Employee Spotlight - Grace Curtis
Grace Curtis is a second-year EPM student who began her role working as an EPM Student Assistant this fall quarter. Her work with the program entails developing outreach and engagement content for various EPM student, faculty, and alumni platforms, and she will also be providing event support. Grace is completing a specialization in sustainable agriculture during her second year in the EPM program, but also prioritizes building skills and experience in data science, environmental justice, climate science, sustainable land management, and community resilience.
Grace obtained her bachelor’s degree at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a major in journalism and minors in English and environmental studies. After working in agricultural and environmental communications, Grace was passionate about making positive change in the environmental field and moved to Sacramento to serve in Sac State’s Capital Fellows Program as an Executive Fellow. Through her fellowship, she worked within the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) on climate and clean energy program implementation and continued this work later as a full time analyst. Interested in building her technical skills and gaining more experience in sustainable agriculture, Grace decided to pursue her master’s degree through the UC Davis EPM program. Grace loves spending her free time hiking, camping, skiing, paddleboarding, and being in nature. She also serves as Outdoor Events Coordinator for the EPM Social Committee.
What excited you about this role and encouraged you to apply?
What excited me about this role was the same thing that initially drew me to the program, which was the program's focus on providing the most effective resources to its students and alumni. I have always felt like the EPM program staff have gone above and beyond in ensuring students get the help they need as they work towards building their careers as environmental professionals, and I felt inspired to be a part of that work and support however I could. Whether that looks like communicating EPM’s public facing work through social media and website content, keeping job boards updated, and helping events go smoothly, I knew supporting the program would be highly worthwhile. I also felt my background in environmental communications would serve me well in developing outreach content.
What are you hoping to accomplish during your time in this role?
Right now, a lot of the EPM’s outreach and engagement content will be focused on raising funds to support student experiential learning and travel expenses through a campaign called Crowdfund UC Davis. I hope to focus as much attention as possible on supporting this outreach effort so that EPM students aren’t hindered by financial obstacles when seeking out opportunities outside of the classroom.
I am also hoping to develop content for EPM that helps showcase student employment spotlights and job shadowing in addition to our current alumni and faculty spotlights. One thing students think about a lot is how they are going to obtain part time employment or internships while they are in school, either to financially support their education or to fulfill EPM practicum requirements. I feel it would be helpful to hear more from current students how they found work or internship opportunities as a grad student and tips they have for others to do the same.
What is one thing you are surprised about in your new role?
Prior to working directly with EPM program staff, including Jessica Penrose, Jessica Chalfin, and Tyler Scott, I knew that they handled a lot of work on behalf of the students to keep everything on track. Now working with them more directly, I see just how much is on their plate and how much dedication they have in constantly improving the EPM program. I am hoping I can bring that same level of thoughtfulness towards creating a better experience for 1st and 2nd year students, alumni, and anyone else engaging with the program!
What is currently at the top of your reading list?
I am a big fan of science fiction and fantasy novels as a way to take a break from school and work, and have been trying to get the most out of my commute by listening to audiobooks as well. I was recommended to read the author Brandon Sanderson (shout out to Kyle B.) and am loving his books! Amazing worldbuilding and character arcs. Currently making my way through the Stormlight Archive series and have been told I picked the hardest series to get into first, but loving it! Definitely recommend.