Students and Sustainability: Turns Out, There’s a Lot in Common

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There was no shortage of passionate, enthusiastic and determined young adults eager to accept the challenges and responsibilities that come with preserving the future of our planet at the first ever Sustainability Career Conversations. This inaugural event on September 13th brought together distinguished alumni and forty-three students from across disciplines and colleges with a like-minded passion for sustainability to discuss and explore various career paths. Experienced professionals and Lehigh alumni shared their stories with students and talked about the creativity, ingenuity, innovation and problem-solving techniques that are required from all industries and disciplines to successfully build a more sustainable future. 

Featured speakers, representing non-profit, private and government sectors, included:

  • Sunil Misser ‘88, Chief Executive of AccountAbility

  • Jennifer Gonzalez ‘08,  Sustainability Officer for the City of Hoboken, New Jersey

  • Eric Weiss ‘14, Environmental Consultant with specialization in waste management at Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc.

  • Meg Schultz ‘12, Civil Engineer specializing in Land Development and Sustainability at Brooker Engineering, PLLC

  • John Pozzetta ‘07, Associate Engineer at the Stone House Group

  • Lucy Bai, Manager at AccountAbility

Each distinguished speaker provided opening remarks and background information on their distinct positions, careers and the future of their fields of work. Students asked questions and were able to have realistic conversations about working in the field. The forum was led by Lehigh’s Sustainability Officer, Delicia Nahman.

“This event provided an opportunity for students to learn about the various careers that can merge their passion for sustainability with their degrees. There is tremendous value in alumni sharing their personal insight and professional career pathway stories with students. Career pathways are rarely linear, but rather are formed by experience and are driven by passion.  We were pleased by the student and alumni response to the event and plan to host more of these career conversations in the future,” Nahman said.

Students were forthcoming in their positive response to the event. For some, the conversation provided clarity and much-needed answers for how soon-to-be job-seekers can maintain and live out their passion for sustainability in a meaningful and beneficial way.

“I gained valuable insight on the industry as a whole through an intimate conversation with a panelist that clearly enjoys her work; The panel has shed light on very different career paths that have led to success,” Tom Ball ‘19, said.

First-year Hannah Kushner relished the diversity of opportunities available to her and the complexities of sustainability that fall outside the environmental realm.  

“I learned more about jobs in the field and how they can take you down paths in either the public or private sector,” Kushner ‘21, said. “I also learned more about how companies interpret sustainability to be about gender and other social equality issues as well as the environment.”

The event served as a realistic conversation for students interested in learning about and working in the diverse fields of sustainability.  Students walked away from the event with a better idea of how they can take their education at Lehigh and create change and make an impact. This event was the result of a collaboration of the Office of Sustainability, Lehigh Alumni Sustainability Alliance, and the Center for Career and Professional Development.