to a lay audience
- Obtain general research and communication skills by working closely with science, policy, legislative, and outreach experts
- Participate in group meetings and strategy brainstorming sessions
- Meet with staff at all levels of the organization to discuss career roles and paths.
- Assess your own interests and skills
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, your food and health watchdog, is one of the nation’s leading public health advocacy organizations with a 50-year record of fighting for science in the public interest and working to improve the food environment for all. We’ve led efforts to win passage of many state and local policies to improve school foods, put calories on chain restaurant menus and menu boards, and remove sugary drinks from children’s menus. National policy successes include the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act; Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act; Food Safety Modernization Act; and Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act. More recently, CSPI has also been involved in broader public health advocacy on issues such as scientific integrity, alcohol policy, agency transparency, and the regulation of selected medical products.
About the Internship Opportunity
This internship will center around conducting data collection and analysis for a policy scan of current sweetened beverage tax policies in the United States. It will also include drafting advocacy resources resulting from this policy scan, including assisting with the development of a model policy. There will also be the opportunity to contribute to broader work on sweetened beverage tax advocacy campaigns and corporate accountability.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Review scientific literature to support policy scan, policy comparison, and model policy
- Research and analyze variations in legislative language to assess relative strengths and weaknesses of policies and their components
- Update a policy comparison resource summarizing these policies.
- Help develop a model sweetened beverage tax policy
- Monitor, track and present new scientific evidence/reports/journal articles
Qualifications
- Interest in sweetened beverage taxes as a public health measure
- Currently enrolled in a public health or nutrition graduate degree program (master’s or doctoral)
- Excellent research and writing skills with ability to read, analyze, interpret, and summarize public health and nutrition research
- Exceptional attention to detail
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and manage tasks appropriately to achieve project goals
- Interest in health equity
- Leadership, organizing, or community engagement experience is a plus
What Else You Should Know
CSPI pays interns $17.95 per hour at the start of the internship. Intern pay will increase to $18.40 per hour effective 7/1/2026 (this may be adjusted to meet state/local minimum wage laws related to the work location). Our 10-week summer intern program is full-time (40 hours per week). We provide two paid holidays (Juneteenth and Independence Day), ½ day Fridays, and up to two days of paid sick leave. The ideal start date is late May/early June, but we will work with applicants if there’s a schedule conflict. The internship is remote (must be in the US), with the opportunity to work from our DC office if desired.
As a public health organization, CSPI makes efforts to maintain a safe workplace for employees and visitors. We require all employees to be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they are eligible, and the vaccine is available to them. Proof of vaccination is required during the onboarding process.
CSPI on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
CSPI is committed to including and valuing diverse voices and fostering a culture that ensures all staff feel a sense of belonging and are encouraged to be their best selves. In that spirit, each of us is committed to putting in constant work to live up to our organization’s core values:
- We are inclusive. We seek to foster an environment where all staff feel a sense of belonging and are affirmed. We actively welcome and value staff with different experiences, backgrounds, attributes, abilities, and perspectives.
- We are open. We are honest, direct, and respectful in how we communicate with each other.
- We are kind. We communicate and treat one another in a generous, considerate, and compassionate way.
- We are collaborative. We work together for the common good, seek input from those impacted by our work, and celebrate our shared successes.
- We are accountable. We acknowledge and assume responsibility for our actions, learn from our mistakes with humility, and change course when circumstances warrant.
To Apply
Please utilize CSPI's Paylocity Applicant Tracking System to apply for the Summer 2026 Sweetened Beverage Tax Internship. You must submit a resume, cover letter, and contact information for two professional references (upload doc with reference information).
The application deadline is 5:00pm, ET, Mach 6, 2026.
CSPI is committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills and encourages people of diverse ages, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, disabilities, religions, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, work, and life experiences to apply.