Sustainability Studies to Sustainable Jobs

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From left, Mikayla Curtis, Nikki Maline and Bailey Matthews have all landed jobs using the knowledge they gained from studying sustainability at CMC in Edwards. Photo Ed Kosmicki

From left, Mikayla Curtis, Nikki Maline and Bailey Matthews have all landed jobs using the knowledge they gained from studying sustainability at CMC in Edwards. Photo Ed Kosmicki

Students in CMC’s sustainability program graduate to successful careers

Nikki Maline arrived in Eagle County from Nebraska in 1997 with an Associate of Arts degree from Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte. Since then, she’d gone into real estate. She received her real estate broker associate license with the state of Colorado in 2005, but something wasn’t right for her.

That’s when she decided to earn her bachelor’s degree in sustainability studies at Colorado Mountain College in Edwards. She graduated in May 2015.

“It was so perfect,” she said of studying sustainability. “It made such sense to me.”

Today, Maline is the energy programs coordinator at Walking Mountains Science Center in Avon, where a number of CMC students, graduates and faculty have either worked, interned or been associated, such as its founder, Kim Langmaid.

Now 41, Maline, with her sustainability studies degree in hand, says her whole world has turned around.

“I love my job,” she said of her work, which includes serving as an energy coach for individuals and businesses. “It’s a totally different working environment than real estate. I can make a difference.”

Early education to sustainable solar energy

Coincidentally, Bailey Matthews also came to Eagle County from Nebraska. After getting her associate degree from Western Nebraska Community College, she came to Colorado and taught special education at Battle Mountain High School for seven years. All the while, Matthews took night classes at Colorado Mountain College.

Like Maline, however, Matthews was looking for a different focus in her life, so when she learned that the college offered a bachelor’s degree in sustainability studies, she registered for the program.

“One of the things I liked about getting my degree with CMC’s sustainability program,” Matthews, 32, said, “was that there was no preaching. Mercedes [Associate Professor of Sustainability Studies Dr. Mercedes Quesada-Embid] is brilliant. She teaches without judgment. She gives her students the power to decide. And it was affordable. I was able to graduate without a huge student loan.”

Since Matthews graduated last May, she has moved from elementary education to solar energy. Today, she’s the solar project manager at Active Energies in Minturn, working with a team consulting, designing and building solar systems for residential and commercial construction.

And there’s another advantage.

“I can bring my dog to work,” she said with a smile.

Sustainability in all its forms

Mikayla Curtis already had two college degrees when she decided to study for a sustainability leadership certificate. A native of the Vail Valley and an alumna of Vail Christian High School, she received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Puget Sound and her master’s degree in negotiation, conflict resolution and peacebuilding from California State University, Dominquez Hills.

Because of her interest and past experience in family and youth development – she had overseen leadership development programs for SOS Outreach in Edwards, for example – Curtis was most interested in studying sustainable social science, such as food systems and cultural equity.

“The certificate program pieced together a little bit of everything,” Curtis, 32, said. “It relates to sustainable family structures, and what kind of priorities are needed for social equity.”

While completing the certificate’s 15 credit hours in December 2014, Curtis accepted a position as the resource development coordinator, and more recently as the manager of strategic impact at Eagle River Youth Coalition in Edwards, which collaborates with other organizations to build strong community support for youth.

For Maline, Matthews and Curtis, though their careers are in diverse areas such as energy and science education, solar and green building, or providing youth with ongoing opportunities, sustainability links them all together.

“[Our careers] are all intertwined and connected,” said Maline.

Sustainability in everything she does

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From left, Julia Farwell, Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, sustainability studies professor, and Heather Exby, CMC Spring Valley campus dean and vice president at the Spring Valley bachelor's graduation. Farwell was named outstanding bachelor's graduate during the ceremony. Photo Ed Kosmicki

From left, Julia Farwell, Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, sustainability studies professor, and Heather Exby, CMC Spring Valley campus dean and vice president at the Spring Valley bachelor's graduation. Farwell was named outstanding bachelor's graduate during the ceremony. Photo Ed Kosmicki

Sustainability in Everything She Does

By Mike McKibbin

SPRING VALLEY — When it comes to sustainability, there may not be another Colorado Mountain College student who has done more to make a difference than Julia Farwell. Her five-year journey ended with a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies at Saturday’s commencement ceremony at the Spring Valley campus.

More than 1,000 graduates are receiving degrees and certificates from Colorado Mountain College May 2-6, at 10 different graduation ceremonies held throughout the CMC district. Graduates from Aspen to Glenwood Springs could choose to participate in ceremonies at the college’s Spring Valley campus.

After growing up in Danville, Illinois, about 120 miles south of Chicago, Farwell earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Illinois and moved to Carbondale in 1996. For 16 years, she worked in the area’s hospitality industry, including management.

“I decided I wanted to do something more meaningful with my life,” she said, so in 2012 she worked for Osage Gardens and took a sustainable agriculture class at Sustainable Settings. It was at Sustainable Settings where she met CMC sustainability students and Adrian Fielder, then instructional chair of sustainability studies and director of the college’s Lappala Center in Carbondale.

Those experiences piqued her interest in the field of sustainability and two years later she took her first class in the program: Leadership, Ethics and Social Responsibility.

“I was hooked,” she said.

Another factor that pushed her toward sustainability was growing up playing in the woods in her backyard in Danville.

“My mom instilled a respect for nature in me,” Farwell said. Farwell originally wanted to get a certificate in sustainability from CMC, but her counselor urged her to seek a bachelor’s degree.“So I took one to three classes a semester,” she said. “That’s why it took as long as it did. But it was really rewarding. CMC staff and faculty are really caring; they are passionate about helping students with whatever it is they need to be able to succeed.

Farwell had an internship at EverGreen ZeroWaste and joined the Carbondale Environmental Board.  She initiated several sustainability efforts for the Town of Carbondale including expanding waste diversion options at annual waste-disposal days and helped the town adopt an Ecological Bill of Rights. And she also brought source-separated glass recycling to South Canyon’s recycling facility.

She volunteered for numerous activities that helped to change how the Spring Valley campus embraces sustainable practices. Farwell organized zero-waste events at CMC, convinced staff to install healthy food vending machines, and helped establish composting at the Spring Valley and Glenwood Springs campuses. That led to similar changes at Morgridge Commons in downtown Glenwood Springs. Those changes helped the college divert the waste it sends to landfills.

In naming Farwell this year’s Outstanding Bachelor’s Student at the Spring Valley campus, program staff have noted that she “embodies sustainability in everything she does.”Along with her classes, Farwell has worked part-time since 2017 for the City of Aspen’s Environmental Health and Sustainability Department. Her boss is Liz O’Connell Chapman, also an adjunct faculty member in the college’s sustainability studies program.

With her degree, Farwell said she has future plans to spend a year with the AmeriCorps program and seek her master’s degree in communication.

“I want to combine communication with sustainability so I can engage diverse groups of people with sustainable initiatives more effectively,” Farwell said. She has already signed up for some communication and new media classes for fall semester.

Farwell praised O’Connell Chapman, as well as Johann Aberger, associate professor of outdoor education, and Adrian Fielder, now Spring Valley assistant dean of instruction, for helping guide and motivate her toward completing her degree. She also praised Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, Spring Valley’s full-time sustainability professor, for his efforts in making “real life” projects part of his courses.

“The program is very experiential, very hands-on, so you don’t have to wait until you graduate before you put what you learn to use,” Farwell said. “The small classes and the student interaction were great, too. I’ve really enjoyed this journey. It’s been such a joy.”