alumni profiles6
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ESP Alum Focuses on International Development and Conservation
Ashley Toombs, a 2015 graduate of the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy program, recently joined BRAC USA, a poverty alleviation and international development organization founded in the 1970s in Bangladesh and now operating in 12 countries in Asia and Africa.
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The Challenging Question: What is Sustainable Development?
“Ever since I started studying sustainable development, the big question has always been how to define and speak about it. I have come to notice more and more how important this question is as I spend my days conversing with different people on the topic.”
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Recent MS Graduate Brings Sustainability to L’Oreal
Master of Science in Sustainability Management graduate Tara Helms (’15) has a background in supply chain management in the energy sector and was drawn to the program as a way to shift her focus towards sustainability. Throughout her time in the program, Tara took advantage of various networking and certification courses and served as a…
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Educated Girls Uncover Unmet Design Needs
Flip through any fashionable design annual, and you’ll read of something called “Human Centered Design.” The practice of HCD places emphasis on user testing, interviews, field research and high-touch iterations to solve problems. As contemporary design, and especially sustainable design, increasingly comes to rely on HCD-inspired techniques, greater attention is being paid to social features.
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Capstone Project Prepares Alum for Energy Efficiency Career
Sustainability Management alumna Marisa Hanson (’14) has gone from working on a capstone workshop project to design a national building retrofit program for Montenegro to a role as program specialist for a residential energy efficiency program in Santa Barbara, CA. Marisa has focused her sustainability career on making a significant difference on a local level.
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ESP Alum Works to Bring Better Environmental Standards to Oil and Gas Industry
Josh Garrett, a 2012 graduate of the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy program, serves as the Director of Communications for Equitable Origin, a firm based in New York. Through his work with Equitable Origin (or EO), Josh works to educate people about how to transform the oil industry for a safer, cleaner future.
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Entrepreneurial MS Alum Finds Sustainable Solutions alongside Former Classmates
Alumnus John Haugen (‘13) began his career in a Chicago management consulting firm with a focus on marketing and data analytics. After living and working in Chicago for six years, John decided that he wanted to continue his career as a consultant in New York, but with an added focus on sustainability. Upon graduating from…
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Sustainability Management Alum Directs Energy towards Renewables
Jason Prince (’14) now works at Karbone, an integrated renewable energy and environmental markets company, as the Director of Research. Before joining the program, he worked as a wilderness guide in his native Canada, taking young people on backcountry canoe trips, which emphasized leave-no-trace practices. Jason has also worked for a non-profit organization that focused…

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings“

