My Experience as Dwellworks ESG Intern

What I Wanted to Gain in My Final Undergraduate Internship

By the time this blog is posted, I’ll have graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science—and I’ll be starting my job search for a career in sustainability. My final undergraduate internship was with Dwellworks, a professional services company specializing in global workforce mobility and business travel service solutions. I joined the ESG team to support the company’s annual ESG/Sustainability Impact Report, and I came away with a much clearer view of what “data-based rigor” looks like in a real business setting.

Before Dwellworks, my internship experience was mostly remote and research-based. I wasn’t collaborating much with coworkers or learning how a team turns sustainability goals into day-to-day processes. Those roles introduced me to important topics, but I didn’t feel like I was building the practical, transferable skills (or the confidence) that some of my peers already had. For my final internship, I wanted corporate experience that would strengthen my technical toolkit, push me to communicate my work clearly, and let me contribute to projects I could point to later—both in interviews and in my own learning as an aspiring sustainability professional.

A corporate ESG internship at Dwellworks aligned with exactly what I was looking for: developing hard skills by working with Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions; organizing and analyzing global utility invoices and supplier survey responses; and learning how carbon accounting tools are used to translate real operational activity into comparable metrics. Just as important, I wanted to support work that mattered. Helping with the data management and analysis behind the Impact Report meant contributing to how Dwellworks communicates performance and progress to clients, partners, and other stakeholders—using an approach that is structured, documented, and repeatable.

My contributions gave me a sense of ownership in the work performed and an appreciation for its purpose. One thing I didn’t fully understand before this internship is how much work sits behind a single set of ESG numbers. There are definitions to align on, data sources to validate, and documentation to maintain so results can be reviewed, repeated, and improved year over year. Seeing that level of effort up close helped me appreciate why rigorous ESG reporting is an investment—and why it matters to clients who are making decisions based on trusted data.

What I Learned in My Sustainability Internship

Because this was my first corporate internship, I learned quickly how many moving parts exist inside a professional services organization—and how sustainability work depends on collaboration across the business. At Dwellworks, I got a front-row view of how suppliers, network Consultants, and internal teams contribute to sustainable practices and measurable outcomes. I also experienced a team culture that made it easy to ask questions, share progress, and learn from people with different expertise (which, as an early-career professional, matters a lot).

I also learned how sustainability shows up in the company’s core services. Dwellworks Living, for example, helps corporate travelers and employees in temporary furnished accommodations find housing options that include properties investing in sustainable practices—like energy-efficient appliances and HVAC systems. And the Consultants who deliver destination services in hundreds of locations worldwide are trained to help relocating professionals navigate local sustainability resources (recycling, conservation initiatives, and other community programs), and to research “green” housing options on request. In short, I saw how Dwellworks supports its clients’ mobility needs while also responding to stakeholder expectations around sustainability.

In this 10-week internship, I was responsible for processing and summarizing survey findings from across Dwellworks’ global team and supply chain that tracked commute activity, airline travel, and vehicle use (including both traditional combustion engines and EVs) related to delivering destination and real estate services. Using clearly defined assumptions and consistent categories, I helped calculate Scope 1 (internal) and Scope 3 (supply chain) emissions. I also worked with utility invoices from multiple global locations to record energy consumption and calculate changes in emissions associated with the company’s strategic management of office space needs over the past five years. That work included using Greenhouse Gas Protocol-aligned calculation approaches and Microsoft Excel to create charts and tables for the final report. I also gained firsthand experience using AI tools in a secure, data-privacy-protected environment—which was a great introduction to how modern teams balance speed with governance.

Beyond the technical work, I learned how to operate in a team setting—sharing bi-weekly progress updates and staying aligned to the report’s production schedule. That structure made me pay attention to the details behind each deliverable and organize my workflow so others could understand (and reuse) my analysis. The ESG team had built an effective SharePoint environment for tracking sources, storing files, and following standard operating procedures. Compared to my previous “on my own” internships, this was a big shift—and it helped me grow my business skills tremendously.

What Kind of Career Will My Environmental Science Degree and My Internship Prepare Me For?

When I applied for the ESG internship at Dwellworks, I was in my final semester at the University of Texas. I had already gained experience through internships with private firms and nonprofit organizations committed to sustainability—whether that meant researching improvements in manufacturing and waste management processes, or supporting environmentally responsible clean-water policy. Dwellworks helped me bring those research skills into a more complete readiness for a corporate or consultative environment: high expectations, real deadlines, and a strong emphasis on turning data into clear, stakeholder-ready communication.

With my internship experiences, especially my internship at Dwellworks, and my degree, my immediate career goal is to add value to an organization as a sustainability analyst, to support professional sustainability consulting assignments, or to contribute to public policy research that supports reasonable and responsible environmental legislation and accountability. 

Advice and Key Insights for Future Interns

For future interns interested in working in this discipline, I have the following suggestions: 

• Get familiar with the major sustainability and ESG frameworks (and how companies use them in reporting).
• Learn the terminology sustainability teams use every day—projects move faster when you can “speak the language.”
• Understand Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
• Learn concepts such as circularity, materiality, and what “net zero” targets actually mean in practice.
• Practice good data habits: track sources, document assumptions, and make your work easy for someone else to review.

This preparation would make project conversations and contributions easier from the start.

I would also recommend building comfort with data tools in whatever software you prefer—Excel, Google Sheets, or Power BI. No matter your starting point, be ready to adapt to a company’s systems and processes (including using AI tools in a compliant corporate environment). I didn’t have all of this experience before Dwellworks, but I stayed open to learning something new every week.

Learning Best Business Practices, Beyond Sustainability Skills

Now that I’ve completed my internship at Dwellworks, I genuinely feel prepared to launch my professional career. I worked closely with the sustainability/ESG team, had opportunities to meet with senior leaders, and was trusted to apply my skills to a high-visibility deliverable. For me, that combination—meaningful work, real responsibility, and support from the people around you—is what makes an internship experience stand out. 

I had a great experience at Dwellworks, and I’m grateful to the ESG team—especially Maura Carey, Ciara Moore, and Liv Guzik—for the opportunity and mentorship. I felt like I had real impact, and it was motivating to see how my work fit into a broader, company-wide effort. Sustainability is the direction I’m committed to, and this internship reaffirmed that path.

To learn more about Dwellworks ESG progress and reporting approach, you can view the Dwellworks 2025–2026 Impact Report below and on the ESG Dwellworks webpage. 

Read the 2025-2026 Dwellworks Impact Report

About Dwellworks

Dwellworks is the world’s leading provider of accommodation and acclimation support services for the mobile workforce and business travelers. We specialize in global destination services, corporate housing, and intercultural training, as well as property management and real estate services in key US markets.

Our clients trust us to deliver personalized high-quality service experiences, powered by innovative technology and supported by our extensive local presence in hundreds of locations worldwide. Through our brands Dwellworks, Dwellworks Living, and Station Cities, we offer a comprehensive range of service options, global reach, local expertise, and passion for the customer service experience.

Driven by a commitment to excellence, we continuously pursue innovation and operational efficiency and invest in meeting rigorous global compliance standards for data security, financial management, and sustainability. Whether supporting corporate travel or relocation, domestically or around the world, we work in partnership with our clients to ensure talented employees and their families transition smoothly and thrive in their new locations.

For more information, please visit our company brands at Dwellworks.com, DwellworksLiving.com, and StationCities.com.