Student and Alumni Spotlight

What type of experience did you gain during your time as a SEAS student?

I worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program during my time at SEAS. Through the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR), I assisted with database management and communication tasks for the watershed education grant-making program. I communicated with the program's grantees, informed the public about the Great Lakes B-WET program, and processed grant information for the funders. I enjoyed this summer opportunity that continued throughout my second year at SEAS.

What type of master’s project did you complete?

I completed the Water & Communities theme-based master’s project. The Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA) was my group’s client. ISEA educates the community about the Great Lakes and takes participants on sails to learn about ecology and water quality. Through this program, ISEA collects citizen science data and my team was brought in to help them manage the citizen science database for their mission of education. My team worked with ISEA, volunteers, and other experts in the region to provide recommendations on how to effectively organize and share this database with the Great Lakes region. I was grateful to collaborate with a team full of individuals with a variety of skills. I learned about ecological data management from my team, and I shared my environmental education experience and skills in qualitative data collection with them.

As a BEC student, which classes were most beneficial during your first year?

The EAS 641 (Social Research Methods) course provided great resources and best practices for qualitative data collection in preparation for my capstone project. The EAS 501-012 (Environmental and Sustainability Education) seminar course was also invaluable because of the opportunity I had to survey a window into environmental education professionals and practices from across the world. I encourage students to consider taking courses outside of SEAS. EDUC 591 (How People Learn) was extremely helpful for me because it provided foundational educational theory in settings outside of the classroom.

How did you get involved at SEAS?

I admit that my cohort struggled during the first remote year at SEAS, but initiating connections through my specialization was helpful. I attended events, met with classmates at the park, chatted in the Dana Building, and connected with new friends outside of class. The community was so impactful that I was inspired to become a track leader for the BEC specialization. As a track leader this past year, I created fun events for BEC and built stronger connections within the SEAS community.

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

I appreciated the helpfulness of the SEAS Careers Services team. From a networking standpoint, the BEC alumni panels were beneficial for me because they helped me find a client for my master’s project. I attended the job search workshop, and it broadened my scope of potential employment opportunities. Scheduling one-on-one career counseling sessions online was an easy process for me as I prepared for the interview process with the help of the Career Services team. My preparation paid off because I was ultimately hired by the organization.

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

I think it is important to make connections and build your network with professors, advisors, and classmates since many opportunities are advertised this way. As a first-year student, you should make time to ask about your connections’ experiences and take advantage of opportunities to get involved. I also encourage students to strike a balance between getting involved and prioritizing time for rest.

What type of experience did you gain during your time as a SEAS student?

This summer, I worked with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where I used GIS software to locate structures of interest and gauged their proximity to local communities. Recent legislation passed in target states called for an aggressive strategy to reduce emissions and outlined transportation as the leading cause of greenhouse gas (GHG) particulates. The transportation fleets that service these buildings undoubtedly will need to be electrified along with the infrastructure to support such an undertaking. To ensure that the benefits of these efforts are seen in communities that have historically been most exposed to these pollutions, it is important to understand the detrimental impacts of unjust planning. Thus, by analyzing the regional health variations of neighborhoods near the buildings, we identified high-impact areas to suggest where investment in green technology should take priority.

As a dual-degree student, which classes were most beneficial during your first year?

I would say the most beneficial classes for me were Renewable Electricity & the Grid, Sustainable Energy Systems, and Technology and Community Sustainable Development. Two of these classes were 501-based, but they introduced me to concepts and frameworks that accelerated my appreciation for sustainable systems and the complex nature of sustainable energy solutions. We learned about energy financing calculations, such as LCOE/LACE, HDI & Rural Livelihoods framework, energy demand and response models, historical energy use and forecasting, temporal and spatial variability, geographic smoothing, and the various designs of current renewable energy systems.

How did you get involved at SEAS?

I originally found myself reaching out to students that had similar interests to mine, which was relatively straightforward at SEAS for me. Then, I identified the organizations, events, and projects they were involved with and joined their cause to help in any way that I could. This led to me being quite involved within SEAS and Engineering. From there, I surrounded myself with my brilliant peers by networking and getting to know other members of the groups, who generally were infectiously passionate about their work.

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

The Career Services team helped me in numerous ways throughout my time at SEAS. They helped review my resumes, offered mock interviews, set up recruiting events, advertised campus career events (such as job fairs), provided excellent worksheets to narrow down career paths, and met with me individually during my job hiring process to answer questions and provide more resources. I truly wouldn’t have been where I am without their help.

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

There are many different ways to succeed at SEAS, depending on the individual, but having great administrative support and a solid social circle/study group is likely to significantly improve the process. This means doing due diligence when choosing your advisor, meeting and utilizing the skills of those in student services, and seeking out organizations and individuals who share similar passions as you. Building that sense of community, in whatever way works for you, tends to make it much easier to get the most out of your time at SEAS (not to mention it helps with networking!)

What type of experience did you gain during your time as a SEAS student?

As a dual-degree student, I had the opportunity to spend two summers at Michigan, which presented me with a variety of experiences. During my first summer, I worked on research in Japan for my dual-degree thesis. I interviewed an array of stakeholders that were involved in local-level, municipal-sponsored sustainable agriculture programs. 

For this upcoming summer, I will be working at DTE Energy, which is also my master’s project client. Additionally, I will be working as a research assistant at U-M’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion to help analyze the results of a campus-wide DEI survey. During the academic year, I work as a peer advisor in the SEAS Student Center and as an English language instructor for an English language testing program at the university. This allows me to draw on my previous career by teaching English online and grading assignments. 

What type of master’s project did you complete?

Since I am a dual-degree student, I am currently working on a traditional master’s project with DTE Energy, one of the state’s major gas and electric companies. For this project, my team is creating a database and modeling tool of potential nature-based carbon offsets for the state of Michigan. Although my team is still in the beginning stages of the project, I have been studying the potential for agricultural lands to be used as carbon offsets. I have also been managing and facilitating the team’s meetings. Over the summer, I plan to analyze the sequestration potential of different land management practices and the costs associated with these practices.

As a dual-degree student, which classes were most beneficial during your first year?

During my first year, EAS 570 (Environmental Economics: Quantitative Methods & Tools) with Dr. Michael Moore and EAS 575 (Climate Economics & Policy) with Dr. Sam Stolper were useful courses. I gained the skills necessary to quantify environmental costs and benefits. These courses also gave me a chance to learn about how decision-makers use economics to make decisions.

How did you get involved at SEAS?

I got involved by hosting dinner parties and attending SEAS-wide events and specialization-specific events. Through my peer advisor position, I also built relationships with other students at SEAS. 

During the 2021-2022 academic year, the EPP track had a “Dana Dates” program where students could sign up to be matched with another EPP student from a different graduating class every two weeks. As someone who prefers socialization in one-on-one settings, this was an invaluable opportunity for me to build my community within SEAS.

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

Through one-on-one career counseling appointments and workshops, I have been receiving great support. In particular, the workshop on planning your ideal career and the job search workshop were especially helpful. I polished my application materials, increased my confidence for interviews, and structured my job search with the help of SEAS Career Services.

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

First-year SEAS students should take advantage of the academic, professional, and social opportunities that SEAS and the University of Michigan have to offer. Also, make sure to find a balance between juggling these activities and taking the time to cook yourself a nice dinner and take a stroll along the Huron River.

What type of master's project did you complete?

My capstone project was a thesis that examined sourdough bakeries and their influences on local communities. Through my fieldwork, I traveled throughout California and Michigan to learn more about the craft. I was interested in learning about the ways that knowledge sharing occurs in informal spaces like bakeries. 

Check out the website feature on my work!

As an EJ student, which classes were most beneficial during your first year?

I give credit to Dr. Bilal Butt and his EAS 542 (Conservation and Development) course for providing interesting readings and discussions in a seminar-style class. My writing and comprehension skills have sharpened because of this course. Additionally, I appreciated EAS 529 (Indigenous Sustainability and Environmental Justice) and Dr. Kyle Whyte for bringing in relevant examples and creating a learning community. This course highlights Indigenous knowledge systems and sciences.

How did you get involved at SEAS?

I found a sense of community through my courses, the EJ specialization, and by becoming a track leader for the EJ specialization. This involvement resulted in my attendance at student leader meetings, meetings with the EJ faculty coordinator, and collaboration with the EJ Career Services Coordinator to develop community events.

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

I took advantage of one-on-one career counseling appointments with Ari Renda and participated in the Grassroots Organizing Series. Ari provided guidance about negotiating and the PhD application process, which I found to be extremely helpful. I also appreciated that Ari shared resources and jobs of interest throughout the year. 

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

It is important to find your community of people that will support you and all of your identities. Graduate school can be challenging, but it is a much better experience when you have the support of others that share similar interests, dreams, and aspirations.

What type of experience did you gain during your time as a SEAS student?

I have been working as a research assistant for Dr. Michaela Zint, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at SEAS. I performed qualitative coding, contributed to manuscripts intended for publication, and developed and led seminars. My work focuses on education for sustainability, defining competencies in higher education, investigating environmental education and behavior change, and understanding the landscape of education toward the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the United States. During the summer between my first and second year, I received the Weinberg Internship, where I worked with a small nonprofit, Pierella Rainforest Reclamation Project, to develop a strategic plan for their educational programming. 

What type of master’s project did you complete?

My team worked on the Technology and Communities theme-based master’s project. We worked with the Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN), the technology implementation arm of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We looked at the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Technology Needs Assessments of non-annex I parties in the Paris Agreement to understand their climate technology needs. We built a Python-based visualization tool for CTCN and hope that it will be shared with their partners to identify the technology needs of non-annex I countries.

I was the project manager, and I was responsible for visualizing the bigger picture and ensuring that the details and steps were addressed to meet deadlines. Our project was expedited due to CTCN’s deadlines for COP26, the most recent annual UN climate change conference. My contributions also included data collection, coding, and analysis with my team. After we presented at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, I collaborated with my team to write, refine, and finalize our final report.

As a dual-degree student, which classes were most beneficial during your first year?

As a BEC student, EAS 560 (Behavior and Environment: Transitional Thinking for the New Normal) and EAS 564 (Localization) had a huge impact on me, and I think every SEAS student should take them. EAS 560 left an invaluable impression on my graduate school experience, and likely for life beyond, by helping shape my understanding of how human brains receive and process information. I believe that understanding the brain’s mechanisms and supporting healthy work-life balances are crucial to promoting sustainable behavior. EAS 564 vocalized the difficult reality of the impacts of a rapidly changing climate and overconsumption of Earth’s resources. This class encourages students to think of innovative solutions to transition toward a positive localization society. 

Michaela Zint’s seminars were key to my development as well. The Fall 2020 seminar was a crash course in scholarly writing for students to work toward chapter creation for publication on Education toward the SDGs in the United States. The winter seminar (EAS 501.012) focused on how Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion (JEDI) work should be incorporated into Environmental Education/Education for Sustainability.

As a SusDev student, EAS 582 (Program Evaluation for Sustainability and Development) was instrumental in my understanding of the need for impact evaluation for sustainability and development programs to determine how intended outcomes are achieved. Additionally, EAS 563 (International Environmental Policy) helped me grasp the complexities of international change efforts. I developed case study writing skills and learned to be concise when writing about complex global initiatives.

How did you get involved at SEAS?

I met with other BEC students weekly at local parks to get to know them better. My master’s project group was another source of community, and I have no doubt that they will be my lifelong friends. I also joined Climate Blue, a student organization that focuses on climate change science, policy, and its impacts on the community, which helped me make new friends that were in different classes. Joining study groups was another way that I made connections while dividing and conquering coursework. The BEC track leaders did a great job bringing the community together, and I ended up taking on a leadership role as a SusDev track leader which increased my level of involvement in the SEAS community.

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

In my first year, I got great feedback on my resume/CV which helped me fine-tune it throughout my program.  

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

I encourage first-year students at SEAS to build relationships with faculty because they are invaluable resources that will think of you when opportunities arise that match your interests. Also, keep in mind that establishing hard work-life boundaries is crucial because it sets the tone for the balance you will have in your career and it helps you maintain your mental and emotional wellness. I stopped responding to emails after a certain time and I saved an entire day each week for a break from my coursework. Be careful about taking too many credits and juggling other commitments. Lastly, it is beneficial to take hard-skills classes during your first year to help you secure an internship during the summer.

What type of experience did you gain during your time as a SEAS student?

During my second-year at SEAS, I worked as a research assistant for Dr. Stella Cousins. This involved a compilation and synthesis of literature on forest change and silvicultural approaches related to climate change in the Northwoods region of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Temperature changes and precipitation patterns simultaneously impact land manager decision-making and forest trajectories in the region. However, considerable uncertainty remains around the fate of these forests in terms of their structure, composition, and wildlife habitat value. Dr. Cousins and I aimed to predict future forest structure and composition in northern hardwood and aspen-dominated stands, based on expected adaptive approaches to management in the face of common threats.

What type of master’s project did you complete?

I worked on a theme-based capstone project through Dr. Paul Seelbach’s Water Resources class. The Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and the Clinton River Watershed Council (CRWC) brought my team on to embed into a larger Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-funded initiative, called the Clinton River Smart Stormwater Management Project. This large multi-party project suffered inherent translation and communication challenges, so my team filled the role of boundary-spanners; we communicated, translated, and convened principal investigators at Michigan State University’s Institute for Water Research and the University of Michigan’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. We also designed and implemented an E. coli sampling project to characterize the response of E. coli to storm events in the Clinton River Watershed, fulfilling our stakeholders’ requests.

As an ESM student, which classes were most beneficial during your first year?

The most beneficial classes for my specialization and career goals were EAS 538 (Natural Resource Statistics), EAS 533 (Negotiation Skills), EAS 476 (Ecosystem Ecology), EAS 501 (Indigenous Sustainability and Environmental Justice), and EAS 430 (Soil Ecology). 

How did you get involved at SEAS?

Finding community was incredibly hard during my first year at SEAS because outside of one field lab, all coursework was completely virtual. However, I took advantage of every opportunity I could to get to know the people around me virtually during that time. I also played soccer weekly with other SEAS students, attended virtual happy hours, joined Rackham Student Government, and talked incessantly during Woody Plants labs. 

During every virtual class, I kept my camera on and tried to stay as engaged as possible. I also reached out to my professors to talk about general career curiosities and research, which resulted in multiple job opportunities for me. One of the major reasons I came to SEAS was the community, so I put myself out there frequently to ensure I made the most of my short time here. 

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

The Career Services team was an incredibly valuable resource during my time at SEAS. Ari Renda and Micaela Ellis walked me through the job application process, from job searching to interview preparation. After applying for positions, they helped me work on my interviewing skills and assisted me with tailoring my resumes and cover letters. Through Career Services events, I met many alumni and learned about different organizations and career paths through informational interviews.

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

While classes and capstone projects are certainly important, I encourage students to focus on relationship building and to get involved in through research, teaching, student government, etc. People matter!

What type of experience did you gain during your time as a SEAS student?

During my time at SEAS, I held a work-study position with Professor Michaela Zint, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Through this role, I worked on projects related to environmental education. Most recently, we worked on a publication regarding the field of research on K-12 environmental education and behavior change. Instead of completing an internship, I spent the summer between my first and second years collecting fieldwork data in Homer, Alaska, as part of my capstone master’s project. 

What type of master’s project did you complete?

My master’s project included a team of four students. Our client was the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS), a nonprofit organization in Homer, Alaska. CACS offers environmental education programs, performs outreach, and manages land properties that serve as nature preserves and wildlife corridors. My master’s project team created protocols and gathered baseline ecological data to aid in the assessment of the health and value of the watersheds on three CACS properties. These protocols can be used by CACS staff to gather additional data in future years to observe trends, as the area is impacted by climate change and development. Our protocols were also made to allow for citizen science data collection, as community engagement and facilitating stewardship is an important part of CACS work.

For this project, my team spent nearly four weeks in Homer conducting ecological monitoring, including fish trapping, bird surveying, peatlands and vegetation assessments, and macroinvertebrate sampling. We spent the next year creating GIS maps, analyzing our data, and compiling the final report. This project was one of the highlights of my time at SEAS. I gained skills in project management, fieldwork, GIS, and data analysis. I had a great time working with CACS and other local organizations in Homer.

As a dual-specialization student, which classes were most beneficial during your first year?

I enjoyed EAS 531 (Principles of GIS). I felt that the knowledge and skills I gained will be helpful in my job search process. This course included a lab component and helped me gain skills in map-making and various types of spatial analysis. EAS 536 (Natural Resource Statistics) was another great class I took during my first year, as it provided foundational statistics knowledge and exposure to R, which was useful for my master’s project. If you are interested in wildlife, I recommend taking EAS 518 (Wildlife Conservation and Management). This course discussed many applications of wildlife management and included a lab component for students to gain hands-on skills in wildlife surveying. 

How did you get involved at SEAS?

COVID-19 caused challenges for community-building during my first year at SEAS, but I did attend virtual events, including game nights, that student government hosted. These events gave students a chance to meet others outside of a classroom setting. I also reached out to my peers on Facebook, which is how I met my friends that later became my roommates. When in-person activities began, I attended the SEAS Campfire event, Winter Solstice party, Sustain-a-ball, and other events. I loved that these events were great for building community. 

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

I attended workshops hosted by Career Services including the Job Search and Job Interview Preparation workshops with Ari Renda. These were both extremely helpful for me when I started applying for jobs. Ari provided great resources for students to use, and I felt like I learned lots of useful information during these workshops. I also met for 1:1 career counseling sessions for resume assistance with Micaela Ellis. The sessions were very helpful and were tailored to my specific resume needs and jobs that I was interested in, rather than generic resume advice. I highly recommend using Career Services resources during your time at SEAS and after graduating.

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

My advice to first-year students is to take advantage of the time you have to explore opportunities while you are at SEAS. There are many opportunities, including clubs, research, volunteering, internships, etc. I also suggest that you prioritize time for self care. At various times during my graduate education at SEAS, I felt overwhelmed, and I eventually learned that I needed to take more breaks and spend time on non-academic-related hobbies that I enjoyed.

What type of experience did you gain during your time as a SEAS student?

In Winter 2022, I interned with Voters Not Politicians (VNP) through the Rackham Doctoral Internships program. Back in 2018, Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment to transfer the responsibility for redistricting from the legislature to groups of citizens: the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC). This effort was led by VNP, a non-partisan group dedicated to engaging citizens in the political process and returning power to the people. 

I was hired to help them evaluate their redistricting programming for the public and Communities of Interest (COI). In the Michigan Constitution, COIs are groups that “share cultural or historical characteristics or economic interests.” As part of their redistricting efforts, VNP planned to engage with underrepresented COIs, with the hope of providing support for redistricting maps that gave them a bigger voice in local, state, and national politics. Together, we conducted a series of interviews with COI leaders across Michigan that VNP partnered with and combined these with focus groups and surveys of VNP volunteers. We combined insights across these sources and developed several deliverables, including: 1) a final report outlining the lessons learned and best practices in engaging COIs and conducting public education on redistricting, and 2) a set of recommendations for the MICRC to consider in redesigning their procedures for future redistricting commissions.

What is your dissertation about?

My dissertation asks, “Is urban agriculture good for people, places, and the planet?” I am studying the role of urban agriculture in local food systems by identifying the environmental footprint and social impacts of the practice at the site-scale and city-scale. To assess the role of urban agriculture in local food systems, I have been involved with the FEW-meter project. This is an international collaboration of researchers across five countries who have partnered with dozens of urban farmers and gardeners to collect data on urban agricultural inputs and outputs.

As a PhD student, which classes were most beneficial for you?

The most helpful courses I took during my first year were the geospatial analysis courses taught by Shannon Brines and Dr. Derek Van Berkel. I enjoyed working with them because I learned a lot and gained skills that I now use daily.

How did you get involved at SEAS?

I have been involved with the Doctoral Organizing Committee (DOC) since my second semester at SEAS. In addition to the social and professional events DOC hosts for all PhD students, I enjoyed working on various projects at SEAS and around Ann Arbor as part of the DOC team.

How have you used SEAS Career Services?

Career Services has been a tremendous resource for me as I clarified my career aspirations and identified new opportunities for professional development at U-M. In particular, Ari Renda is such an important resource for PhD students. Ari offered fabulous workshops for PhD students and helped me prepare my application materials for the Rackham Doctoral Internship.

What advice would you share with first-year students at SEAS?

First-year PhD students should meet with Ari during their first semester. The first two years of the program are busy, but Ari helps to put the next few years in perspective by empowering students to set their personal and professional goals. No matter how clear or muddy these goals are during your first year, Ari is a great resource for keeping your career goals in mind.

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