What happens when you meet a bunch of people who are passionate about their work, receive the opportunity to join in, scoop up your cat and get on a plane? We sat down with Gund’s new Global Outreach Specialist, Evie Sellers, to find out. Evie, who grew up in Wisconsin and recently completed her Masters of Public Administration at Indiana University, joined the Gund Institute leadership team last month.
How did you develop your interests in policy and the environment?
I was raised in a political junkie household—my grandma in particular. She’s the only reason that I could name political figures at the age of six. I don’t think most six-year-olds were saying, oh, that’s [Sen.] John McCain. But I was always exposed to politics and policy.
Once I started understanding what those things were and could do, I was a lot more invested. When I was older, I went to Yellowstone for the first time and was just like, oh my God, I didn't know things could look like this. I love Wisconsin, and it has lots of beautiful parts, but I had not been aware of the scope and scale of public lands and the sheer gorgeousness that was out there.
I realized that utilizing politics and policy to protect these natural resources is what I want to do. In college, I merged the environmental and policy pieces and explored the options: do I want to do public land policy? Do I want to do energy stuff?
What did you end up studying in college and grad school?
I majored in political science and environmental studies in undergrad, and then I got my master's in public affairs. My concentration was environmental policy and natural resource management. My coursework was about half policy analysis and public affairs more generally, while my electives covered domestic environmental policy, natural resource management, and environmental law. I found the areas that I enjoyed focusing on.
While I was in grad school, I also worked in local government. The City of Bloomington needed a communications person. I worked with some absolutely lovely people who were doing the most work I have seen anyone do ever—two very overworked people who were somehow making amazing things happen despite having less money year after year and butting heads with state politics. Working for some people I genuinely admired helped me figure out how to bridge the hard, more technical aspects of policy. I had the opportunity to weigh different parts of the job—I'm helping with development and implementation of these programs, I'm helping with grants, I’m contributing to these projects with communications to make sure that normal people can understand what we're doing.
And one takeaway that really stuck with me is that the whole reason we’re doing our work is to improve the lives of people in our community. In order to do that we need to make sure that we're communicating these projects to the public in ways that are accessible, in ways that are human.
How did you come to the Gund?
After my master's, I needed and wanted a job related to my field of study, and I came across the job on my LinkedIn feed. I remember seeing this role and thinking, oh, perfect. I can continue to work in the intersection of policy and communications in the same way that I had been doing while I was in grad school. Relationship building, project management, communications: these were all areas that I had been getting more familiarity with and discovered that I really enjoyed. So, I thought, OK, I'll throw my hat in the ring.
Once they decided to interview me, I got to talk with Amanda (Sardonis, Gund Director of Policy and Partnerships), Brittany (Patterson, Gund Director of Communications), and Taylor (Ricketts, Gund Institute Director) at different points in the process. I realized that this place sounds incredibly cool. These people are working on some amazing projects and are very clearly passionate about their work. It seemed like an environment that I would love to be a part of; I am annoyingly into what I do.
Now, I get to continue developing my skills, in a region that’s new and exciting to me. I’m getting familiar with Gund projects—the Vermont Climate Assessment just dropped, for example—and figuring out where my puzzle piece fits into the work that's happening here. I haven't figured that out 100% yet, but it's a work in progress.
What do you think of Vermont so far?
Well, I had the privilege of moving to Vermont in the fall. So I get off the plane and oh my God, it's like a postcard. I’m very appreciative of the natural beauty of this place that I now get to call home.
I actually visited my aunt and uncle in Vermont for the first time in 2022, and we did a day trip to Burlington. I went to Ben and Jerry’s, saw the world’s tallest filing cabinet, and went down to Lake Champlain. I did have a maple creemee from a truck right outside the Echo Center. It was delicious and I would love to have another one. (Let the reader be assured that Evie was immediately informed of the year-round availability of maple creemees at Morse Farm in East Montpelier.)
Favorite food?
I'm from Wisconsin. I’ve been spoiled with dairy products my entire life. My favorite food is cheese. And I'm blessed with not being lactose intolerant, but that does not mean I'm fill-your-whole-stomach-with-cheese tolerant. I'm not sure there's a natural tolerance for that behavior. The Wisconsin gut biome. It's magical.
Most important question. Any pets?
This is my favorite question. I have a 10-year-old cat. His name is Finnegan. He is the light of my life. He has been mommy's little trooper. I adopted him in Indiana, then he had to come to Wisconsin with my parents, and then I had to take him on a plane to come to Vermont. He has done so well with all the changes.
He is just the sweetest—he runs to the door when I come home. He's like a little dog.