Jolie Villegas ’21 grew up in San Francisco and majored in environmental studies and biology at Wes. After receiving her master’s degree at Columbia, she became a clean power analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund. Today, she is an analyst at the World Resources Institute.
How did you develop an interest in studying and working in the environment? How did your experience at Wesleyan influence your decision to work in this industry?
I was born and raised in San Francisco, California, which is a very green and environmentally focused city. It’s easy to adapt individual sustainable behavior practices when you’re surrounded by a community of like-minded people.
I initially thought about environmentalism as an individual issue, caused by consumerism and waste. Then, through my classes at Wes, I got a much more holistic picture of climate change and all of the anthropogenic actions that are contributing to inequitable climate impact. I shifted my field of study from the conservation side, into climate and environmental justice.
At Wesleyan, I was an eco-facilitator in the sustainability office. I was one of the people that started the Environmental Justice working group in our cohort. I joined the Wes Green Fund, and did other environmental advocacy work through Sunrise and the Environmental Solidarity Network. These groups helped solidify my love and passion, and I knew that this was what I wanted to do given how complex and wide reaching of a problem climate change is.
When you were an undergraduate, did you have a clear career path you wanted to pursue, or did your path evolve organically as you tried working in different environmental fields?
I never questioned wanting to work in the climate and sustainability field.I knew I wanted to have the most high-impact job possible that would help alleviate climate injustice and climate change in any way. I really was not certain of what exactly that looked like. I was able to dabble in different classes at Wesleyan and that’s the same approach that I took when I started graduate school. I chose the most interdisciplinary program possible hoping that my graduate degree would help me hone in on what my focus was.
Would you share a bit about your current experience working at the Environmental Defense Fund? What are your responsibilities on a day to day basis?
I am a clean power analyst at EDF. I work on the U. S. Legal and Regulatory team. It’s a team composed primarily of attorneys. My sub team has four core members and we’re focusing specifically on U. S. power sector decarbonization. We are working within the legal frameworks of the Clean Air Act to advocate for stronger pollution controls on power plants.
I am not an attorney, but in my role I provide attorneys with various analyses or research, like papers, memos, summary briefs, on different topics to help them with their litigation and advocacy.I enjoy the role a lot. I love the people at EDF.
I also saw that you were an EDF Climate Corps Fellow, and I was wondering what the application process was like, and what the work the fellowship entailed?
I am super fortunate to have received the Climate Corps Fellowship. It’s a fellowship only for grad students. The EDF hires around 100 grad students as consultants who work with various businesses and organizations to improve sustainability and environmental practices. They help with energy efficiency planning and green reporting and metrics. I was lucky and matched into an environmental ustice project in Harris County, Texas. Houston, the county seat of Harris County, is called the energy capital of the world and is a very high-polluting area. I was helping the county develop its first-ever climate justice action plan for internal operations.
I was primarily working remotely with the Director of the Office of Sustainability and I was able to get involved in governmental proceedings. I spoke in some local regional air quality meetings and witnessed how a lot of local government processes take place.
What is the most rewarding part of your work?
I would definitely say just being at a mission-driven organization is so motivating. I really appreciate and admire the people I’m surrounded with. We’re all here at this NGO because we all want to make a change. The rewarding part is knowing that we are all doing our best to make the world a better place.
Is your work focused in New York City, or do you address issues across the country?
The work that I do on my small clean power team is at the federal level. The main work I do centers on decarbonizing power plants. The large scale of these regulations does mean that there will be more challenges to them. I still think that it is energizing to think about the impact of these finalized rules and how they’ll regulate plans across the country.
Which skills do you think are helpful for students to develop if they wish to do environmental work after graduating?
If you want to go into an environmental office job, various research and analysis skills are always really helpful within the nonprofit space and the local government space. Any type of analyst, consultant, or associate type role that you’ll see in the environmental space would require that. In terms of subject matter expertise, it is different across what area of climate you want to work on.
How did you decide to continue your education at Columbia University?
I decided to graduate from Wesleyan in three years to contribute more money to a master’s program. I chose Columbia because they offered a scholarship, and it was a 12-month intensive program, which meant less tuition overall. I also appreciated the speed of the program. I liked that it was a very interdisciplinary program.
I knew I wanted to be in the climate and environmental justice space, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was in a program called Climate and Society and had the flexibility to customize the courses. The core courses we took, whether they were modeling, climate science or mitigation/adaptation classes, were all tailored to focus on climate change. All of my electives were focused on environmental justice.
Would you share your experience applying to grad school?
I applied to six schools in total all across the country. I’m from California, so I applied to a few California schools, a few on the East Coast, and then also the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. I was applying for the most broad programs possible that really let you choose what you wanted to study to do once you were there. I did a lot of research, attended info sessions, and tried to think of how to frame myself as an applicant and make myself relevant to those programs. Highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the COE, for example, was really helpful in showing why I am interested in the path I am interested in.
My advice is to cultivate relationships with faculty. I’m so grateful for all the professors who helped me with my recommendation letters. I highly recommend just finding one or two faculty that you can really bond with and make a connection.
Do you have any advice for students who are considering next steps after graduating?
As someone who didn’t know what area of climate I wanted to get into, I found my interdisciplinary program really helpful to narrow down what I wanted to do, and it cemented my interest in climate and environmental justice. Without my master’s degree, I would not have gotten the job that I have today, or the fellowship that helped me get this job. It would be really different thinking about what my life would look like if I had not done the master’s program.Networking is such a big part of entering the workforce. Connections are key. I’m happy to be a resource for anybody that is interested in similar areas!
Is there anything else you would like to share with Wesleyan’s Bailey College of the Environment?
I would like to praise the COE. I am so grateful for my time in the COE and with the Sustainability Office! They have cemented my interest in this field and really set me up for success. They gave me opportunities, like being an eco-facilitator and on the Green Fund, which translated into experience I could use on a resume to help me land jobs. I am also grateful for how interdisciplinary and flexible the program was! I am very excited to hear that there are more Environmental Justice classes now too.
After our interview, Jolie accepted a job offer with the World Resources Institute (WRI).
What will your role entail at the World Resources Institute?
I am an analyst, and I’m still working on issues like clean energy, power sector decarbonization, public health, and environmental justice issues. This new role excites me because it is more focused on direct engagement with communities, which is what I want to be doing as someone interested in environmental justice. We’d be convening with local governments and coalitions to help implement clean energy solutions on the ground! I am excited about the timing of this new WRI job because as I am unrelatedly moving to Chicago, it really feels like a perfect chapter closing. I am ready to move forward to the next one!