The Sustainability Solutions Lab was founded in January 2017 and has connected over 150 paid student interns of varied backgrounds and majors with more than 40 environmental initiatives and projects around the Middlebury campus!

The 12 students in the SSL Summer 2023 cohort smiling in front of the green mountains
(Credit: JT Titmus )

Our Mission

The Sustainability Solutions Lab (SSL) aims to provide students with paid experiential learning opportunities for sustainability in practice and cultivation of critical thinking and professional skills. Partnering with faculty, staff, and field experts, students work on sustainability-oriented projects for the Middlebury community, both on campus and across the globe. SSL interns are given the opportunity to explore, reimagine, and implement action-based solutions, utilizing a lens of environmental justice to share Middlebury’s evolving sustainability journey.

Interested in a paid internship with the SSL? Applications for our summer internships open in February each year, with certain positions filled on a rolling basis.

Keep an eye on the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest newsletter/Instagram or contact Tara Federoff, Sustainability Specialist at tfederoff@middlebury.edu for more information! 

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Our Projects

SSL interns have been instrumental in creating and evolving initiatives like Energy2028, Global Partnerships for Sustainability, and many others. Here is a list of current projects:

2024 Summer

  • Communications
  • Sustainability Abroad & Global Partnerships for Sustainability 
  • The Living Buildings Challenge
  • EcoReps Program Development
  • Recycling and Waste Management
  • STARS Sustainability Assessment
  • Green Panther Challenge
  • Campus Rewilding and Tree Map
  • MIIS Liaison
Check out past projects!
Members of the SSL summer 23 cohort take a tour of Miller Hill Farm
Members of the SSL Summer 2023 cohort take a tour of Miller Hill Farm, learning about biodiversity and native Vermont flora from former dean Nan Jenks-Jay. (Credit: Sophia Calvi )