A semester in Mystic + fully funded summer climate work
The Williams-Mystic Climate Fellowship links an interdisciplinary semester studying climate, coasts and oceans with up to $7,000 in funding for summer climate work.
Williams-Mystic Climate Fellowship
The Climate Fellowship begins with a foundational semester at Williams-Mystic Coastal & Ocean Studies, an immersive study-away program based at the Williams College coastal campus at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut.
During the semester, students from colleges across the country live and study together while examining coastal and ocean topics through courses in science, policy, history, and literature. Coursework explores pressing global issues such as coastal resilience, environmental and climate justice, and sustainability. Learning takes place in small classes with close faculty mentoring and is enhanced by field seminars and place-based work in coastal communities.
Following the Williams-Mystic semester, Climate Fellows receive up to $7,000 in summer funding to support a full-time internship or research opportunity. Summer experiences are shaped by each student’s academic interests and often by questions that emerge during the semester in Mystic. Rather than prescribing a single pathway, the fellowship is intentionally flexible, allowing students to pursue opportunities aligned with their academic interests and professional goals.
Throughout the semester, Climate Fellows receive interdisciplinary advising from Williams-Mystic faculty, along with invaluable connections to professionals working across climate-related fields, many of them Williams-Mystic alumni.
With funding in place, students have the freedom to focus on finding a meaningful summer internship that is a strong fit, rather than prioritizing pay alone.
Selected students are admitted to the semester of their choice at the Williams-Mystic Coastal & Ocean Studies program for an immersive study-away experience focused on climate, coasts, oceans, and communities. Tuition and fees are the responsibility of the student; all students may apply for Williams-Mystic financial aid at the time of their application. Financial aid decisions are shared along with the admission decision.
Climate Fellows receive up to $7,000 to support a full-time summer internship or research opportunity connected to climate challenges in the summer following their Williams-Mystic semester.
Advising & Mentorship
During the Williams-Mystic semester, Climate Fellows receive interdisciplinary advising and build curated, focused connections with professionals working across climate-related fields.
A final report that integrates academic work at Williams-Mystic with the student’s summer experience.
Who Should Apply?
College students of all majors who are interested in addressing the human and environmental challenges of climate change are invited to apply.
In addition, applicants must:
be in good academic and disciplinary standing at their home campus
meet their home campus study-away requirements and deadlines
be a college sophomore, junior or senior during the 2026–27 academic year
Climate Fellowship Application Process
WM & Climate Fellow Application
Prospective students apply through the Williams-Mystic application portal, completing both the WM application and a brief Climate Fellows supplemental statement, describing their interest in climate-related work and how funded summer support could help them explore potential pathways. The admissions committee is most interested in learning about an applicant's curiosity, experiences, and evolving interests.
Following the successful submission of your application, you will be invited to schedule a virtual interview with the WM admissions staff. Notification of your status will, in most cases, be made within two weeks of your interview.
Climate Fellow Statement Prompt
In 500 words or fewer, tell us about your interest in climate issues or climate action, and how that interest connects to your academic, personal, or professional goals. How might summer funding help you explore that interest further after a semester at Williams-Mystic?
You do not need to present a specific summer plan to apply; Climate Fellows will often develop their internship details during their WM semester.
Please save your written Climate Fellow statement, named in the following convention before beginning your WM application. FirstNameLastName_WMClimateFellow.pdf
Upload the pdf where prompted in the Williams-Mystic application portal.
Financial Aid
Most colleges and universities send financial aid to Williams College to support their students' attendance at the Williams-Mystic Coastal & Ocean Studies program. We work closely with applicants and their home campus financial aid offices to support the process where possible.
If a Williams-Mystic semester exceeds the cost of your home semester or if your home financial aid does not travel, you may apply for financial aid. in the Williams-Mystic application portal. All students interested in applying for Williams-Mystic financial aid must complete the forms with their WM application. Williams-Mystic is a need-aware program, and has a limited pool of aid for each semester. The financial aid application consists of the following:
Financial Aid Worksheet (semester costs at the student’s home college/university)
Transferable Funds Information Sheet (outlines any aid that will or will not transfer from the student’s home college/university for their Williams-Mystic semester)
Financial aid award letter (from the most recent semester at the student's home college/university)
If eligible, financial aid awards will be made at the time of admission.
Deadlines
Applications are reviewed through two cycles:
March Review
Applications due March 2, 2026
June Review
Applications due June 15, 2026
Applications are reviewed in two rounds, with notification within three weeks of the completed interview. Applicants with a preference for a specific semester are encouraged to apply during the first review period.
Funding for the 2026-27 Climate Fellows supports an internship in the summer of 2027, following successful completion of a Williams-Mystic semester in fall 2026 or spring 2027.
SUMMER INTERNSHIP & FUNDING DETAILS
The funded summer experience is designed to extend and deepen learning from the Williams-Mystic semester, allowing students to translate interdisciplinary study into meaningful, real-world climate engagement.
Students typically use the time during their Williams-Mystic semester to begin identifying their summer internship. With funding secured, students can pursue ideal opportunities with confidence, including those that may be unpaid or underfunded.
Students may combine fellowship funding with paid summer opportunities. Any earnings from the position will be counted toward the fellowship award, with total summer support capped at $7,000. For example, if a student earns $3,000 from an internship, the fellowship may provide up to $4,000 in additional support, for a total of $7,000.
Summer experiences supported by the fellowship:
Are full-time (approximately 40 hours per week) for a minimum of eight weeks
Take the form of an internship or research opportunity connected to climate and community challenges
May be in-person, hybrid, or remote
Offer substantial learning opportunities and meaningful professional exploration
Are well supervised by a professional with relevant expertise, with regular guidance and mentorship
Take place within an established organization, department, or research group
The fellowship does not support summer experiences that:
Are primarily academic or theoretical, rather than experiential
Are supervised by a family member or take place within a family-owned organization
Are split across multiple unrelated placements
Lack clear structure, supervision, or educational purpose
All summer experiences must be reviewed and approved by a committee of Williams-Mystic faculty and staff to ensure alignment with the fellowship’s goals.
Students are responsible for securing their own housing for internships.Williams-Mystic does not provide additional funding for housing assistance.
The Climate Fellowship is considered a non-qualifying scholarship and students are responsible for reporting it in their tax filing. International students will receive a 1042s tax form from Williams College, and are encouraged to use their home campus’ tax resources as needed.
Culminating Reflection
The fellowship concludes with a final reflective component, allowing students to integrate their Williams-Mystic academic work with their summer experience. This may take the form of a written reflection, report, or presentation, depending on the nature of the summer work.
At the conclusion of the summer experience, fellows will share a brief verification form with their supervisor. This form confirms that the internship has been completed and asks supervisors to verify total hours worked, with the option to offer brief feedback on the experience.
All end-of-internship materials must be submitted to Williams-Mystic within thirty days of the internship’s completion.
No, Williams-Mystic has enrolled students from more than 70 colleges and universities across the United States and internationally since 1977. Students from all accredited colleges and universities may apply for both Williams-Mystic and the Williams-Mystic Climate Fellowship. You can learn all about the Williams-Mystic Coastal & Ocean Studies semester here.
What kinds of climate issues does Williams-Mystic focus on?
Williams-Mystic approaches climate change as both an environmental and human challenge, with emphasis on climate resilience, sustainability, environmental justice and equity, policy and governance and the cultural, historical, and ethical dimensions of climate change.
Why does a coastal & ocean studies program focus on climate resilience, sustainability, and environmental justice?
Williams-Mystic approaches climate change as both an environmental and human challenge. Using a coastal and ocean studies curriculum as a lens, students examine how climate impacts communities, economies, ecosystems, and policy decisions, with attention to equity, resilience, and how potential solutions must account for all of these factors.
The fellowship helps students connect interdisciplinary academic study with real-world climate work. It pairs a Williams-Mystic semester with up to $7,000 in summer funding, allowing students to pursue meaningful, full-time climate-related work without financial barriers.
Is Williams-Mystic and the Climate Fellowship only for science majors?
Students from all academic backgrounds and majors participate in Williams-Mystic, including the arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields. Williams-Mystic is intentionally interdisciplinary, and the fellowship is designed to support many ways of engaging with climate issues. Whether you are interested in global health, languages, government, academia, law, science, medicine, finance, research or the arts, your experience as a Climate Fellow will help you make connections that align with your future goals—even if they evolve and change over time.
I am not sure how a major in humanities, arts or social science fits in: do you have examples of how this aligns?
Storytelling, Content Creation & Communication
Majors can include English, Writing, Journalism, Communications, Media Studies, Film, Digital Media
Students in these majors play a critical role in shaping how climate issues are understood and acted on. They might produce short documentaries, manage public-facing communications for a climate nonprofit, develop storytelling campaigns that translate research into accessible language, or collect and share community stories that elevate local voices and experiences.
Ethics, Philosophy, Policy & Law
Majors can include Philosophy, Political Science, Public Policy, Environmental Studies, Economics and Legal Studies
Students in these fields help grapple with the complex decisions behind climate action, resilient futures and justice. Who decides? Internship work might include researching environmental policy, supporting advocacy or legal organizations, analyzing the equity impacts of climate legislation, or contributing to policy briefs that inform decision-makers at the local or regional level.
Arts
Majors can include Studio Art, Visual Arts, Graphic Design, Architecture and Art History)
Students in the arts can help make the challenges of climate change and injustice both visible and tangible. They might collaborate with community organizations to create public murals about air quality issues; design visual tools that help residents understand environmental risks; or develop exhibitions that invite dialogue around climate and place.
History
Majors can include American Studies, Africana Studies, Asian Studies and Indigenous Studies
Students in history-focused majors help ground climate responses in lived experience and historical context. Internship projects might include conducting oral histories, researching how past land-use or industrial decisions shape present-day vulnerabilities, or documenting community stories to inform more just and inclusive climate planning.
I’m interested, but I am pre-med and concerned I have too many obligations, how do pre-med students make it work?
A pre-med student is actually an excellent fit for Williams-Mystic and the Climate Fellows program: we regularly enroll pre-med students.
Health care in the coming years will be directly and relentlessly shaped by climate change. Heat-related illness, respiratory disease, vector-borne infections, food insecurity, and displacement will all show up in exam rooms and community clinics. Physicians who understand the social and environmental drivers behind those trends will be far better prepared to serve their patients.
Your candidacy as a medical school applicant may well be strengthened by your experience as a Climate Fellow, both for the way it demonstrates a commitment to health equity and for showing that you understand the social and environmental determinants of health. Medical schools increasingly want future physicians who can think beyond the individual patient and see the systems affecting people’s well-being.
And the communities most affected by climate change are often the same ones facing barriers to care. Being a Williams-Mystic Climate Fellow shows you’re paying attention to those intersections, and ready to engage with complex, real-world problems rather than just study them.
Williams-Mystic Climate Fellow internship experiences for a pre-med student can be tailored to exactly the kind of preparation you need, from research to clinical work. One student might join a clinical study on asthma rates near industrial sites. Another might analyze climate-driven disease trends like Lyme, run lead-screening clinics in older housing, or help develop public-health strategies to protect vulnerable communities from extreme heat.
With guidance from your pre-health advisor, you’ll identify research, clinical, public health, or environmental health placements that both strengthen your medical school candidacy and give you meaningful hands-on experience with the health impacts of climate and environmental change.
Do I need a confirmed internship or a clear plan to apply?
No. Many students identify their summer opportunities during or after their Williams-Mystic semester, often shaped by WM coursework, research projects and advising. The primary resource for internship discovery will be the career and advising center on their home campus, enhanced by the connections made through the WM alumni network.
Is the summer internship experience guaranteed?
The fellowship provides funding, but students are responsible for identifying and securing an appropriate summer internship or opportunity. Most do so with guidance from their home college career and advising staff, as well as from Williams-Mystic faculty and alumni.
Do Climate Fellows need to get their internships approved to be funded?
Yes, prior to the disbursement of funds, students will submit a form to Williams-Mystic for approval and verification, documenting the terms of their summer experience with a signature from their internship supervisor.
What if my internship is paid?
Students may combine fellowship funding with paid opportunities. Any earnings from the position will be counted toward the fellowship award, with total summer support capped at $7,000. (For example, if a student earns $3,000 from an internship, the fellowship may provide up to $4,000 in additional support, for a total of $7,000.)
Can I do my paid internship in during Winter Study instead of the summer?
Yes, Climate Fellows may petition to fulfill their internship or research experience during a shorter term. The funding will be prorated accordingly.
Questions? Email wmadmissions@williams.edu.