MESPOM student stories

MESPOM students and alumni come from over 80 countries of five continents. A typical MESPOM student has graduated with top grades from a good university and has some experience of voluntary or professional environmental work. She or he understands global environmental challenges and has a clear commitment to contribute to their resolution.

A typical MESPOM class is a mix of (a) engineers and natural scientists seeking to work in policy or management positions (about 30-40% of students), (b) students with backgrounds in social sciences and humanities (about 30-40% of students) seeking to learn about scientific and technical aspects of environmental protection and (c) environmental practitionerswho seek to supplement their practical experience with formal knowledge about the environment. By consciously mixing these different categories in one classroom, encouraging their learning from each other and structuring the curriculum in such a way that it enables planning individually tailored careers, MESPOM has contributed to hundreds of successful environmental careers.

The MESPOM Program has attracted students from prestigeous international universities such as BostonBrownLeidenLundMcGillMcMasterMoscow State, Peking and Stanford, as well as Universities of Andes (Columbia), AucklandCanberraCape TownCosta RicaBritish ColumbiaCalifornia (Santa Barbara), CopenhagenNew DelhiOxfordPuebla (Mexico), San Marcos (Peru), SheffieldToronto and Washington (Seattle), Weseda (Japan) among others.

Check this page for regularly updated stories of our students!

MESPOM Student Stories

From working for a firm in the U.S. to becoming an Assistant Professor in Sweden: Jessica Jewell

March 6, 2020
Batch-3 (2009) graduate Jessica Jewell talks about her journey from working for a firm in the U.S. to becoming an Assistant Professor in Sweden.

How did I become a consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN in Rome

February 20, 2020

Batch-10 graduate from Mexico, Isaac Guzman Estrada talks about how MESPOM enabled his journey from a background in sustainable transportation to being a consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN in Rome.

Always making reunions everywhere - Masahiro Suzuki

February 18, 2020

This week, Batch-8 (2014) graduate, and current PhD student Masahiro Suzuki from Japan talks about how MESPOM helped him shape his passion for the environment into a profession.

Radio producer Vaida Pilibaityté on how MESPOM made her a better communicator

February 14, 2020

Batch-4 (2010) graduate and award-winning radio producer Vaida Pilibaitytė from Lithuania talks about how MESPOM made her a better communicator and environmental journalist.

Enrichment through energy studies and environmental engagement - Joel Gordon

Current Manchester-track student Joel Gordon reflects on his MESPOM journey over the past 1.5 years as Batch-14 settles into their thesis semester.

Jennifer Lenhart (graduate of 2007), Global Lead of Cities at WWF

12 years ago?! Yikes! Feels like yesterday. But in short, MESPOM influences the work I do every single day.

This week we caught up with 2007 graduate, Jennifer Lenhart in Chile, who is the Global Lead on Cities for WWF.  She talks about how the MESPOM Toolbox is still helping her 12 years after she finished the program. 

Susana Guerreiro (MESPOM batch-9) panel speaker at COP25 in Madrid

December 30, 2019

With increasingly more young people taking the global stage in advocating climate action, the side-event on “Increasing Climate Ambition through Capacity Building Among Youth and Educators” at COP25 in Madrid was particularly relevant and timely.

A Fijian Journey After MESPOM: Nacanieli Bolo (Batch-12)

Nacanieli Bolo (Batch-12) talks about his Fijian journey after MESPOM.

After completing MESPOM in 2018, I returned to Fiji and worked as a consultant for UNDP in the field of risk (climate and disaster) and development nexus and then later joined the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a policy analyst supporting UK’s climate and ocean governance work in the Pacific.

Imelda Phadtare '2016 talks about her work climate resilience, risk and chaos

This week, batch-10 alumni and 2016 graduate, Imelda Phadtare talks about her work climate resilience, risk and chaos.

 

Advancing Academic Frontiers for Sustainable Solutions

This week 2007 MESPOM graduate and present Associate Professor at Lund University, Yuliya Voytenko Palgan talks about advancing academic frontiers for sustainable solutions.

Updated: May 5, 2023