Talia Resnick: Exploring the role of companies in tackling climate change
Talia Resnick, a graduating Columbia Climate Institute master’s program in climate and society, will spend the summer working as an environment and sustainability program coordinator at a law firm.
Columbia Climate School inaugural students will don blue caps and gowns for graduation school day this week. But while classes may be over, students will take part in a variety of exciting internships this summer before officially graduating in August.
Talia Resnick, a student at the Climate School Climate and Society Program, will spend the summer at a law firm, coordinating their work around environmental and social responsibility. She will earn internship credit for the position and then continue working there full-time after graduation. In the Q&A below, she tells us more about what drew her to the job and her long-term plans for the future.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got interested in studying climate?
I have always been interested in environmental issues. Growing up, I spent almost all of my summers in the northern woods of Wisconsin, where I come from and have a great attachment to nature in general. It wasn’t until high school that I became more interested in environmental justice and the climate crisis. During my undergraduate years, I was at a school where each student designed their own major, which gave me room to work on the historical and colonial legacy that led to environmental and climate injustice today, with a particular focus on the connections between the North and Latin America. I wanted to better understand the scientific aspects of the climate crisis and use that knowledge in the policy and corporate responsibility areas – which is why I ended up participating in the Climate and Society project!
Where are you interning this summer? What will the job involve and what attracted you to this field of work?
This summer, I will start full-time at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP as the new Environmental and Sustainability Program Coordinator. I will be responsible for reducing the company’s carbon footprint and supporting environmental and climate-focused causes through pro bono work, guest speakers, reporting on greenhouse gas emissions, internal education and awareness days, and more.
While I hope to one day work in the field of climate justice policy, I am also very interested in the role of corporations/companies in addressing the climate crisis. I am excited to learn how a law firm can play a role in this and find the experience in ESG-related work invaluable to my long-term career goals.
How does the Climate and Society program help you prepare for this role?
The Climate and Society program has helped me prepare for this role in a number of ways. First, having a scientific and mathematical background in climate dynamics and variability helps to understand my extensive work and interest in the societal impact of the climate crisis. Also, having the opportunity to take a course on the social impact of business and corporations really helped me better understand the role of the private sector in influencing policy, something I didn’t know before.
It was the most rewarding thing to be able to be part of such an incredible group of students in the Climate and Society project this year. I feel like I have a network of the brightest minds from the most diverse academic and professional backgrounds I can count on.
What do you hope to learn from this experience?
I hope to gain skills in partnership and collaboration with organisations and companies, and to better understand the impact of the private sector on the climate crisis. I’m interested in better understanding shared responsibility in the context of the climate crisis.
How does this job align with your career goals? What do you hope to do after graduation?
I aspire to one day work in the policy sector for climate justice, whether through nonprofit work or political work. While the jobs offered to me are not necessarily the same kind of job, I am very grateful and excited to start working in the ESG space because I feel like I will learn some very important skills and gain knowledge about the interconnectedness of private and public department.
