Environmental policy student works to help preserve the local environment while developing important restoration policies
Christina Thomas fell in love with economics and how it can be used to lay the groundwork for environmental laws and policies while an undergraduate student at Pace University in New York. That passion continues as she pursues a master’s degree in environmental policy at Lehigh.
“The ideal graduate program for me was one that would give me the flexibility I needed to gain the skills I needed for the jobs I was looking for,” Thomas says. “I toyed with the idea of getting my master’s in environmental economics, which was my undergraduate degree, or switching disciplines and focusing strictly on Earth and Environmental Science (EES). I visited a few schools that offered both types of programs and had the chance to meet Dr. Robert Booth in the EES department (at Lehigh). In addition to showing me around campus, he introduced me to several faculty members as well as some EES master’s and Ph.D. candidates. Everyone was so nice and welcoming and eager to answer all my questions about the program here.
Under the guidance of Booth, professor of earth and environmental science and Karen Beck Pooley, professor of practice in the Department of Political Science and director of the environmental policy program, Thomas was allowed to take EES classes as her electives so that she could develop her passion for science-based policy design.
“Thanks to their flexibility and willingness to allow me to explore the intersection of environmental policy and EES, I’ve gained a lot of valuable skills while here at Lehigh that I’m hoping will help me once I start looking for jobs,” she says.
See full article here: https://cas.lehigh.edu/content/laying-groundwork