Alumni Story

I am Quynh Nguyen from Vietnam. I studied Environmental Chemistry at the University of New South Wales, Australia and worked as a technical advisor on improving institutional capacity for water pollution control at Vietnam Environment Protection Agency before joining MESPOM in 2007.

The two-year-journey has been full of great experiences and memories during which I have lived and learnt so much more intensively than ever before. The programme has indeed provided me with in-depth scientific research opportunities (from my 3rd semester and my thesis research in Manchester) in addition to the holistic approach which brings a broader and comprehensive mindset in understanding and handling any specific task in the field.

I am Olena Kiva from Ukraine (MESPOM Batch 3). Although the situation on the Ukrainian job market is really tough now, I managed to gen employed on the next week after the graduation. I am working for the Scientific Engineering Center “Biomass” at the Department for the Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol. This company is one of the key players in the field of bioenergy and Joint implementation projects development in Ukraine.

I wanted to share a bit of my proudness with you (OK, you might say I am a bit ego-centric, but hey this doesn't happen every day!).
Science interviewed me and published it on their Careers site. In the interview, I explain my way from science into policy career (I work as an E.U. policy officer on sustainable agriculture at the Greenpeace European Unit in Brussels. (See my other post about this job).

I am Huang He, a MESPOMer in 2007-2009, and I come from China. After working in London for a while, I am back to Beijing and start working for the Energy Research Institute (ERI) at the National Development and Reform Committee of China. ERI is the most important Chinese energy institute; it has a big influence on decision-making process, especially in my field (renewable energy policy), where China’s renewable energy law was drafted. Renewable energy, considered as good for both environment and economy, is still quite new in China and the whole industry is full of uncertainties and challenges.

I am Shahzia from Dhaka, Bangladesh and studied at MESPOM in 2006-2008. After returning home, I was searching for the best possible way that would integrate my prior working experiences, passion and new knowledge I gathered from MESPOM. I found myself greatly interested in building new ideas and sharing knowledge for which academia seemed most-suited. It was a coincidence that I also received calls to join several universities to teach undergraduate students from multiple disciplines.

I am Luciana Sivestri, I come from Argentina and I attended MESPOM in 2006-2008. As soon as I finished MESPOM I got a job offer to work in Madrid for the organization called the Club of Madrid.I am in charge of their project called Global Leadership for Climate Change assisting the Director in climate change issues. This is a joint initiative with the United Nations Foundation http://www.globalclimateaction.com/. Basically I am working in climate change negotiations for a post 2012 agreement.

I come from Mumbai, India and studied at MESPOM in 2006-2008. Before joining MESPOM I completed Research Training Program from Center for Studies in Social Sciences in Kolkatta. I also hold a Masters in Sociology (University of Mumbai) and worked with WWF-Divisional office (Pune, India) as a consultant and researcher in the field of environmental education.

Since March I have been working as a junior policy adviser on genetic engineering at Greenpeace European Unit. The Unit is based in Brussels; it monitors and analyses the work of the EU institutions, exposing deficient EU policies and laws, and challenging decision-makers to implement progressive solutions. Greenpeace European Unit also plays a role in coordinating the Europe-based national and regional offices of Greenpeace. This way Greenpeace is able to influence decision-making processes at the levels where the decisions are being made: national ministries, national authorities, national parliament, European Commission, European Parliament etc.

I come from Kenya and studied at MESPOM in 2006-2008. Before joining MESPOM I worked in the Ministry of Environment of my country. My new job is very exciting and challenging I am the Environment Policy and Compliance Manager for the leading telecommunication company here in Kenya. This is a new position so I am the first environment manager and thus have to set up an environment management system, deal with all environmental complaints from the public, develop environment awareness materials for the consumers as well as the company employees. I have to coordinate both internal and external environment issues. I also coordinate CSR activities in relation to the environment, and deal with environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental audit (EA). I also advise the management on environmental issues. Currently I am also working on a program for clean hybrid energy systems for the company.

Prior to joininng MESPOM I had been studying and working in the biodiversity conservation field in South Africa. This was always where I wanted to end up again after finishing MESPOM. During MESPOM studies I tried to focus on topics that I felt would come in useful in this field. I was also lucky enough to focus my MESPOM thesis on the environmental policy relating to the traditional linefishery here in South Africa, which gave me valuable insights into how the small-scale fishing industry in my home country operates.