CLIMATE RISK SERVICES

Second Year Undergraduate, MMath Mathematics, Remote working

Work Projects

My main project was to research and develop a

modelling tool based off of a research paper. This

however has changed its course during the 12 weeks I

was an intern as it became visible roughly halfway that

the project is on a more complex level, perhaps suitable

for a masters or postdoctoral thesis. However, me and

another co-worker were able to develop a simpler

version of the model in excel - less accurate, but workable, which was a nice achievement.

Additionally, I was involved in various client work and some more administrative tasks. For

example, I helped with implementing a climate risk calculation methodology for a set of

data, which took a few days. I also searched for information about climate risk reports,

scenarios etc. that were useful to give a better picture of what is used on the market.

Overall, there was always a lot of support. As an individual project, I researched and wrote a

short (around 2,000 words) article regarding climate scepticism. In it, I wrote about the

causes, indicators, and ways to deal with climate change scepticism. For this one, I did not

receive help, but I also did it on my own accord after a mid-internship call with my

supervisor, who suggested I could find a topic to do a case study or a small report on.

Daily Life

It was a little tiring to spend so much time in my room with a computer and I had a wrong

assumption at first, I should work 8 hrs or at least 7.5. My supervisor was however very

understanding and told me it is fine to work less, and that breaks are important. I woke up

around 8.20-8.30am, ate breakfast, dressed up and started work at 9am. Usually, the first

hour would be calm due to my supervisor and my main co-worker being in the UK - one

hour behind me - so I’d work leisurely till around 10.30-11am.

I'd usually have some theme tasks for the day, though it was mostly the modelling project,

the main client for which this project was meant to right now, then my article, with several

days devoted to entirely other projects. I pretty much always signed off at 5 pm on the dot.

It happened only twice or three times if I recall that I needed to do something later, which is

fantastic.

Overall, the company values work-life balance a lot. Always at around 11.30am and 3pm I'd

eat lunch and dinner respectively, which was nice too and set me in a routine. Outside of

work, I'll be honest – I probably didn’t do enough to unwind or get my head off of work.

Lasting Impressions

I really enjoyed it. The company organized a

little goodbye party on my last day and was

very vocal about being happy with my

performance and wanting to see me again

soon. We even arranged for a meetup once I’m in Oxford and I was promised a little gift for my work!

The company left a very good impression on me. Firstly, they value work life balance a lot,

which was very visible. Secondly, as it is small and at its growth stage, it feels very friendly

and tightly knit.

The people are all kind and approachable. I am very happy I chose this company to intern

with. I think I gained a lot of knowledge about climate change from it (also: incredible,

everyone consistently shares resources on the company's groupchat, I learned so much

from these shared articles!) and realized I would like to work in such a plane and with

climate risk. This topic has become quite close to my heart and now I’m more certain in my academic choices: I will go towards applied maths and modelling, most likely climate risk

modelling. I was also very happy to have a chance to write an article.

What practical advice would you give to future interns?

Ask for feedback along the way and tell your supervisor if you're done with your task -

update about your work in progress too. Don't expect yourself to work 8 hours straight -

there is time for breaks in a workday.