Alumni
Alumni
Making an impact
Meet some inspiring SES alumni who shared thoughts about how their time at 黑料门prepared them for meaningful and rewarding careers.
Natalia Szklaruk
Natalia Szklaruk (BS '21, MS '23) works as an aquatic invasive species educator at Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant.
鈥淢y experience in SES gave me the tools and confidence I needed to pursue a career that I鈥檓 passionate about. The hands-on learning, research opportunities, and supportive environment prepared me for success. Beyond the academics, the encouragement and support I received from my professors and peers really helped me grow.鈥�
Garrett Klepitsch
Garrett Klepitsch (BS '17) is a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Natural Resources Conservation Service.
鈥淭he faculty and the students have a lot of passion for what they do. Following graduation, that inspiration and passion carried forward, and that energy helped me get to where I am now.鈥�
Megan McCawley
Megan McCawley (BS '19) connects people with nature as the horticulture operations manager at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
鈥淢y undergraduate education gave me a lot of baseline knowledge that has helped me succeed in this position and connected me with others in the field. My experience at 黑料门gave me a passion for all things environmental and related to the natural world. If I hadn鈥檛 learned about the School of Environmental Sustainability, I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today, both professionally and personally.鈥�
Tony Minnick
Tony Minnick (BS '14) helps create more sustainable food systems as the Agriculture Park director at the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture.
鈥淚 interned at the student-led farm at LUREC (the 黑料门University Retreat and Ecology Campus) and then worked on campus in the Winthrop Garden and with aquaponics systems in the school鈥檚 greenhouse. Those experiences put me in a state of continuous wonder, and the supervisors demonstrated a love and enthusiasm for the work that I found very contagious. I鈥檝e found success supervising farm teams by continuing to nurture the spark my mentors at 黑料门fired up in me.鈥�
Monique Sosnowski, PhD
Monique Sosnowski (BA '16) is a wildlife crime specialist and assistant professor of criminal justice at Farmingdale State College SUNY in New York.
鈥淚 look back on my time at 黑料门with fond memories and am thankful for all the opportunities that were provided to me throughout my four years. They helped shape me into the person I have become and have helped guide me into the career I have today.鈥�
Carolyn Bid贸
Carolyn Bid贸 (MS '23) works to facilitate the transition to electric vehicles as a policy associate at the Electrification Coalition.
鈥満诹厦舙rovided great insight into the circular economy, environmental sustainability, and environmental justice, allowing me to narrow my potential career paths. The numerous professional development opportunities advertised through SES allowed me to apply what I had learned, develop new skills, and build a professional network that eventually shaped how I envisioned my career.鈥�
The figure shows some sectors where our undergraduate program alumni work today.