EPIC: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – Belize or Chile

Job Title: Natural Capital Evaluation and Policy Intern

Department/Team: Climate Change Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in collaboration with Stanford’s Natural Capital Project (NatCap), and IDB Country Offices in Belize or Chile.

Location: Washington, D.C. (2 weeks), Chile or Belize (4 weeks), and remote/Stanford (4 weeks). The intern is responsible for obtaining the visa required to enter the country. The IDB does not provide visa sponsorship. The Bechtel International Center can assist.

Duration: 35-40 hours per week for ten weeks over the summer

Reports to: Jade Delevaux (Senior Scientist, NatCap) or Hector Angarita (Senior Scientist, NatCap) , IDB collaborators (TBD)

Areas of Interest: Biodiversity, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Policy, Sustainable Development, Natural Capital, Climate Policy

Requirements

Citizenship: Be a national of an IDB member country.
Active student: enrolled in an undergraduate (bachelor’s) program as of the starting date of the Internship program.
Academic Credit: IDB requires that this experience be connected to your transcript in some way to indicate a learning opportunity. EPIC does not have a course affiliated with our program, but there two other options: 1) enroll in UAR14: InternPrepare – How to make the most of your summer experience in spring quarter; or 2) apply for a Cardinal Service notation in fall quarter after you complete your summer fellowship (this is only open to students in undergrad status).
Consanguinity: Not have family members (up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, including spouse) working at the IDB or IDB Invest.
First job at the IDB Group: Be a first-time participant in an Internship Program held by the Bank or Inter-American Investment Corporation (“Corporation” also known as “IDB Invest”). In addition, you have not been a former staff member, Complementary Workforce (“CW”), contractor for the Bank or the Corporation, or have previously provided services to the Bank or the Corporation through a contractor or under any other contractual modality.

Note

If selected for the internship program, participants must provide identification and academic documents to verify eligibility and facilitate the issuance of an agreement.

If you are an international student in the U.S., your work authorization must be obtained through Curricular Practical Training (CPT) or Optional Practical Training (OPT). These documents will be required to issue the letter of agreement. Before applying, consult your school advisor to ensure compliance with your institution’s policies. You must be able to work 40 hours per week; however, some international students may have restrictions on work hours based on their academic standing.

Summer 2023 Fellows:

Summer 2024 Fellows:

Summer 2025 Fellows:

Tom Ramsay

Office Description

The IDB Group, composed of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), IDB Invest, and the IDB Lab offers flexible financing solutions to its member countries to finance economic and social development through lending and grants to public and private entities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

We work to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through financial and technical support for countries working to reduce poverty and inequality, we help improve health and education and advance infrastructure. Our aim is to achieve development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way. With a history dating back to 1959, today we are the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. We provide loans, grants, and technical assistance; and we conduct extensive research. We maintain a strong commitment to achieving measurable results and the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability.

The Natural Capital Project aims to improve the well-being of all by motivating greater investment in natural capital. With our global hub at Stanford University, NatCap is a partnership between interdisciplinary researchers, professionals, and leaders around the world. Together, we help people, governments, and corporations incorporate the value of nature into decision-making. Learn more at https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/.

Description of the Work

Stanford University is offering a unique summer undergraduate internship opportunity in either Belize or Chile and hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This internship involves the next phase of work in Belize and Chile that stems from a Regional Technical Cooperation project with IDB developed under the People, Planet Prosperity (3Ps) project, a collaborative effort in which Stanford University's Natural Capital Project, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank worked with 16 pilot countries (Uruguay, plus Armenia, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, China, Philippines, Sri Lanks, Ecuador, and others) to co-develop natural capital approaches that inform policy and investment decisions.

Benefits:

Gain hands-on experience working on an impactful regional project.
Collaborate with experts in natural capital evaluation and climate policy.
Contribute to innovative solutions for sustainable development in Chile or Belize.

List of Potential Projects:

As an intern, you will collaborate closely with Stanford Natural Capital Project leads, national project coordinators, and experts from country government agencies and IDB.

Your responsibilities could include:

Assisting in the collection, organization, and analysis of data for NCAA implementation.
Support the training of project team members and the development of ecological and economic assessments of ecosystem services using InVest (NatCap software that interfaces with state-of-the-science based modeling of ecosystem service provision).
Contributing to the development of policy briefs and case studies that highlight the integration of natural capital into decision-making.
Providing support in model development and data visualization to inform policy recommendations.
Participating in team meetings and providing logistical and organizational assistance as needed.

Desired Skills

Required Skills/Qualifications:

Strong interest in natural capital evaluation, climate change, and sustainable development.
Fluent in English (written and spoken).

Desired Skills/Qualifications:

Fluent in Spanish (written and spoken).
Solid background in data analysis and/or environmental modeling, with experience using tools like GIS, Excel, R, or equivalent.
Expertise in InVEST software for ecosystem service modeling.
Self-motivated, proactive, and eager to learn and adapt.

Logistics:

EPIC fellows are required to work full-time (35-40 hours per week) for 10 weeks over the summer, and will receive a stipend of $8,000 - $9,500, funded by Stanford, depending on financial need. This stipend is intended to help cover living and transportation expenses during the fellowship, which the student is expected to arrange and coordinate.
Start and end dates are flexible (start date no later than July 6, 2026), however it is ideal if the student can participate in IDB’s in-house internship orientation day in Washington D.C. that will likely begin on June 16, 2026.
Structure:
- In-person work: Two weeks based at IDB Headquarters in Washington D.C. to coincide with their in-house internship orientation day (anticipated for June 16, 2026) and four weeks based in-country in Chile or Belize working in-person/hybrid at and/or IDB offices (specific dates to be determined).
- Remote or in-person work: Four weeks of collaboration working remotely or based at Stanford, including regular check-ins and the submission of agreed upon deliverables.