Passion Meets Purpose: Vanessa's Roadmap to a Career in Sustainability
Vanessa found her passion for our environment in 2020. Without any formal study or experience in the subject, she took a chance on something new and became a member of Climate Impact Corps. Vanessa hoped that service would let her learn more, gain experience, and establish a strong educational foundation of launching a new career. Two years later, she’s on her way to doing just that!
Finding Her Passion
Vanessa graduated college with an accounting degree and started her working life doing taxes. Early during the Covid-19 pandemic while sheltering at home, she and her husband began learning about sustainability. They read books, attended webinars, and even planted pollinator gardens at their home. Her newfound passion inspired her to dive into a new field.
“We'd been through that overwhelming feeling of, ‘How can I make any impact?
How can I help?’” Vanessa explains. “It became something we were really passionate about.”
Vanessa spent six months working on the tree crew with the City of St. Louis Park. While she was there, she learned about Climate Impact Corps. Vanessa applied to be a member right away. The position has been the perfect opportunity to launch a career in environmental work.
"I was looking for an access point into that area, and it seemed perfect because it was natural resources but also community focused,” she says. “I would be able to earn some money and hugely gain experience in an area where I wanted to work.
Managing Urban Forests
Today, Vanessa has completed two years of service with Climate Impact Corps! She focused on tree-related projects, one of which she helped create from the ground up to support the reforesting of her community. Urban trees increasingly have been facing diseases and pests like emerald ash borer or Dutch elm disease. When infected, these trees must be removed in order to stop the spread of the infection to other trees nearby. Depending on the size and location of the tree, it can cost thousands of dollars to remove. Property owners are responsible for the costs associated with tree removal, and this can be a hardship – especially for low-income households.
To help residents pay for the cost associated with removal and replacement of trees infested with emerald ash borer, the City of St. Louis Park received a three-year grant. In the beginning stages of its implementation, Vanessa made flyers and posted on social media to help spread the word about the program. Once the city finalized the application process for the program, she visited residents to provide consultations on tree removal, treatment, and planting and created an inventory for the city. After the first round of trees gets planted this fall, Vanessa will revisit homes, map where the new trees were planted, and provide the information to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Once planted and documented, these trees will help the state achieve its goal of 30% overall tree canopy cover by 2030 and 40% by 2050.
“It feels like my baby,” Vanessa says. “Some of it was a learning curve because I'd never administered a program like that, but I learned a lot about the workflow, and it's been a really cool experience.”
Inspiring the Next Generation of Climate Stewards
In addition to managing the planting of trees in the city’s grant program, Vanessa also developed a program to plant trees near elementary schools in St. Louis Park, with the help of local third grade classrooms. Having a Climate Impact Corps member like Vanessa on his team meant having the extra capacity to give the local elementary schools this experience that students may never forget!
“My kids go to St. Louis Park schools,” she explains. “I was really excited about it. To me, if you can provide a hands-on natural resource experience for a kid, they're not going to really forget it. It seems like one of the best ways to get kids to think about and be aware of the environment and taking care of it.”
What’s Next
After two exciting years with Climate Impact Corps, Vanessa is preparing for a full-time career in the environmental community. Using her Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, she started attending college classes in 2023 to earn an associate degree in urban forestry. With flexible service hours, she has been able to serve full-time and still attend school. She’ll finish her degree in December 2024 and already has some promising leads on potential career opportunities. Vanessa’s service also helped her learn that what she really wants to do in the field is work as an arborist.
“I love managing my community’s trees, deciding what gets planted where, and I like trying to better communicate with residents, so they know why they’re getting what they’re getting,” she says. “I got so much out of service. It was a unique opportunity to be able to do what I did and not be limited to a seasonal position, and I’m grateful for that. It's been just awesome.”
Are you looking for a way to launch an environmental career? Join Climate Impact Corps! Visit our website and find a location near you.