’79 City Planner

Majoring in STS was a transformative learning experience for me. Today I am a planner and senior associate at EDAWlAECOM. I became a planner because I believe the planning process empowers people to control their environment and the political systems that influence their environment. That motivation remains with me today. Throughout my career, I’ve worked on all types of plans for communities, downtowns, and neighborhoods. I’ve developed plans for parks and recreation systems, to conserve and preserve open space, and to establish standards and routes for bicycles and pedestrians at local, city, and regional scales. The multi-disciplinary and critical thinking aspects of STS are exactly what makes me good at my job.  Planning requires in-depth knowledge about making and implementing public policy and understanding the underlying forces behind why people make decisions about their communities and environments.  Understanding the system helps me to be good at all I do, and that’s exactly what I learned as an STS major.