The Intern Dispatches: Inside 2 Months with WWF Greece

Phoebe Opler (C’27) is part of the inaugural class of the BS in Environment & Sustainability , a degree offered by the Earth Commons Institute and the College of Arts & Sciences. Opler spent her summer interning with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Greece.

I was privileged to intern with WWF Greece this summer in Athens, and I am so happy that I did. This opportunity first caught my attention in an email sent from Professor Jesse Meiller, co-director of the BS in Environment & Sustainability, mentioning the possibility to both study and intern abroad. Although I did not know the specifics of the environmental course, I knew that it would be a unique, immersive experience that I would talk about for the rest of my life, so I responded right away with “I’m very interested” and “Please keep me updated!”

At first, I was terrified, but excited. I was going to a country I had never been to with a language I had never spoken before for a length of time that I had never spent with people I did not know. However, this was the exact point: to absorb Greece’s cultural and environmental identity in the process of learning from other students, professors, and elders. I loved being with a cohort of 14 other students from all over the world, who had diverse backgrounds and knowledge about the environment. We spent long periods of time together, traveling to all of the activities ECo Greece’s Katerina Downward planned for us each day.

The activities included class with Dr. Meiller and Dionysios Raitsos (Associate Professor of Biological Oceanography at the Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), a Myths & Medicine Plant Walk in the National Garden, a hike up Mount Ymittos, an in-depth tour of the Ancient Athenian Agora with Dr. John Papadopoulos (Director of the Excavations of the Athenian Agora), visiting Andros and the Andros Research Center, and of course, sitting and sharing delicious Greek food and stories at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

On our first day in Athens, we went on a Myths & Medicine Plant Walk with Maria, the Greek Herbalist, in the National Gardens. My favorite myth Maria shared was how the dark red Mulberry fruit got its color in the story of Pyramus and Thisbe.

Each activity had its purpose in teaching us about the specific environment and sustainability within Greece, and although it is hard to cover everything, we were fully immersed in much of the rich environmental histories of Greece with authenticity. After the course, the opportunity to intern alongside WWF Greece and its passionate staff enabled me to take part in gratifying yet difficult environmental work.

At WWF Greece, I was tasked, alongside Megan Lu (C’28), to work on enhancing the website’s user experience. They valued someone who could look at it for the first time and give constructive and unbiased feedback. Our next step was to update the English version of the website to match the Greek site’s proficiency. As we worked on this, I enjoyed conversations with people in the organization at lunch and throughout the workday. My favorite part about this internship was how much I learned about the people themselves and their passions. I have never been in such a driven environment of people devoting themselves to supporting environmental protection, so I got to ask a lot of questions.

I have never been in such a driven environment of people devoting themselves to supporting environmental protection, so I got to ask a lot of questions.

One day, these questions led to my involvement in my favorite project that I got to work on with the Footprint Team. The project focused on cigarette butt pollution, beginning with a thorough review of international policies and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems in the EU and beyond. This initial phase helped me build strong comparative analysis skills and strengthened my ability to identify key policy levers.

Building on this foundation, I then conducted in-depth research on international examples of Deposit-Return Systems (DRS) for small litter items—particularly plastic cigarette butts. I synthesized findings based on design options, implementation barriers, and lessons learned. This was my big contribution to the team’s upcoming policy proposal. This experience sharpened my ability to conduct targeted, policy-relevant research and deliver concise, actionable insights. I am excited to venture into more opportunities that reflect this rewarding work.

Now, I can proudly look back and say…those two months spent in Greece have become a part of me.

Now, I can proudly look back and say that this experience has become not only a trip to Greece for a two-week summer course and a month and a half internship, but those two months spent in Greece have become a part of me. I have grown dynamically as a student and as a person because of this experience. I’m grateful to the people I met and learned from, including my cohort of students from Georgetown University, the Georgetown University in Qatar, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as well as, many of the individuals at WWF Greece for answering all of my questions and for being great mentors, including Antonis, Panagiota, Rossie, Dimitris, and more. Without the people I met in Greece and without this immersive experience spearheaded by Ms. Downward, Dr. Meiller, Dr. Raitsos, and the Earth Commons, this special experience would not have been as impactful as it was.