Cities and towns of every size are grappling with challenges facing their transportation plans and infrastructure—fortunately, Rubenstein School students have the passion and expertise to face those challenges head-on. The Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy program, formerly known as Natural Resources, prepares its graduates for dynamic and rewarding careers and gives them the tools to work towards meaningful, long-term solutions for the problems facing our society.
Chris Lamm, a winter 2023 Rubenstein School graduate with a Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy (SEP) major and a Resource Planning concentration, has been interested in transportation infrastructure and planning since before he started at University of Vermont (UVM). “I was watching videos and listening to podcasts about planning, and became really interested in things like bike and pedestrian safety,” Chris explained. He recently accepted a position at EIV Technical Services, a Winooski-based consulting company that provides environmental and construction inspection. “I met with them at a STEM career fair at UVM,” Chris said. Chris will be working as an environmental technician focusing on roadway projects in Northwest Vermont.
Chris’s experience at UVM and passion for transportation-related issues demonstrates how much Rubenstein School students can gain by specializing: finding a niche academic interest to pursue through coursework and internships. “I took almost all of the law and policy courses that were offered in the Rubenstein School,” Chris said. “Those courses were Environmental Law, Energy and Climate law, and Legal Aspects of Environmental Planning with Clare Ginger. In those classes we focus on federal laws that impact the environment.”
Digging deep into specific topics (in Chris’s case, planning and transportation infrastructure) is a great way for students who already know what they want to do in their careers to get a leg up and be extra-prepared for work in their chosen fields. All of Chris’s internship experience while at UVM was in the public sector; his roles ran the gamut from town government to the Federal Highway Administration.
“My first job after graduation is going to be in the private sector, but that government experience certainly transferred over,” Chris recollects. “Those internships showed me that a lot of public sector work is performed by private sector contractors. A lot of what gets done in the private sector, the type of work that we’re interested in here at Rubenstein, is funded with public sector money.” Chris’s in depth understanding of the ways that the public and private sector interact and rely on each other made him a great candidate for his new job.
Despite Chris’s specific interests, he didn’t start out as an SEP major. Like many Rubenstein School students, he began as an Environmental Science (ENSC) major. “I took AP Environmental Science in high school and liked it a lot,” Chris explained. “I knew I wanted to be out in the field doing lab work, and that outdoor work is still really interesting to me and will be part of what I’m doing at my job.”
When Chris realized that his academic passions and strengths were found in the law and policy focused classes of the SEP program, he switched his major. He credits his ability to make this discovery to the flexibility of the programs in Rubenstein. “One of the bets parts of the ENSC major is the flexibility in the classes you can take,” Chris said. Many students start out as ENSC majors, and thanks to the wide variety of classes that major allows you to take, some of them, like Chris, discover that their interests and areas they want to focus on lie elsewhere, but can still be pursued within a different Rubenstein program.
Chris is from Austin, Texas, and was a first-year student in the fall of 2020, when most courses were online and life on UVM’s campus looked very different. “I chose Rubenstein because I really liked the program and felt that it was unique compared to other environmental programs in the country,” Chris explained. “NR 1 was a huge selling point for me.”
Each Rubenstein student, regardless of their major, takes NR 1 and NR 2, a two-semester long course formally known as Natural History and Human Ecology. It’s a staple of the college’s core curriculum, and students look back on it fondly for the rest of their academic careers and lives. “Knowing I would come here and take classes that are going to be outdoors, and that I’d get to do cool things in my first year even if everybody else is taking online classes and all my friends aren’t even at college, they’re just home for the whole freshman year? That was a big deciding factor,” Chris said.
NR 1 & 2 weren’t the only hallmarks of Rubenstein’s core curriculum that were difference-makers for Chris. He also used his capstone project, a required class and undertaking for all Rubenstein students, as another stepping stone towards his chosen career. “I went into that class thinking ‘I’m going to find something that is relevant to me and that I can actually use as job experience on my resume and talk about in an interview,” Chris explained.
For his capstone project, he made a comprehensive greenhouse gas inventory for the town of Williston. The project was so successful, it’s now a resource for the town and featured on their website. Chris’s advice for current and prospective Rubenstein students is to take their capstone project seriously. “I talked about my project in interviews and I got a job,” Chris said. “You’re getting a degree because you want a job.” Rubenstein students like Chris are especially well prepared for job hunting thanks to the many opportunities they have to do meaningful work as undergraduates.
Chris, like so many Rubenstein students, made the most of his experience. “Rubenstein was exactly what I wanted,” Chris said. “It was academically rigorous and well known as one of the best environmental programs in the country.” As the SEP program continues to grow and add courses, more transportation and planning enthusiasts like Chris will be able to turn their passions into coursework, and their coursework into impactful careers.
all photos courtesy of Chris Lamm