First class of Columbia Climate School graduates head to exciting jobs
Photo: Michael DiVito
and their Summer Internship By the end, the first graduates of the Columbia Climate School are going out into the world to put their knowledge into practice.
These students have studied climate change and social sciences in the past 12 months MSc in Climate and Society. An interdisciplinary graduate program offered by the Climate Institute in partnership with Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences trains professionals and scholars to understand and address the social and environmental impacts of climate variability and climate change.
What can you do with a climate and society degree? Below are just a few examples showing the different career paths students are taking. Their roles range from consultants and communications officers to scientists who bring their climate expertise to startups, government agencies, advocacy organizations and more.
- Throughout the program, Maya Kashapov Has been one of the biggest advocates of carbon removal technology in her class.On the occasion of the beginning of summer, she gladly joined capture, a startup focused on removing carbon from our oceans. She has been following their CEO, Steve Oldham, since her undergraduate days, when he was CEO of Carbon Engineering, one of the earliest, largest and most successful carbon removal technology companies in the world. She emails him every year, commenting on his work, asking about job opportunities, and providing updates on her work in carbon removal. This year, when Maya was a week away from graduation, they made a phone call together and he put her in a business development role. She started as an intern and will continue to work there after the summer.
- Liam McAuliffe Passionate about working on the clean energy transition and excited about the challenge of turning to a career as a clean energy analyst and strategist. Previously, he worked in communications at Sierra Club and American Rivers.He readily accepted the offer to work with the company Department of Energy Engage with the Multilateral Office of Climate and Clean Energy through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. In his role, he will work on international clean energy dialogue, diplomacy and strategy with partner countries and organizations.
- multiple graduates, including Elizabeth NguyenAccepted an offer to join a new climate and sustainability practice Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Elizabeth initially envisioned herself working for an NGO after the project, but was drawn to BCG’s opportunity to expand its climate impact across sectors. She is excited to work at BCG on a wide range of climate-related projects for business and government to expand climate solutions. This summer, she is conducting research on climate migration and climate conflict for the Red Cross Crescent Climate Center and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
- this summer, Alyssa Petrosova Has been working as a storyteller and researcher good energy, The Climate Age Story Consulting. Their mission is to “inspire, support and accelerate stories in scripted TV and film,” with a goal of incorporating climate change into 50 percent of scripted shows and films by 2025. The founders recently asked Alyssa to stay because she has become a valued member of the team. In her role, Alisa works on the design and development of the firm’s consulting arm. She conducts research for the Developing Climate Storytelling workshop, using well-known non-radio programming as an exercise in incorporating climate change into stories. She currently serves as a consultant herself—for example, helping the authors of the world of podcasts build a climate change 2070.
- George Meddings is working with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (formerly the International Agricultural Research Advisory Group), whose work is heavily cited in his Climate and Society project. As a Climate Security Visiting Fellow, he will work at the intersection between climate-smart agriculture, household resilience and climate-related vulnerability. George has a strong desire to work all over the world, so he was delighted to accept the invitation from CGIAR and possibly join his team working in Africa, Central America and South East Asia after a stint in London.
- Nicole Loch Came to the Climate and Society program with 10 years of marketing and communications experience and felt that a C+S degree could help her advance to a leadership role in her career and climate work.In early summer, she became head of digital and social content Aether Diamondwhich converts carbon dioxide from directly captured air into diamonds.
- Hayley Edge Serve as Climate Resilience Advisor DSLR, a global environmental and sustainability consulting firm. She will work on climate resilience and adaptation planning at the community, state and regional levels.
- in June, Sarah Hutchinson Hop on a U-Haul with her cat Rosie and drive to her home state of Michigan, where she has been a climate data science officer since April.she is with Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and her alma mater, the University of Michigan, to ensure statewide climate goals are accurately monitored and assessed.
- Brianna Kabahar Originally an Energy Justice Policy Intern We act for environmental justice In the spring, now full-time as the organization’s state legislative manager. They coordinate state legislative and policy efforts, advocate for policy priorities at the state level, advise staff on current environmental and climate policies, and work directly with state legislators and agencies to develop programs and policies that promote environmental justice for the northern Manhattan community .
