SSU environmental grads in demand

<p>NORTH BAY – Elise Howard and Nicole Dorotinsky have been friends since kindergarten. They went to elementary school together and high school as well. They even earned the same double major from Sonoma State University in environmental studies and planning and economics.</p><p>And they are both research and program coordinators for the city of Santa Rosa utilities department.</p><p>Students who graduate with degrees in environmental studies are becoming more in demand as companies of all kinds look to hire people with knowledge of how processes and facilities impact the environment, and more importantly to many businesses, the bottom line.</p><p>Ted Tiffany is an energy and building performance modeling manager for Guttmann & Blaevoet Consulting Engineers in the firm’s Sebastopol office.</p><p>He makes computer models out of buildings with Energy Pro analysis software to improve the performance of the building with existing and new buildings, landscape design, lighting and industrial energy efficiency.</p><p>Mr. Tiffany graduated from SSU in 2000 and worked for the company that puts out Energy Pro. When in 2005 the Environmental Studies department needed an instructor, he came on as a part-time lecturer.</p><p>“A lot of other schools teach these courses on the graduate level,” Mr. Tiffany said. “By training people in environmental studies at the bachelor’s level, we are preparing them for jobs. And they are in demand.”</p><p>He went on to say that businesses before couldn’t hire qualified people, but that programs like SSU’s are changing that. </p><p>The bachelor’s degree with a double major in economics and environmental studies and planning is, according to the SSU Web site, “intended for those students whose particular academic and career interests lie in natural resources economics, economic planning, energy management and/or community development and redevelopment.”</p><p>Before finding out about this program, Ms. Howard originally wanted to do something in design and architecture but said she felt herself getting frustrated with students around her not having a succinct path.</p><p>“Personally, the energy management and design was a good fit,” she said. “It was something I could do, and it was going to be applicable to a multitude of jobs.”</p><p>Ms. Dorotinski also did not set out to study environmental policy but began as an engineering major at San Jose State. It wasn’t until she took a course in environmental studies and heard from Ms. Howard about the program at Sonoma State that she considered making it her focus. So after one year in San Jose, she made the jump to SSU to pursue a degree there.</p><p>Now she heads up a project with the city of Santa Rosa that is looking to turn bio-solids left over from the water treatment plant into bio-fuel to run the city’s vehicles.</p><p>And Ms. Howard has taken on the role of environmental purchaser. “I write the policy and then go through each department and make sure everything is efficient. It is very comprehensive,” she said.</p><p>As to the demand for students with these kinds of degrees, she said, “People were really looking for us. I think all of the students I went to school with are working.”</p>