Meet three of the many graduates whose coursework and hands-on learning at BSU helped guide them toward sustainability-related careers.

Dylan Sievers, a 2014 graduate who double-majored in economics and environmental studies with an emphasis in engineering science, is using both degrees as a policy analyst for Fresh Energy, a St. Paul-based nonprofit that promotes clean energy alternatives.

Sievers had been undecided about his career until he took Bemidji State’s required People of the Environment course and connected with its theme of sustainability.

He was inspired to volunteer with the Sustainability Office and interned at an aquaponic greenhouse venture launched by Lueken’s Village Foods.

He also completed an internship at Bemidji-based Headwaters Regional Development Commission, which later hired him as a planning technician. Sievers worked on community development initiatives such as sustainable food planning with the White Earth Nation.

Initially hired as a policy coordinator for Fresh Energy in 2015, Sievers now gathers data to build market-based arguments for clean-energy initiatives.

“Throughout the many projects we did here at BSU, there were, of course, hurdles and hiccups,” he said. “One of the things that has helped me the most was learning how to collaborate and engage with stakeholders.”

Brett Cease, who graduated in 2014 with a master’s degree in science education, is cultivating the next generation of environmentalists as director of volunteer education and engagement with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL).

Now working on his doctorate in public policy and political economy at the University of Texas at Dallas, Cease began volunteering with CCL while at Bemidji State and founded one of its first campus chapters.

He stayed active and is now a regional coordinator, helping prepare new volunteers to engage with decision-makers on climate change issues.

At BSU, Cease was Bemidji’s Minnesota Green Corps representative. He helped local governments, educational institutions and nonprofits integrate sustainable practices into their operations. His home base was the university’s Sustainability Office, and Erika Bailey-Johnson was his supervisor.

“Erika did such a wonderful job, not just in empowering me, but the rest of the student working staff and all the classes that she taught,” Cease said. “It really provided a role model for me, to see how to engage that next generation in this important decision-making process.”

Alex Miller graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and an emphasis in environmental management. She is now the sustainability program coordinator at Carleton College in Northfield.

At Bemidji State, the Dilworth native soon was working 20 hours a week in the BSU Sustainability Office plus full-time during the summer. She managed the university’s vegetable garden, planted trees and organized Earth Month activities as president of the Students for the Environment club.

As a student senator, Miller helped pass a bill to restrict the sale of bottled water on campus. Though the university opted not to implement the restrictions, she felt good about the experience.

“That bill was really integral,” Miller said. “It made water and social justice issues a main part of the campus and connected it to waste and our consumption.”

After graduation, she wanted to continue working on sustainability in higher education.

“I see myself as a non-formal educator of a sort,” Miller said. “A lot of the work that I’ve done at all of the institutions I’ve worked at is outreach and education.”