MPA ESP Graduates Talk of Their Experience in the Program and Their New Professions

Today’s environmental professionals need to understand the science, the budgets and the politics of an issue if they are going to be effective agents of change. Columbia University’s Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy is a 12-month program that trains students to successfully navigate the worlds of science and policy. Taught over three semesters, courses in the program integrate environmental issues throughout their lessons with an emphasis on the real world application of lessons learned in the classroom. The combined approach equips graduates with the skills they need to pursue environmental careers.

“If the program does not prepare our students for what is going to be demanded of them in the environmental workplace then we have failed,” said Steven Cohen, director, MPA in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University. Students are trained to manage the work of scientists and understand the process of scientific enquiry. Students are therefore required to take three science courses in the summer semester in addition to the public management courses. The second semester concentrates more on public policy and how to communicate issues, ideas and recommendations. In the spring semester, students focus on financial management, learning how to implement solutions that are limited by the financial and budgetary constraints thatt organizations often face. All three semesters have a workshop course in which students are able to integrate the lessons from other courses and apply the skills they have developed by working in groups, writing reports and presenting briefings. The objective of creating policymakers who are able to manage scientists is partially achieved in the Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management I and II. In this course, students work on a piece of proposed but not yet enacted state, federal, or local environmental law. The purpose of these projects is for students to develop a plan for managing the new program they propose to implement. Throughout the workshops students collaborate in groups to write reports that explain the environmental science aspects of a management problem to political decision-makers who are not scientists. Many former students found the workshop course helped them develop the skills they have used in their careers.

“The workshop courses were great as they allowed us more freedom to pull together ideas and challenged us with problem solving and writing,” said Amy Turner, 03. Prior to attending the program, Turner worked as an adoption counselor for the Humane Society of Central Illinois, but she wanted a career in environmental policy. Upon graduation she secured a position as a policy analyst at SRA International, Inc., a privately owned provider of information technology services and solutions, contracting with the EPA on issues such as Superfund, Brownfields, and abandoned land mines. Working for a large company, she found that, “The team projects were especially good at developing skills for dealing and working with a diverse group. The ability to speak in front of groups, work with others, communicate and lead, are all skills I gained in the program.”

Services within the school also help students prepare for new professions. Adam Klauber 04, was the director and founder of Georgetown University’s Outdoor Education Office. While at SIPA, Klauber worked with the Office of Career Services to apply for the Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) program that prepares students for jobs in the Federal service. It is a competitive application process, but SIPA’s office of career services coaches students and helps them with their submissions. In doing so the school ranked second behind Georgetown in terms of the number of applicants accepted from a single institution. Out of the 67 applications SIPA students submitted, nearly half became finalists. The fellowship opportunity combined with newly acquired skills has enabled Klauber to take a position as an environmental planner for the Department of Transportation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Thus far, he has worked on such pivotal projects as finding transit solutions, alternative fuels and a new project called “critter crossings,” which helps to minimize habitat fragmentation in national parks. Reflecting on the program, he said, “The science courses helped to establish a foundation of ecological function and the human aspect to the environment, and these aided me in talking with scientists. Also, Environmental Ethics helps me keep an eye on the reason that I am doing this job.”

Other students find that the program instills them with self-assurance. Sahar Al-Nasrallah class ’03 said, “The diversity of classes that we took helped me develop different and effective skills and presenting to my peers and professors the research we had to prepare has made me a better speaker and more confident in presentations.” She also felt the workshop was very successful in preparing her for environmental jobs after the MPA program. Her workshop team’s client for the final project was the United Nations Sustainable Development Division. The team surveyed, researched and proposed recommendations for the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), recommended as part of the Kyoto Protocol. It was an empowering experience.

She said, “In workshop, each person had the opportunity to become a task leader. This was very useful in developing leadership and organizational skills, as well as efficiently presenting information that could be used in a real-world situation.”