Moving Ahead

Since finishing my Master's degree in Environmental Policy & Management at the University of Denver this past March, I've been working a couple of part-time jobs in an effort to find my path forward in the context of those things that I am passionate about career-wise. In May I began working with a small non-profit called Eco-Justice Ministries, an organization that works with churches to help them develop their ministries in ways that are more socially just and environmentally sustainable. In late July, after finding out that I had not been accepted into a Ph.D. program that I'd applied to, I was instead offered a job doing research on urban sustainability and public lands planning at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD). While both of these jobs have allowed me to explore areas of deep interest, I have decided that the urban sustainability topic incites deeper passions in me. And in all honesty, I have come to believe that this path holds the better career opportunities for me over the long-term. To help get deeper into this field, I have applied and received acceptance into a Master’s program in Urban & Regional Planning at UCD. This will help fill in some of the knowledge on urban systems and planning not covered in my first master’s degree, and will give me an even better chance of getting into the Ph.D. program and a particular fellowship program I want to apply to for 2009-2010. It’s a logical step from my thesis work at DU, and a very exciting opportunity.

I hope to maintain some sort of connection with Eco-Justice Ministries and use my increasing knowledge and experience to help them fulfill their mission. I don't know if that will be in a paid capacity, or as a volunteer; I'll figure that out over the next few weeks as things come together. Eco-Justice Ministries' mission is an important one, and one I want to support. This move should give me all sorts of things to want to think through and discuss on this blog, so I'm sure I'll be keeping a record of the journey as I move ahead on this project. Stay tuned!