‘No single actor has all the answers’: Inaugural David Shelmerdine Intern Thakshila Jayasundara

In 2025, Climateworks Centre launched an internship in honour of founding director David Shelmerdine. 

The three-month internship, awarded to a Monash University student who has demonstrated a bold vision in nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation, provides the opportunity to learn from and be mentored by David and apply their knowledge to Climateworks’ mission.

Our inaugural David Shelmerdine Intern, Thakshila Jayasundara, completed the internship in late 2025, in the final months of his Master of Environment and Sustainability.

Here Thakshila reflects on what he learned from the experience.

I’ve always felt a strong connection to nature, encouraged early on by my mother. 

However, as I grew older, I became increasingly aware of the disconnect that exists between people and the environment. 

Over time, I came to understand that at the core of this divide lies miscommunication.

When the opportunity to intern at Climateworks Centre came up, it felt like the natural step forward. 

I wanted to understand how the research and theory I’d studied throughout my Bachelor’s at the University of Melbourne and my Master’s at Monash University could be communicated in a way that influences meaningful change. 

One of the most significant insights I gained during my internship was that no single actor has all the answers. 

During my internship, I worked across two teams, the Food, Land and Ocean team under Liam Walsh and the Sustainable Finance team under Ryan Cook, researching how financial mechanisms in Australia shape the way we manage and care for land. 

This included analysing carbon credit schemes, biodiversity markets, and land restoration programs, each operating with its own governance, its own stakeholders, and its own set of issues. 

I learned these systems are imperfect, and some of them have real problems with integrity and equity. 

But that shouldn’t discourage Australia from continuing to implement them. 

Instead, the nation can learn from the mistakes that have been made and continue to grow from them. 

Working across two different teams gave me the opportunity to meet some amazing individuals, each with a unique story and passion for this field. 

Hearing why people joined this line of work and how they tackle these issues using their own professional lens gave me a unique perspective into the work I was doing and my own personal growth. 

One of the most valuable parts of my whole internship was my weekly conversations with Mr Shelmerdine – not just for professional guidance, but because they helped me think about the kind of person I want to be in this space.

Early on, Mr Shelmerdine shared a perspective that reshaped how I approached the rest of my research: 

‘Anyone can point out what’s wrong; we need to instead focus on creating long-term fit-for-purpose solutions.’ 

That reframed a lot for me. Instead of getting frustrated with policy weaknesses, I started treating them as areas where I could offer constructive recommendations. 

I came into this internship wanting to understand how research translates into meaningful climate action. 

I’m leaving it with a much clearer sense of what that actually looks like, and a genuine passion to keep working in this field.

While I’m still refining my long-term career direction, I am confident I want to help people understand the systems and make more informed decisions, so that our planet will thrive for generations to come. 

About the David Shelmerdine Internship

Climateworks will again offer a Monash University student the opportunity to undertake the David Sherlmerdine Internship. 

The next intake will be in semester two 2026, with applications opening 23 March 2026. 

This is a distinguished internship with a competitive application process. 

Learn more about the David Shelmerdine Internship