M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, 2016
Advisor Ann Rappaport
Fields of Study Sustainable Livelihood Assessment; Food Security
Why did you join WSSS?
I always felt that water is the next gold, the most precious resource, and the one that we are most seriously depleting and polluting. I wanted to learn more about the solutions to prevent that, especially coming from California. I wanted to better understand both the problems and solutions given the stress associated with the drought and high demand for water there, given California is America’s largest food producer.
What was your favorite part of the WSSS program?
Working on an interdisciplinary team! As a person coming from a policy and social justice background it was more than rewarding to work with engineers especially on projects and share knowledge from across disciplines that I normally wouldn't have been exposed to.
What was the most challenging part of the WSSS Program?
Coordinating meeting times across different campuses.
What was your favorite water related Tufts course?
Low Impact Development with Scott Horsley
What’s something about WSSS you never expected?
Learning about the failures or issues related to the US water system. I was so concerned with international water challenges that I didn’t realize the extent of violations of the Clean Water Drinking Act or lack of information that we have about our own water systems here. Albeit, the United States is further along than many developing nations and I’m thankful that we at least have a government structure in place to manage it, more could always be done to improve it.
How are you using what you learned in WSSS in your current work/profession?
I am currently working as an intern for the MA Department of Public Health on a project to create a Public Drinking Water System Map for the state in order to better visually identify which communities are being served by which public drinking water systems. This will be used to visually identify public health concerns. The concepts that I explored related to water utility governance structures as well as my GIS class are really valuable for the project.
What’s one piece of advice for incoming WSSS students?
