Presidential Management Fellows Program selects 6 MPA ESP students as finalists

While the Environmental Science and Policy program may be one of the smaller MPA programs at Columbia University, an impressive number of its students qualified as finalists for the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program this March. This year six of the 19 PMF finalists from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), are from the MPA Environmental Science and Policy program. The MPA program in environmental science and policy is a joint project of SIPA and The Earth Institute at Columbia University. The students, Paul Augustine, Irene Boland, Hannah Campbell, Amy Lile, Catherine Mulvey and Meghan Newcomer, all share an outstanding commitment to public service and the environment.

The fellowship aims to attract well-qualified individuals from a variety of academic backgrounds who have an interest in, and commitment to, a career in the analysis and management of public policies and programs. The program prepares men and women to meet the future challenges of public need and trains students for jobs in the Federal service. Boland emphasized the value of the program's preparatory nature. "It's an opportunity to begin working at the federal government with a support system of mentoring."

Students worked for months with SIPA faculty and the Office of Career Services in order to apply to the PMF program. Augustine made plans to apply for the fellowship last summer and began work on the application in September. Said Augustine, "This is a great program and a great way to get into public service."

The PMF applicant pool is competitive and the process is demanding, but MPA Environmental Science and Policy students were able to give a unique spin to their application. The specialized MPA program prepares students to both understand and manage scientific findings, and to use these implications to create effective policy.

Despite their thorough preparation, many of the students didn't expect to make it to the finalist stage. "We found [the results] out before spring break and I was surprised. I thought the odds were fifty-fifty," said Boland. This year Columbia ranked third behind American University and Georgetown in terms of the number of finalists from a single institution.

Each finalist from the MPA program has a unique academic background and a demonstrated commitment to service. Augustine graduated from Yale with a B.A. in Environmental Engineering and Economics, and has worked for the Joint Institute for Energy and Environment and the Howard Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. Boland graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Urban and Environmental Planning, and has worked for Albemarle County Department of Planning and Community Development, Institute for Environmental Negotiation, Metro and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

A graduate of Rice University with a B.A. in Geology and French Studies, Campbell has worked as a Student Services Advisor for Environmental Programs in the School for International Training Study Abroad Program. In addition, she has worked for the School for Field Studies Center for Marine Resource Studies and the National Science Foundation Antarctic Program.
Lile graduated from Fordham University with a B.S. in Business Administration and has worked for a number of different organizations in a variety of environmental settings. She has worked for the Peace Corps in Armenia, the Institute for Environmental Policy in Prague, and the World Wildlife Fund in Mexico.

Both Mulvey and Newcomer have a history of governmental service in the United States. Mulvey, a graduate of Siena College with a B.S. in Biology, has worked for the Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways, as well as the engineering and consulting firm, CDM. Newcomer graduated from Mary Washington College with a B.A. in Political Science and has worked on Capitol Hill for Kansas Representative Dennis Moore, as well as participated in the EcoQuest Program in New Zealand.

The finalists' diverse backgrounds and their participation in the MPA Environmental Science and Policy program will enable them to excel in the PMF program. While none can predict where they might go from there, Boland is sure that she will continue to serve the public in some way. "I believe environmental work is public service inherently."