When Brenden Schaaf began looking for an environmental policy internship, he turned to his own town government.
Schaaf, a Stanford resident for three years, approached the Town Board in April and offered to assist with issues already before the town. The unpaid internship fulfills a requirement of his master’s program at Bard College’s Center for Environmental Policy.
He works about three hours a week during the summer, with that commitment increasing to 10 hours a week during the fall and spring semesters. He helps prepare documentation for Stanford’s Climate Smart Communities Committee, attends public meetings, and follows discussions about the town’s zoning code and the regulation of battery energy storage systems.
The internship builds on Schaaf’s existing involvement in town government. He is a member of the Stanford Conservation Advisory Commission and serves as volunteer task force coordinator for the Climate Smart Communities Committee.
His involvement began when he started sitting in on Conservation Advisory Commission meetings.
“I just showed up one day and then I just kept showing up,” Schaaf said.
Through that work, he saw how much rural government depends on residents who attend meetings, review technical documents, and serve on boards and committees without compensation.
“I have begun to recognize that if you want to make a meaningful impact, you have to literally be involved,” he said.
Schaaf returned to college in 2021 and studied biology and literature, focusing on ecology and the relationship between people and nature. He grew up in coastal California and Oregon and has lived in New York state for about 15 years. Before returning to school, he worked in support of the arts, including seasonally at Bard’s Fisher Center.
The questions he studies are also part of decisions facing Stanford. The town is reviewing sections of a zoning code that has not been comprehensively updated in more than 40 years, pursuing climate-related initiatives, and considering how to accommodate growth while protecting farmland, water, and open space.
Schaaf is particularly interested in how rural communities can welcome new residents and economic activity without losing the natural resources and character that draw people to them.
“I think good policy is the translation of science and community needs,” he said.
He does not view the internship as an opportunity to prescribe answers for Stanford. Instead, it gives him a firsthand view of how broad environmental goals reach small towns, where staffing and resources are limited and much of the work is performed by volunteers.
For Schaaf, the work also reflects a broader concern about climate change, extreme weather, and environmental policy rollbacks at the federal level. He said he tries to remain hopeful without minimizing the challenges ahead.
“My only answer to that was to get involved locally,” he said.