Alumni Profiles
Jenna Battson
Organization: Colorado Water Conservation Board Colorado Water Conservation Board
Title: Outdoor Water Conservation Coordinator in the Water Planning Section
Graduation Year: 2023
"On any given day, my position with CWCB requires outreach, research, presentation building, public speaking, grant tracking, project management, team collaboration, public communication development, report writing, data collection, and analysis. Not only are the skills I acquired and honed at MENV extremely transferrable, but an extracurricular policy paper I collaborated with a classmate and the ENRP specialization lead directly connected me with CWCB through an informational interview and fundamentally changed the trajectory of my professional life. Many of my responsibilities in state government mirror what I did inside and outside the classroom at MENV; I felt fully prepared to hit the ground running a month before graduation on my first day of work."
Anna Buongiorno
Organization: Scout Clean Energy
Title: Associate Director, Government & Regulatory Affairs
Graduation Year: 2023
"In the renewable energy industry, one of the primary challenges for wind and solar projects today is successful siting, including the navigation of local, state, and federal environmental laws and ensuring responsible development with minimized impacts to our natural environment. The MENV program helped me understand our complex policies that govern development on public and private lands in addition to the critical roles of ethical decision making, appropriate governance, and effective community engagement so that I can successfully support the energy transition in my role."
Vince Fuggetta
Organization: City and County of Denver - Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency
Title: Energy Policy Advisor
Graduation Year: 2023
"The MENV program provided the education and experience I needed to help me reach my goal of working in environmental policy. The knowledge I gained through coursework and the skills I honed during my capstone project have been critical to the success I’ve achieved in my current role. During my time in the program, I also gained friends and mentors that have been an invaluable addition to my life."
Sarah Hamming
David Light
Organization: City and County of Denver
Title: City Planner Staff
Graduation Year: 2023
"I owe my current career to MENV and the ENRP specialization. As someone who came to the program in the midst of a career change, the foundational policy knowledge, ability to explore electives, numerous networking connections, and the capstone project served as the cornerstone of my experience and made me a competitive applicant in today's job market."
Bartek Susol
Organization: Scout Clean Energy
Title: Associate Project Manager
Graduation Year: 2023
"While finishing my last semester, I started an internship at Scout Clean Energy, which led to a full-time position as an Associate Project Manager on their Development team. The RSE specialization offered courses on renewable energy development, finance, energy markets, and policy, giving me the knowledge and skills I needed to hit the ground running in my new career. The network of MENV alumni now working in the energy industry gave me the opportunity to expand my personal network and learn more about careers in renewable energy development. Here I am at a Scout's Sweetland Wind Farm in Hand County, South Dakota in August 2023 - the project is now fully operational!"
Willow Urquidi
Organization: The AES Corporation
Title: Developer: Wind Development
Graduation Year: 2021
"My goal going into MENV was to pivot from a career in city planning to a career in renewable energy. The range of classes offered allowed me to build a compelling curriculum that has prepared me for my next chapter. The faculty in the RSE specialization also emphasized the importance of learning practical and technical skills, which allowed me hit the ground running on my first day of work post-grad. ±õ’m so grateful for my MENV experience!"
Ximena Alverde
Organization: Stantec
Title: Senior ESG Advisor
Graduation Year: 2023
"The MENV program equipped me with the tools necessary to advance my sustainability career. Particularly, the Capstone Project provided me with tangible skills and expanded my professional network. Working in a four-person team, we collected water, electricity, and waste data from various stakeholders for annual sustainability reporting. We supported Climate Neutral recertification, which encompasses greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Additionally, we evaluated the company's B Impact Assessment to identify areas for improvement across all five impact categories. Finally, we created an Employee Education Handbook to enhance employee engagement in sustainability initiatives.
Courses such as GHG Accounting, Socio-Environmental Systems, Transportation, Mobility and Sustainable Cities, Community Engagement for Resilience, Responsible Business, Supply Chain Management, and ESG Reporting Frameworks were instrumental in preparing me for my current role. Lastly, the MENV program gave me a broad network of professionals whom I am fortunate to call my friends."
Sydney Dynek
Current Organization: Town of Eagle, Community Development Department
Current Title: Planner
Graduation Year: 2023
"MENV helped expose me to a spectrum of organizations and types of work that I had previously not even understood were options. Talking with guest speakers and MENV faculty helped me learn and build confidence to engage with professionals in the space who I aspire to be like. The experiential learning component of my classes helped me get hands on understanding of how community engagement works and a glimpse of the approach needed to empower systems change. The types of assignments I completed as part of my coursework both helped me get into my current job and have proved invaluable in some of my day to day and long term work projects. With all of these things being said, one of the most powerful things MENV imparted to me as I went onto my job was community with others who believe through collaboration we can make a positive difference for our planet."
Helena Janulis
Organization: Investable Oceans
Title: Business Development & Special Projects Lead
Graduation Year: Spring 2023
"The MENV program played a pivotal role in helping me prepare for my professional career, as it allowed me to develop the critical skills needed for impactful environmental sustainability work. Among these are teamwork, leadership, project management, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. My capstone project with Outside Inc. and participation in the B Impact Clinic were particularly valuable experiences because they gave me the opportunity to learn, grow and collaborate in a real-world setting – and they were such a blast! I'd also highlight the incredible mentorship I was able to access through the program's uniquely dedicated and passionate environmental professionals."
Keren Mikva
Current Organization: Alpengirl Camp
Current Title: Assistant Director
Graduation year: December 2023
"MENV gave me the opportunity to explore the various career avenues within the outdoor industry, and determine which path might give me the most professional satisfaction. I am especially grateful to the leadership within my specialization that was enormously helpful in navigating both the job search as well as the difficult transition to a new phase in my career. The program also created an incredibly strong support system through the MENV/SOI cohort that I hope to stay connected to for years to come."
Aviva North
Organization: Coraggio Group
Title: Associate Principal
Graduation Year: 2023
"MENV was instrumental in helping me get the career I was dreaming about. Being in a brand-new specialization like SOI helped me market myself as a newer expert in the tourism field since outdoor recreation has become such a focus since the pandemic. Between the great mentorship of faculty and staff, connections to conferences and internships, as well as capstone, I was able to enter the workforce with relevant experience and connections that will help me for many years!"
Jackson Tomchek
Organization: Anthesis Group
Title: Senior Consultant
Graduation year: 2022
"The MENV program played a crucial role in equipping me with the technical skills needed to integrate sustainability into corporations' operations. It provided me with a solid foundation for success, enabling me to collaborate effectively across various departments and engage with diverse stakeholders. From analyzing emissions data to pinpointing critical emissions hotspots, the program taught me valuable lessons. Moreover, I built a network of peers within the corporate responsibility and sustainability sectors, which continues to be instrumental in shaping both my daily work and my long-term career objectives."
Dani McLean
Organization: Regional Transportation District (RTD)
Title: Transit Equity Specialist
Graduation Year: May 2021
"I joined MENV to cement my professional identity within sustainability, climate, and the environment after many years working in various public and non-profit organizations — predominantly as a marketing and communications professional. The program was invaluable in sculpting me into a strong systems thinker while also providing me with an incredible network of peers and professionals to support me in my career transition. Additionally, I will always highlight Jean Sanson and her undeniably critical role as the professor of Transportation, Mobility and Sustainable Cities in inspiring me to take the leap into the (public) transportation field, right at the intersection of environmental sustainability and mobility justice. Jean, the Urban Resilience and Sustainability Specialization, and MENV as a whole provided the launchpad from which I could begin pursuing my passions as my work, and I am so thankful and excited to root other MENVers on as they launch their own incredible career paths into urban planning, grid-level energy systems, water conservation policy, and beyond."
Tanner Starbard
Organization: Mad Agriculture
Title: Chief Financial and Operations Officer
Graduation Year: 2020
"MENV was the fulcrum to pivot my career into the direction I wanted to pursue. My prior education and experience provided a solid foundation, but in order to dedicate my professional work towards the purpose of environmental stewardship, there was simply no substitute for the time, space, and abundantly resourced experience of MENV. I would not be where I am today without my time at MENV."
Bridger Tomlin
Organization: City of Westminster (Colorado)
Title: Sustainability Administrator
Graduation Year: 2019
"MENV prepared me well for a career in sustainability program administration. The courses I took provided hands on experience with a diverse set of sustainability projects and topics. For example, through my courses I conducted a greenhouse gas inventory for a local school, completed an economic resilience analysis for the Steamboat Chamber of Commerce, and wrote policy memos. These experiential course were critical in growing my understanding the spectrum of how a sustainability can be applied. The skills and knowledge gained through my MENV education paired with the powerful personal relationships I developed with professors and industry leaders prepared me for finding a career and succeeding in the sustainability field."