What is it, exactly, that you do?

This weekend was especially nice because it was the first weekend that I have in recent memory where we didn't really do much. We had a few people over on Friday night, stayed home Saturday instead of going to the game because I wasn't feeling well, and yesterday we caught up on a bunch of random stuff around the house. I even bought a seed planter thing so I could get started with my garden in my garage. I really hope it works out because that is going to save a ton of money on plants. I also had no idea what I was doing. I may have over planted. We will see.
In light of having a little extra time, time to breathe and reflect I thought I would tell you a little more about my work.
People often need some clarification on what it is that I do. It isn't that what I do is really that technical or very difficult to understand. I think what really gets a lot of people is the "why?"
I have become recently aware of the depths of how little people know of what I do due to mostly family having to ask me, even lately. I am used to friends being curious. Usually we will be at an event together and I will have a one on one conversation with a friend or one of Matt's friends (which I have now adopted as my friends). We will be enjoying small talk and they get that all too familiar "I've been meaning to ask you" look which is followed by, "So, what is it, exactly, that you do?" and I never can tell how detailed of an answer they want and I generally guess wrong. Then they usually follow up with something that I find pretty entertaining about what they had imagined I had been doing all this time.

For grins, I looked up some of those "What people think I do" posts everyone was doing for a while. Here is what I found for environmental science.

And then I realized that these are actually quite easy to make for yourself, so I made one to more closely represent what I do. 

I think my friends fall into a couple of camps of what they think I do. I either chill a lot with no job and drink wine. The wine part is true. Or they think I have this crazy obsession with the planet that perhaps lacks much sense. I think this is due to the fact that we live in a state that is sort of famous for being anti-environmental. We can talk more on that later over  glass of wine if you like.  When I was getting my master's degree at OSU my mom told everyone I was in law school. This may have added to the confusion. I like to think I participate in really cool projects that are innovative and resourceful and efficient.  What I really do for the most part is write a lot of papers. But let me better explain. 

First, I got my B.S. in Environmental Science with a focus on environmental policy at Oklahoma State University in 2009 with the intention to study environmental law. It turns out that there aren't any environmental law programs in Oklahoma, only energy law which isn't the same thing. I had no desire to leave the state (or pay out of state tuition) when I graduated, so I decided to go get my M.S. in Environmental Policy and Conflict Management at OSU. My M.S. gave me a stronger foundation in environmental policy and also led me to an interest in sustainability at the higher education level. I wrote my thesis on the position of Sustainability Coordinators at colleges and universities and evaluated the underlying characteristics of why some universities had them while others didn't. That was an adventure. My concepts were good, but my statistical methods were poor, even with my application of SPSS (a statistical software) for Dummies. PS- Shout out to Crystal for helping me survive that endeavor. 

Anyway, I decided to keep going to school after Matt and I got married to get my Ph.D. in environmental policy even though I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it except be an expert at sustainability at colleges and universities. What I was going to apply that to, I wasn't sure yet. 

However, Texas Tech University doesn't have an advanced degree in environmental science. They did have some faculty in the political science department that focused their research on environmental issues, so I could try to fit in there. So now I am in the political science department, but much less interested in politics in any capacity that I am in sustainability at the higher education level. 

For the last 2.5 years I have been taking classes and presenting my work at conferences which is why I read and do research all the time. It is also part of the reason why I travel so much if you keep up with me on Facebook.  That is one of the great benefits of working in higher education. The travel opportunities are great as long as you're willing to write a paper and present your work. My most recent conference has lead me to my dissertation topic so that was a great outcome. 

I also actually work. Like a real job. I am a teaching assistant and fortunately have been working with online classes for a couple of years. I hold office hours, answer LOTS of emails, figure out technical issues, etc. I actually get paid and if you consider all of my tuition waivers I consider it a pretty fair wage, comparable to what many people my age that work full-time make. 

As you know, I just took my comprehensive exams which upon passing places me into the "All But Dissertation" (ABD) status. This means that my full-time job is to work on my dissertation which is essentially like writing a book. I will do this from home and perhaps take on a job teaching or facilitating sustainability projects at a college or university because being ABD typically qualifies an individual to do so.  

What do I want to be when I grow up?

My dream job is to serve as a Sustainability Coordinator at a college. A Sustainability Coordinator is essentially how it sounds, but the position varies from one school to the next. They essentially are a central hub of information regarding sustainability at a school such as recycling, water consumption reduction, energy use reduction, a resource for student groups to see their projects come to fruition, an accounting authority of sustainability measures, etc.  I would also like to teach at a university since I have had so much formal training. I have taught two online classes, and I love giving guest lectures. I also really like research so I would like to produce a couple papers a year while serving in the above capacities. 

I like higher education because colleges are like little cities with a multitude of functions, but also room for creativity. Colleges can serve as living labs for cities and states to ultimately pursue policies which have proven to work at smaller levels. I want to be part of those endeavors. 

As for my day to day, from now until graduation I will do research. Right now I am working on a national survey to measure student's knowledge and approaches to recycling before and after a national recycling competition. It's very interesting if you're into that sort of thing, and luckily I am. 

Now I am going to get back to work.

Posted in: Being Green,Ph.D.ing