| by Matt Coomer
Middlebury Institute graduates discuss where they have worked, how the Institute helped them get there, and what advice they’d give to current and future MIIS students.
My name is Matt Coomer, and I graduated in 2017 with an MA in International Environmental Policy (IEP), specializing in Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. After graduation, I became the conservation projects and communications coordinator at the Marine Conservation Institute. I found the position on Idealist.org. Since then, I’ve pursued a career in communications, fundraising, and administration in various capacities. I currently work as communications and membership manager at the Phinney Neighborhood Association in Seattle.
My Center for the Blue Economy Fellowship with Conservation International Hawaii showed me how a nonprofit organization works in the field, and my International Professional Service Semester with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program helped me hone valuable new skills. It allowed me to become established in Seattle and explore local career opportunities too. I also continually reworked and improved my resume using tips that Edy Rhodes from the Center for Advising and Career Services shared during a professional development course.
Unique, real-world experiences are what make you stand out.
Perhaps the best advice I received in grad school was to leverage my MIIS student status to gain off-campus experience. Work hard in your classes, but devote equal energy to developing your career at the same time. Unique, real-world experiences are what make you stand out when, at the end of the day, anyone else can earn the same degree.
| by Jason Warburg
A series of international experiences taught Middlebury Institute alumna Lacey Raak MAIEP ’08 that lasting change begins at the local level, where today she is leading efforts to implement environmentally sound policies and practices in her own community on California’s Central Coast.
| by Anne Campbell and Thi Nguyen MAIEM ’20
Study abroad expands understanding but it has been highly dependent on air travel. Are international education and climate sustainability in conflict or do they work together? Join Dr. Campbell and Thi Nguyen MAIEM ’20 for this discussion.
Video
Best advice for a MIIS student today? Don’t be passive. Work with professors to design your own immersive learning projects, apply for funding, and get published. If you’re up for it, it’s a great way to do some hands-on learning that is a little more real world than perhaps a structured program.
