Shivani Kuckreja, a Master of Environmental Management/Master of Business Administration (MEM/MBA) student, spent the summer as a sustainability intern with Delta Air Lines.

Each year, Nicholas School of the Environment students complete internships with organizations around the world. These internships provide valuable opportunities to gain career-related experience and build a professional network. 

Duke Environment recently caught up with Kuckreja to learn more about her experience. 

What are you doing at your internship and how are you using the skills you've learned at the Nicholas School?

Shivani Kuckreja in London

As a Delta intern, Shivani Kuckreja was given free standby flight access, which allowed her to travel to London, Boston, New Jersey, San Francisco and Rome

"Working as a Sustainability Intern at Delta Air Lines this summer has been so much fun! Given my previous work focused on sustainability disclosure with the Value Reporting Foundation, Delta tasked me with completing the company’s Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Carbon Disclosure Project surveys. As a result, I spent my summer immersing myself in Delta’s full spectrum of ESG-related efforts, from understanding its commitment to Just Transition to assessing how harmful its earbud packaging is to the environment. Given the broad range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) questions between the two surveys, I also spent much of my time forging relationships across teams at Delta so that I could learn more about the company’s efforts in various areas of sustainability.

Throughout the summer, I found myself leveraging much of what I learned at the Nicholas School. Not only did I leverage the content knowledge I gained through the past year (I even completed a life cycle assessment, which I had the ability to do thanks to my life cycle assessment course), but I also utilized the networking skills that I learned through the Career & Professional Development Center (CPDC) to foster meaningful relationships across Delta."

How did the Nicholas School help you during your internship search? 

"I would not have known about this internship without the Nicholas School! I learned about this internship through an email from the Nicholas School’s internship listserv."

How will this experience help you in your career? 

"I hope to dedicate my career to working in the corporate sustainability space, specifically helping to develop corporate sustainability goals and sustainable business strategies to achieve those goals. This internship marks my first time working on corporate sustainability in-house and will hopefully open additional doors for me to influence sustainable corporate strategies moving forward! "

 


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