We have visited Becour in Fredrikstad, where both Nicole and Erik have their internship. They are both currently studying Applied economics and sustainability and are both writing their respective Master thesis with Becour.
Dette intervjuet er på engelsk.
You are both from the US, why did you choose to study at NMBU?
Well, the funny thing is that we are from Minnesota, and both attended the University of Minnesota, but did not know about each other before going to Norway. Erik finished his bachelor’s degree a year before Nicole, and it was their program coordinator at school who made her aware that they would be two going to the same university and studying in the same program for the Masters.
Erik and Nicole were first interested in looking at Universities in Norway because of their Norwegian heritage and interest in living abroad. It was a coincidence that they found the same study program separately and were admitted.
Why did you both choose internship with Becour?
Nicole; I chose this internship because it is related to my focus which is in environmental and energy economics. There were not many internships available for international students to apply, so I was extremely lucky that there was one I was interested in. Becour works with something called Guarantees of Origin (GOs) which are used to buy and sell renewable energy, it is a very cool concept, and it seemed exciting to learn about and work with.
Erik; When I heard about the program last fall, it immediately caught my eye as something I wanted to do. I actually moved to Norway largely due to the country being at the forefront of sustainability and specifically renewable energy so a company like Becour was obviously an amazing opportunity for me to step into that world. I had had the chance to talk to both of the interns who had been at Becour the previous year, so I was very glad to hear that they were continuing to offer this internship to the next year of students. Also I did not plan to go home to the US over summer, and when a possibility to work at Becour for a summer job occurred, my mind was made up.
Any advice to students that consider applying for an internship?
Erik; I recommend it, going through the school for an internship was a perfect process. NMBU set us up so well that it was so easy compared to doing it all on my own. Along with being a good professional experience, it is also a good life experience.
Nicole; If you are interested, just apply! Give it a shot, it’s a good experience.
What tasks do the job consist of?
Both of the interns were given projects to work on together during their internship. They are currently working on a project involving Carbon Development Reports (CDP) which is a reporting mechanism that many companies are using to track renewable energy. Specifically, the project involves looking into Renewable Energy 100 (RE100) companies which have committed to getting to 100% renewables through the use of GOs.
Conducting market research and working with data is the main focus of this internship. Becour had also offered them a summer position for one month to do a project looking into the structure of the US renewable Energy Credit market.
Erik; For both our summer research project, and for our main internship assignment, we are giving presentations to the leaders, as well as the rest of the team here, to present our findings and find ways that our work can better serve the rest of the team. Personally, I also looked into finding potential clients for a new version of GO’s called Peace-RECs, which are energy credits that create substantial social impact by funding energy projects in conflicted/impoverished parts of the world. On top of our main projects, we get miscellaneous requests from other coworkers, which I love, because they are usually small tasks that aren’t too hard to complete but feel very impactful for others.
Nicole: My side project involved researching the biogas GO market and looking at is potential expansion. Biogas is considered to be the sustainable alternative for natural gas, and it is an expanding market with a lot of global interest.
Halfway through the internship, have you had any special experiences?
Erik; I guess as we had our summerjob here, which was a great way to learn the office and the people here in a relatively slow part of the year before the internship started. That helped me feel like I hit the ground running when the fall semester started. I love that sustainability is taken very seriously and is incorporated into the business. It is a small office (14 persons), and there is a great sense of community and camaraderie. Even though we are interns, we are really included and get meaningful tasks – it feels like we are trusted and our work really makes a difference.
Erik; Although the commute is not so good, being here makes up for the distance. The office has a great view of the fredrikstad river and is a very comfortable environment to work in, the staff is so good, and we are a very international team, which made it easy to settle in as my Norwegian is not good enough to rely on it in the office.
Nicole: I really enjoy the company culture in the office and just how open everyone is. I do not feel I need to hesitate to ask someone a question about a project and I really appreciate all of the feedback. Becour also hosts monthly events for the company like dinners and activities, last month we did an escape room.
Both: Our schedule right now consists of two days in Frederiksted for the internship and two days of classes. We have also begun to prepare our proposals for our Master theses with Becour.
How do you find life at Ås, as you both study and live there?
It is nice! We had heard that NMBU had a very good environment and open student life, this is definitely the case. We are not used to small place, but here it is so easy to do social events. Also, we find that students are good at studying. In our class there is a good balance between Norwegian and International students, maybe 50/50.
Nicole: I really enjoy spending time in the outdoors, so I joined “Friluftsliv”, where we do different trips and have access to a lot of outdoor equipment to borrow. I also climb quite frequently, mostly indoors but I try to get outside when I can! Also, last year I was a part of HELIX which is the Student Formula team (F1) – where we build a car to compete and race against other teams across Europe, it was quite cool that we managed to get a car built despite our limited resources.
Erik; Well I joined the ultimate frisbee team, and I play football when I can. I’ve found a good group of friends from the different activities and classes that I’m a part of which makes such a difference in a small town like Ås. I’ve grown up always living in a big city, so Ås was an adjustment, but it hasn’t been that difficult because of the people I have around me.
Do you have any good advice to students considering an internship?
Nicole: If you are interested, just apply! Give it a shot, it’s a good experience. If you don’t get the internship you apply for, try to get your own. You will be more attractive to employers afterwards and it can open your mind to new opportunities. Being in an office setting is a good experience I definitely recommend it.
Erik; I recommend it, going through the school for an internship was a perfect process. NMBU set us up so well that it was so easy compared to doing it all on my own. If felt like a long shot when I applied because I didn’t know how many positions were going to be offered, but its totally worth it to just throw your hat in the ring and hope for the bets. Along with being a good professional experience, it is also a good life experience. I’ve had different jobs, but none in a professional office setting, so this is a great way to experience office culture and become more familiar with what to expect after I graduate and get a real job.