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As an undergrad in U-M’s Program in the Environment, Sarah Dieck wrote an honors thesis focusing on how outdoorsy people in New York and Pennsylvania perceive fracking policies, sparking her interest in the intersection of environmental and social issues. She was particularly interested in how her thesis “connected hard environmental science topics, such as natural resources extraction, with the social and political implications of different environmental policies.”
After graduation, Dieck worked in the commercial real estate sustainable consulting field for a couple of years before deciding to go back to school. She felt called to pivot back to the policy work that she focused on as an undergrad by pursuing a dual degree at SEAS and the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. “Our world needs solutions and policies focused on climate change,” said Dieck. “I am very interested in policies related to the global energy transition and how these actions impact jobs, infrastructure, and equity. It is essential that we develop and implement climate policies that are feasible and forward-thinking.”
Dieck said she was drawn back to school “because I wanted to help advance these policy changes, but I didn’t feel comfortable pursuing policy jobs until I had a more robust background in economics, politics, and policy communication. The Behavior, Education, and Communication track at SEAS, as well as the Master of Public Policy Program at the Ford School, have already taught me so much. Ultimately, if we can’t effectively communicate climate science to the greater public to gain support for climate change initiatives, policy implementation will be slower and less effective.”
While many climate policy measures have seen pushback, local governments like the City of Ann Arbor have been champions of renewable energy and sustainability. Dieck noted that “the Ford School and SEAS are particularly focused on working with these local governments, and Ann Arbor’s A2Zero initiative is a great example of a community-centered carbon neutrality plan that ideally can serve as a model framework for similar communities.”
Dieck credits SEAS with strengthening her knowledge of environmental and social issues “through the diverse backgrounds of faculty, staff, and students. I’ve found that my professors all bring different expertise and approaches to climate change solutions to the table, and these solutions complement each other very well and represent what collaboration in this space needs to look like. I’m also able to bounce ideas off other students because we all have such different professional and academic backgrounds, and it’s a really supportive, team-based atmosphere.”
She continued, “We have to harness the power of stakeholder engagement, scientific data, and effective communication of ideas in order to make a true impact. SEAS and the Ford School have created a community where those ideals are put into practice.”