What Are Our Summer Interns Up To?

2026 BLAST Summer Orientation

This summer, Accelerate Climate Solutions is proud to work with 75 interns across 10 teams with a variety of different goals and responsibilities. Our goal is to highlight our students’ strengths and empower every single one of them to make change in their own way. 

Climate Communications: 

Our Climate Communications team leads Accelerate Climate Solutions’ online presence and advocacy through multiple social media platforms. Additionally, they are working on a Youth Voice Presentation that will take place on July 20th at Nichols Library centered around busting common myths about climate change. This interactive evening will feature a climate trivia contest and Q&A with youth climate leaders from this team. RSVP here. 

Citizen Science: 

Our Citizen Science team collects data on air and water quality both locally and in the Solomon Islands. By working with students from the Solomon Islands (pictured below), students get a picture of how climate change impacts people around the world, especially those on the frontlines. 

Climate Education: 

Our Climate Education team is focused on educational outreach through social media and especially through a series of informative mini-documentaries with the goal of spreading knowledge about lesser known environmental topics. The first episode focuses on plants that are native to the Midwest and their role/impact on the environment overall. 

Nonprofit Administration:

Our nonprofit administration team works on ACS’s general logistics, ensuring smooth operations while also handling outreach to sponsors and donors. They handle grant applications for our individual projects and other key responsibilities regarding funding and resource allocation. 

Local Climate Action:

We have multiple Local Climate Action teams that focus on advocacy in local government, all with slightly different but very important causes they are supporting. 

Local Climate Action Team A is focusing on sustainability and climate education in schools. Specifically, they are developing a strategy to advocate for a Carbon Action Plan for District 204, a local school district that serves many of our summer interns. In addition, this small, but mighty team will be partnering with It’s Our Future and other Illinois-based organizations to advocate for a Climate Literacy Seal for high school students to elevate the importance of climate education in our schools. 

Local Climate Action Team B is currently researching successful climate action plans, seeking to advocate to the Naperville City Council to implement a climate action plan (CAP). As a consequence of implementing a CAP, Naperville can invest in infrastructure and legislation to prepare for extreme weather caused by climate change, such as flash floods and tornadoes. A CAP would also set targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction and a roadmap to achieve those targets. This team also plans to hold Naperville accountable for a plan for a transition off of coal to clean energy.

Local Climate Action Team C/D is alternating between working on researching local battery deployment and advocating at the state level for the POWER Act. One of their goals this summer is to create a proposal for a large-scale electricity user, such as Edward Hospital or District 203, to deploy battery energy storage to save money and reduce carbon emissions. Another goal is to meet with their state Representatives and Senators to gain their support for common-sense regulations around managing the addition of data centers to the grid in a way that protects consumers and the environment.  

Remake the Future:

The Remake the Future team is excited to announce their big event on August 1: Remake the Future: A Repair and Upcycling Extravaganza. This event will feature free repair stations for clothing, electronics, bikes, and carpentry, demonstrations and workshops on repair and upcycling, a bake sale, a craft sale, and more! The team is working through all the logistical, planning, and publicity details. While their webpage isn’t quite done, please check it out and come back soon for more details.  

MakerSpace:

The MakerSpace is a weekly opportunity offered to students to participate in their individual climate projects, learn how to upcycle, and/or create their own upcycling projects. This past week, students learned about Sashiko, a visible mending technique that adds beauty to repaired objects, crocheted some coasters and scrunchies, and made felt Earth pincushions.

Independent Projects:

Students are given the opportunity to receive grants for their independent projects and work on them throughout the summer. They are tasked with writing a proposal and preparing a budget while also publicizing their project throughout the summer. 

Students so far have proposed 9 projects with a variety of different focuses and objectives. Some projects are centered on sustainable resource utilization, others on advocacy and education, while others focus on effective resistance to pollution. The nonprofit admin team is currently reviewing proposals. Students can still submit their proposal and budget using this form. 

We are incredibly proud of all of our summer interns and the great efforts they put in to have a positive impact on the world. Stay up to date with our blog and our social media to keep up with Accelerate Climate Solutions! 

Find us online at:

@accelerateclimatesolutions on Instagram 

@accelclimatesolutions on TikTok

@accelerateclimatesolutions on Facebook

@Accelerate.Climate.Solutions on YouTube 

@accelerate-climate-solutions on LinkedIn