What’s your current title, and tell us a little about what you do? I am the Director of the Division of Land and Water Stewardship in the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. My division houses the Natural Heritage Program, which is the state agency responsible for gathering and sharing information about rare species and natural communities, and the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, an agency makes grants to protect and restore North Carolina’s natural and cultural treasures. Through our work identifying and conserving these places, we have contributed to the protection of 50 Game Lands, 43 State Parks and Natural Areas, local parks and land trust preserves too numerous to count, miles upon miles of trout streams, drinking water supplies, rare plants and animals, and historic areas, such as the one that may hold clues to the fate of the Lost Colony.
You were a seasoned professional when you came into the program. Why did you decide to pursue the MPA?
I now have over 16 years of service in this organization, during which time I have progressed through many roles with increasing administrative and leadership responsibilities. Despite that extensive on-the-job experience, I felt compelled to hone my skillset to better meet the challenges of managing a program of this size and importance. When I was appointed Director in 2022, I immediately began researching programs that were well-respected and capable of meeting my needs as a working student. I was thrilled to find that the best online MPA program in the country was right next door.
Looking back on who you were at the start of the program to who you are now, how have you changed? What I learned is that org charts, processes, meetings, division of labor, workflow, etc. are not things that naturally optimize themselves organically. The MPA program made me aware that administration was a science, complete with data, researchers, and publications, and instructed me how to effectively make use of it. I am now more self-aware as a leader and therefore more intentional in my actions.
What is one class, one project, one faculty member, one experience, one discussion, or some other aspect of our program that had an impact on you and proved to be meaningful in your professional life? I truly cannot single out a single event or experience more useful than another. I would say it was extremely rare that a week went by without learning something that I could immediately use in my professional life.
Q: What was the path you took to get to where you are now?
A: After I graduated from Drew University with a Poli Sci major/History minor, I was trying to choose between government work and a graduate degree in history. I went to work for the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. From there I was an intern for the Governor of New York which led to a job with NY State Assembly in the Environmental Conservation Committee as a Committee Clerk. I knew at that point my public service interests were leading me to continue government work. I looked around and applied to graduate school. I was drawn to UNC-Chapel Hill because of the strong alumni network and small size of the program.
In retrospect, the Program’s focus on organizational behavior gave me a framework for how to think about people and institutions. The MPA program taught about how organizational structure influences the way that work gets done and the experiences of employees. While at UNC, I applied for and was successful in getting a Presidential Management Internship (now Presidential Management Fellowship – PMF) with the federal government. Through an UNC MPA alumni at US EPA, my resume ended up on the desk of the man who became my boss and mentor for many years. I have enjoyed tackling air pollution problems at the Agency for nearly 30 years. Reducing emissions of soot, smog, and toxic air pollution in neighborhoods improves people’s health and quality of life. I didn’t expect to work at the federal level when I started graduate school but my two years at UNC broadened my interests and perspective, and I was open to new things.
Q: Have you pursued/attained any other degrees since your MPA?
A: Not degrees but I’ve taken a number of leadership classes/fellowships. One through the Brookings Institute and one through the USDA Grad School. I’ve worked on Capitol Hill twice through those fellowships. I also took classes at Duke on the science of air pollution soon after I started at US EPA.
Q: Is the field you are working in now relevant to your MPA degree?
A: Definitely. Working on air pollution issues for the federal government, public service is the core of what I do now. Serving the American people is incredibly important to me, and I certainly developed and refined my sense of what public service meant to me while in the MPA program at Carolina.
Q: How did the MPA program specifically prepare you for future work experiences or inform what you do now?
A: I credit the excellent professors in writing, organizational development, ethics, and communications. It gave me the tools and foundation for exactly the work I do now. The UNC MPA provided access to an amazing network of classmates, alum, and pipeline of talented students, some of whom have become colleagues at US EPA.
Q: Have you been able to fulfill goals formulated while in the MPA program? If so, how?
A: The MPA program informed my public service journey. The PWE gave great appreciation for direct service and economic development work in small communities in western NC. While it seems far away from the work I do now, it was actually the foundation for my current work . Commitment to making sure that people in neighborhoods and rural areas can breathe clean air is rooted in the experience I had in the summer between my first and second year in grad school. I learned lessons about how to communicate effectively with people in crisis. I give a lot of credit to my classmates as well. After that summer of PWE, we all came back and shared stories about what we had been through, comparing experiences. Having smart peers and professors who could help dissect why things worked and didn’t work was really helpful in processing and learning. It helped us tackle issues and potential solutions from a lot of different angles. I am grateful for the support that the MPA program offers to students and alum at all stages of our careers.