alumni

bery ’21 studies city-level climate planning

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Sanya Bery ‘21 graduated from Wes with majors in government and environmental studies. She is currently a graduate candidate in environmental justice, sustainable development, and urban planning at the University of Michigan. 

As an environmental studies student at Wesleyan, how did your academic and extracurricular experiences shape your decision to pursue graduate studies in environmental justice and urban planning?
The Bailey College of the Environment was such a unique program; it approached environmental issues through a justice-oriented lens, which isn’t common for undergrad programs. If not for the COE, I might have felt hesitant about pursuing this path because environmental studies can feel so focused on pure science and conservation. My thesis project with Professor Haddad, which analyzed the ambitious aspects of Middletown’s Climate Action Plan, prepared me well for graduate school.

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nodiff ’19 creates climate imaginarium

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Josh Nodiff ’19 graduated from Wes with a double major in environmental studies and American studies. He is the founder and executive director of the Climate Imaginarium, a consortium of climate organizations with a center for the arts on Governors Island in New York City.

For those who are unfamiliar with this project, what is the Climate Imaginarium?
The Climate Imaginarium (@climateimaginarium) is a new consortium of climate organizations with a center for the arts on Governors Island in New York City. The Imaginarium serves as a community center for climate and culture, with galleries and spaces for exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and events that respond to the climate crisis with solutions and visions for hope and justice. Programming is offered by a range of institutions, initiatives, and organizations, coming together under one roof to reimagine a just and regenerative future.

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backer ’22 passionate about enviro policy

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Since completing her two-year fellowship with the Environmental Law Institute, Sarah Backer’22  (government/Chinese) has joined The Good Food Institute as a policy associate supporting the alternative protein sector through policy research and analysis, materials development, and direct outreach to decision makers.

Hello Sarah! Would you share where you are from, and what you studied during your time Wesleyan?
I’m from New York City originally, and I decided to go to Wesleyan because I liked that all of the students seemed to be really passionate about what they were studying. The students were ambitious and intellectual, but not overly competitive or cutthroat. People were able to pursue a variety of interests. I majored in government, and I took a lot of environmental studies classes and was a College of East Asian studies minor. I also received a writing certificate. I knew that I wanted my work to eventually be climate-related and decided that college would be a good opportunity to take classes in a variety of areas.

How did your courses at Wesleyan translate into skills that you have found to be valuable in the workplace? Did your courses influence your perspective on climate change?
I think that my minor in East Asian studies really made me more diligent. Learning how to write Mandarin characters was a very intensive process, and I had to pay incredible attention to detail. I think those skills really translated to the workplace after Wesleyan. Although at first my writing certificate was just for my own enjoyment, I think it also made me a better writer, which is a valuable skill, post-college. 

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villegas ’21 pursues interest in enviro justice

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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.

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zaks ’99 relishes role in enviro communications

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Laura Zaks ’99 is an international food security specialist with expertise in the intersection of agriculture, climate, economic development, nutrition, and public health. She is the associate director of communications and development for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in Washington, DC.

Hello Laura! Would you tell me about your path into working in food security?
It’s been a long journey, when I was at Wesleyan I didn’t know that I wanted to work in food security. I was more interested in broader issues surrounding economic development and community development, but wasn’t really sure how I would work in that space.

I had a period of trial and error. I was actually a College of Letters major and was originally focused on humanities. I really loved history and thought about law school, but because I had studied languages, I was also interested in working abroad. I ended up traveling to Panama, and working there for two years.

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snyder ’23 engages in green planning

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Would you share a bit about yourself, and some of the highlights of your time at Wesleyan?
Hi! I’m Phoebe Snyder, and I am a class of 2023 graduate. I’m originally from New York, but I have relocated to Denver, Colorado, since graduation. There were a lot of highlights of my Wesleyan experience. During my time at Wes I was on the swim team, also part of a co-ed fraternity on campus! I was a double major in environmental studies and government.

Were you involved with research on campus?
Yes, I worked on research with Helen Poulos, who was fantastic and very supportive. I completed a thesis on the effects of thinning on forests to see how it would affect post fire hydrology, with Professor Poulos as my advisor. I researched whether or not this was beneficial for immediate regrowth and health of forests. I didn’t collect the data in the field myself, but reviewed Helen’s data utilizing GIS analysis. I spent a lot of time sorting through the excel spreadsheets to look at evapotranspiration rates, and examined how water was cycling through the ecosystem. The evapotranspiration rates of plants were indicators of how healthy they were.

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