Embarking on an Academic Career

My journey in academia began summer of 2019, teaching an undergraduate-level Introduction to Environmental Science course. The first three months on the job, in a number of ways, exceeded my expectations, though, in a sense, I anticipated that this might well arise. The transition from the monotony of a NEPA Project Environmental Scientist life, working primarily independently with projects requiring traveling, reports, and legal document knowledge, to immersing in a diverse community of students positioned me to question my positionality. Moreover, the unique and fruitful instructor-to-student relationships I had the honor to build in just weeks became an essential aspect of the foundation upon which I built my pedagogy. The first three months were more challenging than I had anticipated, both in the learning curve of course structure and design and in the personal growth that allowed me to better connect to my community.