Jobs and Internships at the Sabin Center
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, offers a variety of job and internship opportunities for students (undergraduates and graduates), recent law graduates and environmental/climate-focused lawyers. If you're interested in the current vacancies, please check out the opportunities below.
Jobs
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law seeks a Climate Law Fellow to be hired at the postdoctoral research scholar level to contribute to Center’s work on issues related to climate change law and regulation. This is a one-year appointment starting September 2025, with an option for a second year.
You can learn more about the Sabin Center here.
Responsibilities
Under the supervision of Michael Gerrard, Faculty Director, and Michael Burger, Executive Director, the incumbent will:
- conduct independent research and publish white papers, articles, and other materials on topics related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, including in the areas of energy, environmental, and land use law;
- contribute to the development and implementation of advocacy strategies around climate change mitigation and adaptation;
- contribute to programs and projects that engage in active law and policy contexts, including the Center’s engagement in regulatory proceedings concerning climate change mitigate and adaption;
- contribute to the conceptualization, management and implementation of the Center’s web resources, including various databases tracking developments in federal, state, and local climate change law;
- help organize conferences, seminars, and collaborative publications;
- assist with oversight of interns and volunteers, among other projects.
Minimum Qualifications
- J.D., J.D. equivalent, or LLM from an ABA approved Law School
- Strong academic qualifications and a demonstrated interest in climate justice and equity, and/or in environmental, natural resources or energy law and policy, will be expected.
Preferred Qualifications:
- 0-3 years of professional legal experience with a government agency (including through a clerkship), NGO, law firm, financial institution, or law school center.
Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran.
Hiring Salary Range
$77,500-$85,000
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.
Application Instructions and Deadline
Applicants are requested to submit a cover letter and CV to climatelawfellow@law.columbia.edu by the deadline of January 15, 2025.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law seeks a Climate Justice Fellow to be hired at the postdoctoral research scholar level to contribute to Center’s work on issues related to climate justice and equity. This is a one-year appointment starting September 2024, with an option for a second year.
You can learn more about the Sabin Center here. More information about the Center’s environmental justice work is available here.
Responsibilities
Under the supervision of Michael Gerrard, Faculty Director, and Michael Burger, Executive Director, the incumbent will
- conduct independent research and publish white papers, articles, and other materials on a wide variety of issues related to climate change law, with a special focus on issues related to climate justice and equity;
- contribute to the development and implementation of strategies to advance climate justice and equity;
- contribute to programs and projects that engage in active law and policy contexts, including relevant regulatory proceedings addressing issues of climate justice and equity;
- contribute to conceptualization, management and implementation of the Center’s web resources, including various databases tracking developments in federal, state, and local climate change law;
- help organize conferences, seminars, and collaborative publications;
- assist with oversight of interns and volunteers, among other projects.
Minimum Qualifications
- J.D., J.D equivalent, or LLM
- Strong academic qualifications and a demonstrated interest in climate justice and equity, and/or in environmental, natural resources or energy law and policy, will be expected.
Preferred Qualifications:
- 1-3 years of professional legal experience with a government agency (including through a clerkship), NGO, law firm, financial institution, or law school center.
Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran.
Hiring Salary Range
$72,500-$80,000
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.
Application Instructions and Deadline
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
Visiting Scholars
In order to recognize and enhance work in the field of climate law the Sabin Center on occasion sponsors researchers and scholars who have applied for and been accepted to Columbia Law Schools Visiting Scholars Program. Applicants interested in Center sponsorship may email the Faculty Director or Executive Director to notify them of their interest in sponsorship.
Internships
Description: The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law is seeking an intern to assist with a variety of communications-related tasks. The intern will work under the supervision of the Sabin Center’s communications associate, Tiffany Challe, and Deputy Director, Romany Webb. Among other things, the intern will help to create a weekly social media plan, develop posts and other content for social media,, track and record media mentions, assist with management of the Climate Law Blog and will assist in maintaining and updating the press list.
Skills desired: Social media competence (Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook); basic knowledge of Wordpress and DRUPAL platforms; familiarity with and keen interest in climate change concepts and terminology; experience with Mailchimp; experience with graphic design and/or video editing.
Type of student desired: Columbia University Undergraduate or graduate
This is a part-time unpaid internship and will last from end of January to May 2025. The selected candidate will work up to 20 hours a week.
How to apply: We are no longer accepting applications.
Law Students
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School is seeking several current law students to serve as interns for summer 2025. Legal interns work with the Center’s Faculty Director Michael Gerrard, Executive Director Michael Burger, and current fellows on a wide range of cutting-edge climate change, energy, and environmental law topics. Past summer legal interns have conducted research on the international and U.S. regulation of GHG emissions from shipping, contributed to papers on atmospheric methane removal, and conducted litigation research relating to state-level anti-ESG laws, among many other projects. Internships are full time for 8-10 weeks. Although the Center cannot provide direct funding for summer legal internships, CLS legal interns are able to qualify for CLS non-profit summer funding and may also receive pro bono credit. Non-CLS students may also apply for the summer internship program.
Undergraduate and Master’s Students
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School is seeking a few exceptional undergraduate and/or master’s students to serve as interns for summer 2025. Undergraduate and master’s-level interns work with the Center’s faculty director, Professor Michael Gerrard, Executive Director Michael Burger, and current fellows on a wide range of cutting-edge climate change, energy, and environmental policy issues. The Center does both domestic and international work on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Students will be assigned to projects that are policy oriented, or may work jointly with law student interns on projects with a legal component, and should receive broad exposure to the field of climate change law. Students with some background in environmental policy, energy policy and/or sustainable development are particularly encouraged to apply. Internships are full time for 8-10 weeks. Unfortunately, the Center is not able to provide funding for summer internships. Preference will be given to Columbia/Barnard students.
How to Apply: Applicants for a 2025 summer internship with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law should submit a resume, cover letter, and transcript addressed to Vincent Nolette and Olivia Guarna at vmn2106@columbia.edu and ong2107@columbia.edu. Please specify in the email subject line whether you are an undergraduate/master’s student or a law student. We encourage you to apply by February 16, 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.