In this manner, I’ve been fortunate enough to do some work for my own supervisor, Kathryn Harrison, who is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC).  Her research, most generally, revolves around a number of aspects of environmental policy. Most recently, however, it has focussed on the climate policies (or lack thereof) for a number of jurisdictions around the world, such as the EU, USA, Canada, and Australia.

As a research assistant, my specific tasks have ranged from helping conduct literature reviews, formatting and editing research grants, and collecting information about things like energy production and consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and more. While I have done the majority of these tasks before, having the extra practice has increased my level of proficiency and efficiency with some things, such as working with spreadsheets and graphs.

Although the subject area differs quite substantially from my own, which looks at urban agriculture and food policy, I nonetheless find it fascinating. I think that most would agree that the political challenges around carbon emissions reduction far outweigh those of the scientific or technical variety, which is why looking into these questions can be so important. For example, what kinds of institutional factors play into the making of climate change or carbon emissions reductions legislation? And how might the answer to these questions affect how advocates press for better environmental policy?

Of course, the nature of the work or research can change quite dramatically depending on the subject area. I’ve had friends assist in research doing a variety of things, from working in labs and running sensitive experiments, to collecting physical data in forests and streams, or transcribing, coding or analysing survey or interview data.

For most of us, it’s pretty nice not only to help out our professors, but to pay the rent and learn more at the same time. Another example of how lucky I am to be an environmental studies student!

Darlene Seto is pursuing her master’s degree at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. A keen student of environment policy and governance, her current graduate work revolves around diversity and engagement in alternative food systems.

As an organization, Hug It Forward has helped to build a total of fourteen schools since starting in October of 2009. What’s even more unique about Hug It Forward is that it’s the communities themselves who are in charge of collecting trash to build a school for their community. In doing so, community members learn a bit about how to keep the space around them clean. Since there’s very little education about how to properly dispose of trash in Guatemalan schools (and in Guatemalan society in general), this is extremely important and for many it’s the first time they’ve seen their towns without trash lining the streets, fields, or natural areas. According to Juan Ma, it takes ninety empty chip bags to fill a single plastic soda bottle and, on average, two to three months to collect and fill enough bottles to build a school.

Juan Ma is excited to be a part of a project that “Guatemalans can feel proud of.” Many non-profits within Guatemala are run by foreigners focusing on what they are doing for the Guatemalan people, which hasn’t always provided the Guatemalan people with something they can feel proud of. Hug It Forward is an exception to the status-quo of Guatemalan-based non-profits as it helps to organize communities to build schools in order to have the education they need to succeed. Focusing on what the community needs and providing them with the necessary tools as well as connecting people is what Hug It Forward is all about.

Laura Stephenson is a recent environmental science graduate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, focusing in environmental and community health. She is currently studying Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala. Laura writes the “After” Life of an Environmental Studies Student series, telling stories of the activities and endeavors of environmental science and studies students after graduation.

Climate Denial: Numerous deep and complicated reasons exist for why most people don’t act on the threat of climate chaos.  Even well-informed, politically-progressive people tend to avoid thinking about climate because they feel helpless to act or, if living in a developed country, feel guilt over their lifestyles being the cause.

Six Americas: Americans fall into 6 groups when sorted by our concerns about climate change: alarmed (12%), concerned (27%), cautious (25%), disengaged (10%), doubtful (15%), and dismissive (10%). The Six Americas do not differ demographically, but are dramatically different in their beliefs and actions, as well as their basic values and political orientations. The best ways to communicate and engage people in climate-related topics depends upon which group they belong to.  Know your audience.

Limits of Information:  Those of us in the business of education tend to overestimate the power of information.  The same can be said of many efforts to motivate behavior change towards sustainable lifestyles.  “If people understood the situation like we do,” I often hear activists say, “then they will …” consume less, weatherize their homes, turn off lights, ride bikes, and so on.  Alas, the power of information is limited and carefully crafted behavior-change programs must account for values, identities, norms, and other dimensions of people’s psychology.

Specializations within and outside of psychology provide access to tools and avenues for exploration.  Check out a few of them: Conservation Psychology, Sustainability Psychology, Environmental Education, and Human Dimensions of Climate Change.

R. Bruce Hull, IV, Ph.D. is a professor in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech practicing social ecology. His work focuses on healing forests fractured by pressures of urbanization and globalization. He is author and editor of over 100 publications, including two books: Infinite Nature (Chicago 2006) and Restoring Nature (Island 2000). He serves on the editorial advisory board for Gale’s GREENR environmental and sustainability studies web portal.

What made you choose an MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development?

Coming out of university at the height of a recession, I knew that getting a job in architecture would be difficult. I needed to find a way to stand out as an architecture graduate. I needed to find an area of architecture to specialise in. Architecture and sustainable development are inextricably linked. Whilst studying architecture I felt that sustainable development was a subject that should be addressed more throughout the course. I felt that sustainable development would be a subject that would become more important in the future. By studying this subject for a MSc, I could boost my skill-set, my knowledge of architecture and my career prospects in the future.

Did the course fulfill your expectations? What improvements, if any, do you feel could have been made?

The course did teach me a lot about the bigger picture of sustainable development. There was a lot more associated with the term than I had initially expected. I learned about things that I had never really understood before, in particular social theory and politics. With this in mind it did fulfill my expectations. However, I feel that the course could be improved by offering teaching in specific areas of sustainability rather than giving us general information about all sectors of sustainability.

The course finished more than two months ago. Briefly outline your job hunt since the end of September, highlighting any successes you might have had.

Since I finished this course I have applied for 15 jobs from a wide range of work environments, from the local council to shops on the high street as a sales assistant. I have been on six interviews so far. I am currently waiting to hear back from four of these interviews (all of which are temporary jobs for Christmas staff).

Getting an interview for a waste education officer was one of the successes throughout the job hunt period. I was well prepared for the interview and thought I did quite well. I answered all the questions and was able to show them that I had experience organising and hosting a series of similar education workshops with my classmates as part of university project. Although I didn’t get the job, it was my first interview and I still believe it went well. I think the fact that I am only 22 holds me back a bit. Others who apply are older and have a bit more confidence and life experience behind them. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about this. Perhaps I should blame my parents!

What do you feel are the biggest obstacles preventing you from getting a job within the sphere of sustainable development? How can they be overcome?

Unfortunately, even with the experience I gained throughout the course and various placements, experience still remains to be the main obstacle in getting any job. In order to overcome this, I need to gain more experience, however, being in university for four years is expensive. I am concerned that the only experience I can get is if I work for free. With bills and debts to pay off already, it seems unfeasible to do this. The main thing is to make sure these debts don’t increase and to keep a very close eye on the job section so I don’t miss any opportunities.

Freddie Harris has an MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development from Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His undergrad is in Tropical Environmental Science. Freddie writes about his experiences beyond graduation, giving others an insight into what is perhaps one of the most interdisciplinary subjects out there.

Myself, Emily-Kate, and Franklin at Fredy's house at the end of a coffee tour

Franklin Voorhes is a difficult man to track down. If you really want to find him, he’s usually in one of the following places: traipsing around the coffee fields of San Miguel Escobar (the headquarters of As Green As It Gets), riding his motorcycle with his ponytail flapping underneath his tilley hat, or drinking a vanilla latte at his coffee shop in Antigua. He’s not really in touch with email, doesn’t do texting or voicemail, and there’s about a 50% chance when you call that someone else answers his phone to say that he’s leading a tour group or in a meeting.

Franklin helped to start a nonprofit called As Green As It Gets (AGAIG) that operates as a “small-business incubator” for Guatemalans, mostly in the San Miguel Escobar area near Antigua.  Mainly, this means helping local coffee farmers complete the entire process of growing and exporting their own coffee. Before AGAIG started working in the San Miguel area, coffee farmers sold their coffee fruits to middlemen who’d then export their coffee to places around the world. As you might imagine, the coffee farmers received very little in return for the back-breaking work of farming coffee on the side of a volcano. AGAIG saw a huge opportunity to increase the income of the coffee farmers, thereby increasing access to health and education for their families, by learning how to complete the entire process themselves.

Franklin (right) with Fredy, a coffee farmer from San Miguel Escobar

These days, the farmers are in control of the entire coffee process and use mostly hand-powered equipment and only 5% of the water that a standard coffee plantation uses. AGAIG serves as a platform for the farmers to sell their coffee around the world. Yet another unique factor about AGAIG is that all of the proceeds from the coffee sales go directly back to the farmer who grew the coffee. This is pretty much unheard of, and it’s also the best coffee I’ve ever had.

From what I’ve seen in my year here, the status quo for most non-profits that call themselves “community development” organizations (and international giving arms) is to have some vague premise of sustainability. However, the reality is they are still here and very much depended upon 10, 20, or 50 years down the road. In contrast, As Green As It Gets is a development-oriented non-profit that does the quality of work that facilitates the transition to an entirely Guatemalan staff. Franklin’s future goals are not to be the principal of the middle school that AGAIG is building, or to continue to export coffee to places around the world, or to foster more Guatemalan entrepreneurs. Instead, Franklin’s goals for the future are to be able to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made from local ingredients and to have the time to drink cappuccinos throughout the day. Both of these are nearly complete, as he has a coffee shop that’s selling both peanut butter and jelly.

Fredy's son with a bicycle-powered machine for processing coffee

This doesn’t mean that Franklin’s leaving AGAIG in the dust. Once he’s attained these goals, it simply means that the coffee farmers are completely in control and operating AGAIG on their own as they see fit (which is nearly what’s happening today). The farmers he’s worked with most closely are a group of 25 in San Miguel Escobar. The average family size for these farmers is about eight children and each farmer needs labor from three to four people. AGAIG also works with farmer cooperatives around the country, so when you do the math they’re directly impacting the lives of thousands of Guatemalans.

Franklin went to Iowa State University, where he studied Engineering and minored in Environmental Studies. His advice for current students of the environment is to find another major with more marketability, or double major with a field that can pay the bills. For people who’d like to get involved with AGAIG, his advice (in preferential order) is to: come and work with them for a year or so, organize a service-learning trip to come down for a week to learn more about what they do, or if you don’t have the time to do that, make a donation online.

Laura Stephenson is a recent environmental science graduate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, focusing in environmental and community health. She is currently studying Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala. Laura writes the “After” Life of an Environmental Studies Student series, telling stories of the activities and endeavors of environmental science and studies students after graduation.