TCEQ Seeks Sponsors to Place Talented, Diverse Students into Environmental Internships

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is looking for governmental agencies and private companies to host interns this summer for a Mickey Leland Environmental Internship.

The paid summer internship places undergraduate and graduate college students pursuing environmental, science, engineering, public administration, public health, computer technology, accounting, business, law, and communications degrees at TCEQ or other participating state agencies, county and city governments, and participating private sector companies from across the state.

The program has received more than 500 applicants this year. TCEQ plans to place up to 90 of those interns at the agency and hopes to place the rest with internship sponsors.

Organizations with a presence in Texas may sponsor a summer intern through the MLEIP. Student applications are vetted by MLEIP and sponsors get to choose their own interns from the applicants. Sponsors pay their chosen interns a salary, but there are no other costs related to sponsoring an intern. Sponsors set internship dates, rate of pay, duties performed, and work hours for the interns.

The internship allows women, people of color, and economically disadvantaged students attending college to learn about career opportunities in the environmental field. Students get a chance to learn about their sponsor agency or company as well as try out a career choice and obtain on-the-job experience before graduation, while sponsors get a chance to mentor upcoming graduates and determine whether the intern may be a good fit for future job openings.

John Hall, the founding chairman of TCEQ’s predecessor agency, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, began the program in 1991 as a memorial for his friend and former U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland, who died in an airplane crash in 1989 en route to Ethiopia on a mission as Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Hunger.

Since its inception, 2,400 interns have been placed into internships and some of the interns are still employed at TCEQ and participating sponsor companies.

For more information on becoming a summer internship sponsor, visit TCEQ’s MLEIP sponsor webpage and submit a sponsor request form by May 31, 2021. You may also contact Juanita Baldwin, MLEIP education and outreach coordinator, at juanita.baldwin@tceq.texas.gov or 512-239-0105.