Stewards Magazine

A compilation of news and updates from SEAS and PitE alumni, all in one spot.

Ariana Rickard loves “being the voice for nature.” As the policy director of Sonoma Land Trust, she spends her days interacting with state and federal legislators and regional coalitions, advocating for programs that fund Sonoma Land Trust’s land acquisition, restoration and conservation efforts, as well as its community outreach work.

Christian Runge’s passion for nature is rooted in his childhood growing up with Maryland’s Gunpowder State Park in his backyard. Spending those years in nature has driven him to “provide that opportunity for all kids to have that access in some way.”

Growing up in Detroit, Taylor Mitchell’s community was directly impacted by poor air and water quality. She is now the sustainability manager at the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority, where she leads Port Detroit’s Decarbonization and Air Quality Improvement Plan, works on the Authority’s brownfield cleanup project, and more.

As a staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Ameya Gehi works to “ensure that corporate polluters are complying with laws that protect public health and the environment.” Among her cases are those involving violations of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

With a background in marine ecology and an interest in learning about freshwater environments, Kyle Barnes was initially going to pursue only one specialization in Ecosystem Science and Management at SEAS. He says it didn’t take long for him to realize he’d need to tack on Geospatial Data Sciences as well.

When Genevieve LaMarr LeMee became the City of Philadelphia’s deputy director of environmental justice in the Office of Sustainability, it was the city’s first dedicated role for advancing EJ through education, policy and direct resources to marginalized communities.

When Stefania Almazán-Casali joined SEAS, it was as a master’s student in Environmental Policy and Planning. She decided to pursue a PhD as well, to delve deep into fostering adaptive and resilient water systems in the face of climate change disruptions. She’s since joined The Nature Conservancy’s global partnership Nature for Water.

Kaitlyn Sledge chose SEAS’ Sustainability and Development specialization because she wanted to support the needs of rural and under-resourced communities. Through her clean energy work, she gets to do that by “putting dollars in small local projects as opposed to funding already well-resourced organizations or utilities.”

As chief of staff at the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, Gillian Gainsley says that specializing in Behavior, Education and Communication prepared her for a range of communications-based roles, including over a decade of combined experience at the Ypsilanti District Library and Detroit PBS.