EPM hosts local professionals in first annual networking event

As a professional master's program, the Graduate Program in Environmental Policy and Management offers several events throughout the academic year that enable students to meet and network with environmental professionals in the Sacramento and Bay Area. Recently, EPM hosted the first annual professional networking event, An evening with EPM, sponsored by the UC Davis Institute of the Environment. The event welcomed over 70 people, including students, faculty and local professionals.

Science communication in action

The evening began with a student poster session, which offered students the opportunity to practice communicating complex projects to different audiences. One of the student presenters, Rachael Alcala, reflected on the experience. "A big focus of mine is on science communication and making a poster helped me experiment with different ways to do that, same with the event in general. It pushed me to explain my practicum project in a way that would be understandable for people who have no prior knowledge of the Salish Sea or not as familiar with marine policy. This was also my first time making a poster like that, and I probably would not have had the chance to do one without this type of event".

In total, four students created posters that outlined their Practicum project and deliverables. The Practicum is a directed internship where students have the opportunity to apply their coursework to a project in an applied setting. Practicums are a great way for professionals to leverage our graduate student's bright minds and fresh ideas for their special projects. On average, our students enter the program with 2 years of professional experience. This experience, and the skills they gain through the program allow them to plug into current projects and provide the client with high-level deliverables. The student presenters included:

• Kamryn Kubose, a second-year student who worked with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on planning for climate resiliency in the Tahoe Basin. See Kamryn's poster here. 
• Thomas Miller, a second-year student working with Advanced Environmental Methods focused on SB 1383 and the future of nitrogen recovery in California. See Thomas' poster here.
• Katie Michel, a second-year student who worked with California Native Plant Society on data mining California county general plans to identify opportunities to promote native plant conservation. See Katie's poster here.
• Rachael Alcala, a first-year student working with the SeaDoc Society working on an policy engagement analysis for conservation issues impacting the health of the Salish Sea. See a copy of Rachel's poster here. 

If you're a professional interested in hosting a student practicum, see more information here. 

Networking as community-building 

After concluding the poster session, we heard from several guest speakers. Dr. Mark Lubell, EPM Faculty Chair, gave an overview of our program's mission, initiatives, growth and expanding network of alumni. Dr. Isabel Montanez, Director of the Institute of the Environment, spoke about the Institute's mission and engagement with the EPM program. Our evening’s keynote speaker was Erin Rodriguez, Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs from CalRecycle. As an alumna of our program, Erin's speech was particularly powerful for the students to connect with. She spoke about the importance of networking as a community-building tool and encouraged students to dedicate time to build their professional relationships. She provided some helpful networking best practices and connected how important networking was to her personal career trajectory. 

First-year EPM student Kriti Shah commented "[It was funny] when the keynote speaker said she went to talk to people about trash [and recycling] it inspired me. Networking events have always been intimidating for me but being in this one where I had the opportunity to meet an expert who is working on the same project as me left me feeling confident and motivated to move further ahead in my career. So truly, you never know what you will find if you just relentlessly talk about your interests.”

EPM External Advisory Committee member, Doug Ito, Director of Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division at CPUC said "EPM’s focus on introducing students to the networking environment is such a critical and often overlooked aspect of preparing students for professional careers. Events like this one, and others that EPM sponsors, provide low stress and enjoyable ways for all of us to meet each other and practice our networking skills. And the benefit goes both ways – students make connections that will help advance their careers, and us older folk inevitably walk away with what can only be described as an infusion of hope and optimism for the future".

We look forward to offering this event next year. If you'd like to be notified of future EPM events, please sign up for our quarterly newsletter. 

On behalf of the EPM program, we'd like to give a special thank you to the Institute of the Environment for sponsoring this event. We'd like to thank all of the alumni, External Advisory Committee members and professionals that took time from their evenings to join us and engage with our students. We'd also like to thank EPM student Kriti Shah and External Advisory Committee members David Bunn and Peter Buck for assisting with the event coordination and logistics. This event was coordinated by Jessica Chalfin, Mark Lubell and Jessica Penrose.