Born in the Japanese countryside, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) student Aiko Ueda (MS ’24) has always been interested in learning about the environment. She studied molecular biology in her undergraduate program at Osaka University and focused specifically on plant biology. After graduating, she started her career in marketing and consulting in Tokyo, working on brand management and media marketing. Most of her early work was client based, and Ueda developed a marketing skill set where she gained a greater understanding of the function of consulting firms and the corporate sector. 

After a couple of years, Ueda shifted her focus to market strategies and partnerships with international organizations, where she gained a stronger understanding about how corporations in different regions function. Some of Ueda’s projects included aspects of corporate social responsibility, which she was particularly interested in. “Not every project included this though,” she explained, “and I wanted to focus on that part of the corporate sector in my career.”

With this newfound interest, Ueda began looking for graduate programs that would teach her more about sustainability and the corporate sector. “The intersections between these fields was really important to me,” she emphasized. “The dual degree between the Erb Institute at the Ross School of Business and the Sustainable Systems track at SEAS seemed like a good fit for me.”  

Ueda said the variety of courses offered at SEAS was her favorite part of being a student here, and she appreciated learning about the ways sustainability efforts were relevant in different corporate sectors. She took advantage of the range of interdisciplinary subjects to help narrow down her specific interests. Ueda has an interest in carbon accounting and sustainability disclosure, for instance, and one course in particular that appealed to her was EAS 501.091: Climate Change Science and Solutions. Taught by SEAS Assistant Professor Parth Vaishnav, the course gave Ueda a foundational understanding of the science behind climate change and provided her with an overarching sustainability lens that she used in her SEAS and Ross classes. 

In addition to her coursework, Ueda’s capstone project has helped to hone her skills and interests. The project was with Meijer and focused on the company’s Scope 3 emissions reductions. Ueda and her team created two main deliverables: recommendations to set reduction targets based on analysis of current industry standards, and recommendations for supplier engagement strategies to reduce supply chain emissions based on industry understandings of best practices and collaboration with professionals doing similar work. “Because this is a topic that is relatively new in the industry, nobody really knows what the correct answer is for these types of recommendations,” Ueda said.

This summer, Ueda will be a Leadership Fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund, and will work with Pinterest on Scope 3 emissions reductions and the corporation’s sustainability and accountability goals. Ueda is still looking for a full-time position, but hopes to work in carbon accounting and sustainability with a focus on Scope 3 emissions reduction. 

Ueda advises incoming students to take advantage of the diversity of the SEAS program, both inside and outside the classroom, and to “keep your curiosity and always ask questions.”