The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) facilitates North American collaboration on environmental issues. As Project Lead, I am part of a team coordinating several conservation projects on topics ranging from marine litter awareness campaigns to grasslands preservation. After studying Environmental Policy at PSIA, I worked as a special assistant to a Member of Parliament in Canada. Working in politics provided an incredible opportunity to see policy-making in action, and to learn more about a broad range of important issues.
Working in politics allows you to delve deep into a variety of different topics, and exposes you to organizations and agencies doing interesting work that you might not otherwise hear about. It was through my role as a special assistant that I first learned about the work of the CEC. When an opportunity to work at the CEC became available, I jumped at the chance to work on environmental issues that were close to home but also involved international cooperation.
I really like having the opportunity to work on several topics at the same time, and I get a glimpse of the environmental priorities and actions across three different countries.
PSIA provided an excellent foundation of practical knowledge, and the value of what I learned at PSIA was compounded exponentially by applying it and working on the ground.
For anyone planning to work on policy in the future, I can’t understate the value of spending time working in politics and interacting regularly with citizens. The 'big picture' perspective it provides – by learning what is important to people and what policies really work in practice – is invaluable.