Shadowing opportunities at the IES: Disability Confident

About us

The Institution of Environmental Sciences (the IES) is at the forefront of uniting the environmental sciences around a shared goal: to work with speed, vision and expertise to solve the world’s most pressing environmental challenges, together. As the global professional membership body for environmental scientists, we support a diverse network of professionals all over the world – and at every stage of their education and careers – to connect, develop, progress and inspire.

Shadowing at the IES

As part of our work as a Disability Confident Committed employer, we are pleased to be able to offer opportunities for disabled people to shadow a range of departments to gain an insight into working in the environmental sciences. Shadowing provides a chance to observe work and ask questions to learn more without having to commit to a volunteer or paid work experience role. Shadowing means you will not need to contribute to the work you observe.

As we pilot our shadowing offer, opportunities will initially be limited to a morning or afternoon slot with one department. We will liaise with successful applicants to ensure they are able to observe tasks that are relevant and interesting to them, at a time and date that suits them. The shadowing session would include an introduction and wrap-up with the Communities & Membership Engagement Officer, and around 2.5 hours of observing the work of a chosen department, to include breaks as desired.

All shadowing opportunities will be remote and held over video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, and as such applicants will require access to a computer and a strong internet connection. Shadowing sessions would typically involve being on an online call with a relevant staff member, who will share their screen as they work through a task or activity. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions and discuss the task at hand, though you will not need to contribute to the work being done.

What could I shadow?

Four IES departments are currently open to shadowing applications: Communities, Education, Policy and Publications. Keep reading to find out more about what each one is responsible for and the kinds of work you could gain an insight into:

Communities

Communities are groups of our members who come together around a shared goal or interest. They are a key tool for engaging with our members, enabling them to generate ideas for events, publications, guidance, and policy work. Our Communities team is made up of staff from across the IES to ensure we take an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to working with our members across the environmental sciences.

Our Communities are: Air Quality (IAQM); Climate Action; Education & Training (CEDHE); Environmental Impact Assessment; Environmental Policy Implementation (EPIC); Land Condition; Marine & Coastal Science; and Water (FWR). The work each Community does varies throughout the year, so if there’s a particular one you’re interested finding out more about please let us know.

Tasks you might expect to shadow include:

Internal Community team meetings
Community meetings with a range of environmental professionals, as well as the administrative tasks that go into them such as creating agendas and taking minutes
Generating content for Community activities, such as events, online articles and resources.
Promoting webinars and other resources and using related software packages

Policy

The IES Policy department maintains strong relationships with policy makers, including parliamentarians and government departments. To support our engagement, we produce policy reports, briefings and guidance. Once our thought leadership has helped to influence policy agendas, we continue to engage with policy consultations by supporting delivery through our Environmental Policy Implementation Community.

Our policy influence is backed by robust horizon scanning on emerging science and policy developments, as well as our connections across the sector, working with our members and other organisations to represent the voice of the sector.

Tasks you might expect to shadow include:

Internal Policy team meetings, where strategic aspects of work are discussed— such as how to respond to a recent policy development
A member of the team working through the actions generated by a Policy team meeting, for example creating a tailored briefing for a political debate, or a writing task such as editing a report
An external meeting with a stakeholder: we are part of a range of policy forums

Publications

Our Publications team is responsible for the development, production and delivery of our publications, such as our quarterly journal environmental SCIENTIST and many of our reports. The team engage with a wide range of authors and topics from across the environmental sciences, commissioning articles and holding interviews to share expert insights on the most salient environmental topics– not just with our members, but with everyone who would benefit from our evidence-based thinking.

Tasks you might expect to shadow include:

Meetings with guest editors for an upcoming edition of the journal
Brainstorming sessions to generate journal ideas
Reviewing the layout of an upcoming journal issue, selecting photos and proofing
Formatting and laying out reports on InDesign

Education

The IES is home to the Community of Environmental Disciplines in Higher Education (CEDHE), an organisation for environmental education professionals. CEDHE plays a pivotal role in the Higher and Further Education environmental science communities, advocating for member interests on the international stage. The community strives to inspire individuals to pursue careers in the environmental field while supporting students and academics engaged in environmental studies.

Tasks you might expect to shadow include:

Processing an accreditation application, including steps such as checking that all elements of the application are completed and standards are met, allocating the application to assessors, scripting an email to request an application review within a set deadline and other tasks to ensure a smooth process
Creating our student or CEDHE newsletters, which involves gathering information, news and resources relevant to the target audience, as well as designing the final newsletter
Promoting resources to students on LinkedIn, including the creation of graphics using Canva
Tasks relating to the IES’ environmental management, such as greenhouse gas emissions calculations

How to apply

To apply for a shadowing opportunity, you will need to submit an Expression of Interest to Amy at communities@the-ies.org. This should be no more than 500 words long, and should cover:

A bit about you, including any education, voluntary or professional experience you may have
Why you are interested in the environmental sciences, and any particular areas of interest
Which department you would like to shadow, and any particular tasks you are interested in

We will endeavour to offer you shadowing opportunities that align with your preferences but it is important to note that the tasks listed above are intended as examples and may not be available to shadow year-round. Please note that shadowing will not involve contributing to a piece of work. Instead, you will observe and have the chance to ask questions.

Please note that this shadowing opportunity is designed for disabled people, so only apply if you consider yourself to be disabled. You do not need to share any details of your disability or a formal diagnosis to express interest in a shadowing opportunity, though you are welcome to. However, we encourage you to highlight any adjustments we can make to ensure the process is accessible.

We welcome alternative formats for Expressions of Interest, such as audio or video recordings. If you would like to submit your Expression of Interest in an alternative format, or discuss possible adjustments with us, please get in touch with Amy at communities@the-ies.org or give us a call on +44 (0)20 3862 7484.

We will remain open to Expressions of Interest until 9am BST on Monday 13th April, after which we will be in contact with those selected for a shadowing opportunity to confirm details.