In the Wild: Abbey Gyetvai with the Consensus Building Institute

My name is Abbey Gyetvai, and I am a current student in the Graduate Program of Environmental Policy and Management. I will graduate in June 2025 with a specialization in City & Regional Planning and Environmental Justice.  I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon in 2020 in Environmental Studies, where I focused on Geology, Policy, and Social Sciences. I also received a minor in Political Science. These interests led to my completion of an honors thesis on environmental justice in “Cancer Alley”, Louisiana, focusing on bioaccumulation and biomagnification of pollutants in the area. Bioaccumulation and biomagnification are the increase and build-up of harmful chemicals, such as benzene and lead, in the body. My career goals are to go into environmental consulting, where I can focus on planning and housing, equity, and natural resources. 

From May to December 2024, I had the opportunity to work with the Consensus Building Institute (CBI). CBI is a nonprofit organization with decades of experience helping leaders collaborate to solve complex problems (Consensus Building Institute), providing expertise in agriculture and commodities, climate, coasts and oceans, social and economic policy, energy, global development and peacebuilding, land use and transportation, natural and cultural resources, and water resources. My practicum project included a portfolio of work, where I worked on nine different projects related to water resources, housing, and natural resources. These projects included: 

• Tehama County Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) provides planning and facilitation services to support the county’s efforts to achieve long-term groundwater sustainability. For this project, I wrote and created general public outreach materials’ content, recorded and synthesized information from public meetings, conducted background research, and attended bi-weekly planning sessions with the Tehama County Groundwater Sustainability Agency.
• Water Forum 2.0 Negotiations addresses the challenges of multiple interests on the Lower American River. Ultimately, the participants (the Public, Business, Water, and Environmental Caucuses) strive to balance water supply and preservation of the ecological and aesthetic values of the river. My objective for the Water Forum 2.0 was to attend weekly planning meetings, where I observed the facilitation process and conducted background research. Moreover, I assisted in an in-person meeting for an information-sharing session that was critical to a component of the negotiations, known as Purveyor Specific Agreements.
• Vermont Climate Action Office focuses on the development and implementation of the state’s Climate Action Plan. CBI guides the overall process, facilitates meetings of the council and its subcommittees, and assists with stakeholder engagement. My objectives for this project were to create two presentations highlighting the Vermont CAO’s engagement strategies and on topic areas for an updated climate action plan. An additional objective was to organize and input public comments into a database for the Vermont CAO.
• Interlaken Group Assessment focuses on bringing stakeholders from all over the world together to discuss land rights. My objectives for this project were to draft short biographies with headshots for all 138 participants in the Interlaken Group and compile them into one document. Moreover, I reached out to each participant to verify the accuracy of their biography. The group used this document to foster networking and building relationships across the large number of participants.
• Palo Alto Downtown Housing Plan focuses on bringing affordable housing to Palo Alto. Specifically, it aims to increase housing production in Palo Alto’s downtown and implement the policies and programs of the City’s Comprehensive Plan and the 2023-2031 Housing Element. My objectives for this project were to assist Tania Carlone in the 20 separate stakeholder interviews, where I took notes and synthesized the main themes and takeaways from each interview. Additionally, I was in communication with each stakeholder for scheduling and follow-up questions as well as with the primary consulting team, WRT Design.
• Lower American River Task Force is a citizen and agency body that meets to discuss flood, environmental, and recreational management issues impacting the lower reach of the American River from the Folsom Dam to the Sacramento River confluence. Additionally, the group focuses on ecosystem restoration efforts, water control releases, and flood planning. My objective for this project was to create a spreadsheet documenting each of the LARTF meeting dates, noting the attendees and presenters.
• Somerville Rental Registry and Energy Disclosure Ordinance worked with the community to form focus groups and gain insight into how individual renters would react to this proposed ordinance. I worked on this project very briefly, where my objective was to attend one focus group session, take notes, and then synthesize the notes with main themes. My focus group included three individuals.
• Salinas River Operations Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) focuses on reservoir reoperations. Specifically, my objective was to attend and develop summaries for the Technical Advisory Committee’s meetings, the group that advises the Monterey County Water Resources Agency through the HCP process.
• Sonoma County HCP/Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP) aims to help private and public entities plan and conduct projects and activities in ways that lessen impacts on natural resources, including specific threatened and endangered species. My objectives for this project were to conduct background research, create a survey for meeting participants, attend and take notes for public meetings, create a key partner and outreach contact information spreadsheet, and collaborate with Stephanie Horii on a Community Engagement Plan.

Each of these projects worked toward furthering environmental governance. My projects took place both domestically (California, Vermont, Massachusetts) and internationally (Singapore, Columbia, France, Cameroon, England, Netherlands). Due to this experience, I gained more experience in my environmental governance, research, leadership, and negotiation skills. In the future, I hope to further enhance these skills as I continue my environmental career.