Ariana Rickard (MS ’05) 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.
Sonoma County, encompassing the northern part of the San Francisco Bay area, is one of the most beautiful and biologically diverse counties in America, says Rickard. She finds it gratifying when her advocacy work yields tangible results. On a recent Friday, for instance, Rickard spoke with a state assembly member about allocating funds from California’s Prop 4 climate bond, which passed in November 2024, for coastal resilience and biodiversity conservation initiatives.
“The passing of Prop 4 was a huge victory for us,” says Rickard. “It’s nice to see the support from voters for this funding and that they see the value in what we’re doing. Since 1976, Sonoma Land Trust has conserved 61,000 acres of land, which gives people more access to public spaces. And in terms of climate resilience, we are conserving the wetlands that are going to provide protection from sea level rise and storm surges.”
Rickard didn’t come to the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) with a policy focus. Instead, she wanted to become a scientist and save endangered species. A stint in the Peace Corps in Ecuador after graduation, however, taught her that she was more interested in engaging with people on a day-to-day basis than she was with frogs and fieldwork.
That engagement extends to her volunteer work as one of the Bay Area chapter leaders of Environmental Professionals of Color, an affinity group that promotes networking and professional development for people of color working in the environmental field. When Rickard co-founded the chapter in 2020, she says it was a full-circle moment that took her back to her first day of SEAS orientation, when she attended a similar affinity group meeting and met her future husband, Pierre Bull (MS ’05).
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.”
