Alumni Spotlight: Julia Koppman Norton, District Manager at California Coastal Commission
Coastal strength and sea level increase are likewise topics of interest to Julia. Julia had a background in social sciences and so was looking for graduate programs that could link her planning background with ecological science.
Julia currently works at the California Coastal Commission (CCC) as District Supervisor for the North Central Coast, which includes locations in Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. Prior to this function, Julia worked as a Coastal Program Analyst. At the CCC, Julia reviews, examines, and looks at proposed coastal advancements and policies in the California Coastal Zone to guarantee they meet the policies of the State Coastal Act.
Julia Koppman Norton graduated from Columbia Universitys Masters in Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy (MPA-ESP) program in 2019. We caught up with her to see what she is up to now, how her experience in ESP was, why she selected to enlist in it, and how the program prepared her for a role at the California Coastal Commission.
Julia participated in the University of California Berkeley for her bachelors degree with a major in Urban Studies and a minor in Public Policy. After earning her Bachelor of Arts (BACHELORS DEGREE) degree, Julia took her skills to end up being a city planner for Lafayette, CA. In this role, Julia was accountable for existing city preparation along with some long-range preparation projects. As a little city, Lafayette did not have its own sustainability planning team, but after a long time, the city began offering Julia sustainability associated tasks. She took control of all projects related to sustainability and realized her enthusiasm for the crossway of sustainable city preparation. After understanding this enthusiasm for sustainability, Julia decided she wished to pursue a career in environmental policy.
Columbias MPA-ESP program was appealing to Julia due to its extensive summer clinical curriculum. She had no previous technical experience in the tough sciences and was looking for a masters program with this ability in order to gain a better understanding of environmental science principles that she might use to help create policy.
Coastal resilience and water level increase are also subjects of interest to Julia. How to adjust seaside areas to climate modification ended up being a point of interest after working on sustainability tasks at her city preparing job. Julia had a background in social sciences therefore was trying to find graduate programs that might link her planning background with environmental science.
Columbias ESP program ended up being really handy in finding out extensive science. The extensive summer season programs focus on ecological sciences still assists Julia when shes reviewing technical files. She presently has to look at many biological and geological reports and make succinct summaries for technical staff in order to make recommendations on tasks to her supervisors. ESP assisted Julia find out how to take a look at clinical info quickly and equate it to the general public. In addition, the program is group-work heavy, which primed her for her present task dealing with various stakeholders.
Julia presently works at the California Coastal Commission (CCC) as District Supervisor for the North Central Coast, that includes locations in Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. Prior to this role, Julia worked as a Coastal Program Analyst. Her work focuses on coastal resource defense and management. At the CCC, Julia examines, evaluates, and looks at proposed seaside advancements and policies in the California Coastal Zone to ensure they meet the regulations of the State Coastal Act. She works in an interdisciplinary style with researchers, engineers, attorneys, mapping experts, environmental justice experts, and other relevant state and federal agencies.
According to Julia, securing Californias coasts and making sure equitable access to the coastline is the very best part of her job. She enjoys the diverse jobs of her job consisting of a series of problems concerning public access to the coastline, parking, views of the ocean, delicate environment security, and sea level increase. Helping Californias coastline and associated development adapt to changing natural conditions is among her favorite parts of the job. Developing forward thinking policy options and projects to fight problems and safeguard beaches, like among her favorites, Baker Beach in San Francisco, make her task rewarding.
Talking to present graduates of ESP, Julia states its critical to put all of your feelers out there. She emphasizes not being fussy about tasks. For instance, when she used to her very first position at the California Coastal Commission, she was not encouraged if she would like the job or if she would be an excellent fit, but it wound up exercising well. While what you see on paper may not line up with what you might be interested in, she states, that does not indicate the job will not be a terrific fit. Eventually, look for great deals of tasks and ensure to have honest conversations with employers to see what they are like.
If youre interested in discovering more about the MPA-ESP program, please contact assistant director Stephanie Hoyt ([email protected]) with any questions or to arrange a campus go to.
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Taylor Goto|October 14, 2021
The Alumni Spotlight series consists of interviews from Earth Institute alumni about their career paths, how they became thinking about Earth Institute programs, and for any guidance that would be helpful to future and current trainees.