lEHIGH
university
Masters in Environmental Policy Design, Environmental Initiative [ e st. 2 0 0 9] The Environmental Initiative was started in 2009 as an interdisciplinary program supported by four colleges within the University, including the core departments Earth & Environmental Sciences and Civil & Environmental Engineering. The program offers two independent graduate programs: Environmental Law and Policy, and Environmental Policy Design. cas.lehigh.edu/CASWeb/ei
I felt that I had the interest and enough background from having an undergraduate degree in environmental studies, but I really needed that practical application and theory behind environmental policy change that would come with the environmental policy design masters program.”
Christina Bianco Ratings Associate, B Lab Berwyn, PA | Class of 2010
—Sarah Morgan
Doing something related to the environment just seemed appropriate. There needed to be more people working on these issues and I just feel like there weren’t. —Christina Bianco
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hile pursuing a double major in environmental studies and Spanish, Christina Bianco took a course on the impending energy crisis. During the class, Bianco realized what she wanted from her future career. “I felt like there’s this problem, and if I’m going to go down a career path, I want it to be one where I feel like I’m needed in the current state of the economy and the environment,” she says. After finishing her degree at Lehigh University, she continued into a master’s program offered through the Environmental Initiative program. “I thought I wanted to work for the EPA,” she says. But while pursuing her master’s degree, Bianco interned with Lehigh’s Purchasing Department, and helped choose environmentally-friendly furniture for a newly built LEED building and write a green purchasing policy. The experience encouraged Bianco to apply for a job with B Lab, a nonprofit in Berwyn, Pa. that helps businesses become certified as environmentally and socially responsible businesses, or B Corporations. Bianco works directly with companies that want to certify as B Corporations and assists in determining ratings of their social and environmental performance for their investors.
Sarah Morgan Transportation Manager, Heritage Community Initiatives Pittsburgh, PA | Class of 2010
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arah Morgan admits that her interests were very different from her fellow classmates in the Environmental Policy Design master’s program. “Most were concerned with the design of major environmental laws. My interest was always in local environmental decision making,” she says. “I wanted to know the theory behind environmental laws and regulations… to help shape how I was going to affect change once I was out in the world.” Morgan entered the program after completing a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at Lehigh. Even though the University doesn’t have an urban planning school, the program’s flexibility allowed Morgan to study those ideas through an environmental policy lens. “[It was] a totally new perspective that really allowed me to get the most out of the program, which was a totally unique experience I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.” After graduating, she worked with the North Jersey Transportation Planning Association in Newark on developing climate adaptability and mitigation plans. Interested in a more hands-on approach, she took a job with the nonprofit Heritage Community Initiatives. As transportation manager, Morgan handles the shuttle service that supplements the existing public transportation service for people who need to get to work or work-related support services.
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