The research internship programme launched through the collaboration between the CMCC Foundation and Princeton University’s High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI) has concluded its second edition, offering undergraduate students hands-on experience in climate and Earth system research.

Following the successful launch of the CMCC–Princeton internship programme with its first undergraduate internship last year, two new students from Princeton University’s High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI) have now completed their research placements at the CMCC headquarters in Bologna, working alongside researchers on projects spanning land surface modelling, climate dynamics and extreme weather events.

Supervised by CMCC researcher Daniele Peano, Wunnyurit Ziblim investigated how different representations of soils and vegetation influence the exchange of carbon and water between land and atmosphere. Using the Community Land Model (CLM), the project compared alternative soil and vegetation configurations to assess their impact on variables such as soil moisture, leaf area index and evapotranspiration. The work highlighted how vegetation and soil processes play a key role in improving the representation of carbon and water cycles, particularly in climate-sensitive regions such as the Arctic.

The second internship involved Ark Navin Bunyan, who worked under the supervision of Francesco Maicu and Lucia Gualtieri on the analysis of ECMWF ensemble forecasts of intense weather events originating over the Southern European seas. The project contributes to ongoing research aimed at improving the understanding and prediction of high-impact weather systems affecting the Mediterranean region.

The internship programme offers Princeton undergraduate students the opportunity to work directly with CMCC scientists on cutting-edge climate research while contributing to ongoing scientific activities across different research groups. At the same time, the collaboration between CMCC and Princeton University fosters the exchange of knowledge, ideas and early-career researchers.