Fall Internship: Research, Marketing, and Program Systems

PollutionProfile is a mobile app that shows people what they're actually breathing, drinking, and living near. We pull federal environmental data — EPA air quality monitors, the Toxics Release Inventory, Superfund sites, drinking water violations, EJScreen census-tract indicators — and match it against where a person actually spends their time. The output is a daily environmental score and a detailed personal exposure report.

We're a small team, so interns work directly with the founder on work that ships. There is no coffee-fetching and no busywork, largely because we don't have the budget for either.

We're opening 6 positions across 5 tracks. One application covers all five — tell us which one you want.

TRACK 1 — PRODUCT RESEARCH & USER TESTING (1 position)

Find out whether one part of our app actually works for the people using it, then show your work on camera.

You'll design a research plan for one feature (we'll choose it together at kickoff), recruit and screen participants, run the sessions, and find the patterns. You'll write findings with prioritized, specific recommendations. You'll also produce short videos: a how-to walkthrough plus behind-the-scenes content about the research.

Deliverable: a research plan, four completed participant sessions, a findings report, and three short videos.

Good fit: UX research, human-centered design, psychology, public health, communications, or anthropology. Any experience interviewing people matters more than coursework. Comfort on camera and basic video editing are a real plus.

TRACK 2 — MARKETING CAMPAIGN & ANALYSIS (2 positions)

Design, run, and measure how PollutionProfile reaches people.

You'll define who you're trying to reach and what success looks like before you start rather than after. You'll write and produce the content — social posts, short-form video, captions, outreach copy — and run direct outreach to communities, educators, and organizations. Then you'll measure honestly, including the parts that didn't work.

We're hiring two people here. You'll divide the territory together in week one — by channel, by audience, or by campaign, whichever fits your strengths.

Deliverable: a written campaign plan, the published content library you produced, and a results analysis.

Good fit: marketing, communications, journalism, design, or public health comms. Bring a sample of something you made.

TRACK 3 — PROGRAM SYSTEMS: CHANGEMAKERS (1 position)

Help run our Changemakers ambassador program, and build the system that lets it run without you.

Changemakers is our volunteer program: students and community members across three specializations who bring environmental health into their own networks. The handbook and learning modules exist. The operational machine doesn't. You'll organize and run meetings and engagement opportunities through the semester, and build what's missing — the onboarding kit, meeting templates, an engagement calendar, and a record of what actually worked.

Deliverable: a Changemakers operating kit — engagement calendar, onboarding materials, meeting templates, engagement playbook — plus a short written wrap-up.

Good fit: program management, education, nonprofit management, communications, or public health. If you've run a student org, planned events, or coordinated volunteers, that's the experience we want.

TRACK 4 — DIGITAL ART: ROOTED (1 position)

Rooted is our environmental education game: nineteen game formats, a growing curriculum, and a library of over 200 teaching diagrams covering everything from smog formation to biomagnification. The system works. It doesn't look like anything yet.

You'll give it a visual language. That starts with developing one style direction and getting it locked before you scale it, then illustrating a themed set of teaching diagrams — we'll choose one track together rather than trying to touch all 200 at once. You'll also design the game's UI art: the badges, progress states, and reward moments that make people want to keep playing. Everything ships as production-ready assets with a short style guide.

You'll also help design a community art competition for environmental health digital art — the brief, the categories, and how entries get judged.

Deliverable: one approved style direction, a themed set of teaching diagrams, game UI art, and a short style guide.

Good fit: illustration, graphic design, game art, or science communication design. Portfolio required — it's the whole application for this role.

TRACK 5 — DIGITAL ART: PARKS & NATURERX (1 position)

NatureRx is the part of PollutionProfile that pushes people back outside. It rewards outdoor time, surfaces nearby protected lands, and lets people collect cards for the local flora, fauna, and fungi they find. Those cards need to be things people actually want to collect.

You'll develop the card style — one look that holds up across a wildflower, a fungus, and a red-tailed hawk — and then illustrate a first set. You'll also design the achievement badges people earn along the way, and the visuals for parks and protected areas. Everything ships as production-ready assets with a short style guide.

You'll also help design a community art competition for local park art — the brief, the categories, and how entries get judged.

Deliverable: an illustrated species card set with an approved style, achievement badge art, and a short style guide.

Good fit: illustration, natural science illustration, graphic design, or game art. Portfolio required — it's the whole application for this role.

WHAT YOU'LL LEAVE WITH

A finished portfolio piece you can point to. Regular 1:1s with the founder and a written final assessment. A reference letter, if your work merits one. Documentation for your school, if you're pursuing credit.

ACADEMIC CREDIT

Optional. If your school offers internship or practicum credit, we'll provide learning agreements, mentor evaluations, and whatever documentation your faculty sponsor needs. Note that at roughly 70 hours over the semester, most schools grant 1 credit rather than 3.

TERMS

Remote, US-based. About 5 hours a week, September 8 through December 11, 2026. These are independent contractor positions, not employment — each is a fixed-fee $550 engagement for a defined semester deliverable, paid on completion, and you're responsible for your own taxes on it. Participation doesn't guarantee future employment.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply through our form, linked below or at pollutionprofile.com/opportunities. It takes about 20 minutes and covers all five tracks.

Applications close August 21, 2026. Interviews the week of August 24. Program starts September 8.

Questions: mike@pollutionprofile.com

PollutionProfile does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.