[Originally published on my blog here]

Why you should learn to count carbon: Musings from a soon to be college grad.

I am graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in economics next week, and lately I’ve been reflecting on how my college experience has prepared me for the “real world”. While I took some pretty interesting classes, I learned most of the important things outside of class (Note to impressionable students and concerned parents: This does not mean you shouldn’t go to college, and I recommend going to class most of the time. College is great, but the actual classes are just one part of the experience. It’s hard to get life-skills in a classroom). All of my internship and job experiences, the parties I attended, the friends that I made and leadership roles I had are experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life; they gave me the people skills and career skills that  will help way more than if I only had a degree.

Learning carbon accounting was a major factor in setting me on my current career path, and getting into it was more or less an fortunate accident. I say “fortunate” because I am one of the only students at the University of Florida (out of 50,000 or so) who knows how to complete a greenhouse gas inventory, which shows how rare a skill it is for a college student to have.  This does not mean carbon accounting is hard. The main reason for this is the fact that very few schools actually teach carbon accounting, and those that do have not done so for long. More about that below.

I got to learn carbon accounting thanks to a few great programs and organizations at UF and around the world. These include: NWF’s Campus Ecology Program, the Global Change Education Program, UF’s Office of Sustainability Internships, UF’s University Scholars Program, oikos Winterschool and the EIA’s Internship Program. This may seem like a lot, but keep in mind that most of these opportunities were awarded to me because of those I had previously. So, getting your first internship or extracurricular experience will make getting the 2nd much easier, and it only improves from there. Please feel free to contact me for any advice on getting an internship in the climate change industry.

co2U: Empowering the next generation of greenhouse gas experts and climate change leaders

You should learn to count carbon. This is because I believe that climate change is one of the biggest challenges our generation will face, and I want to do everything I can to ensure that we can to stop its worst effects. I cannot do that alone (luckily, I wont have to). While there are a lot of people out there who are working very hard to stop this crisis, there’s nowhere near enough. I see this especially in my own peers, many of whom are having trouble finding work. This is a problem that I am working to solve by starting a training program to teach greenhouse gas accounting and management to students and professionals alike.

I don’t think you should learn carbon accounting because I started a business that trains others on the topic (although I hope you decide to go with my company for your training).  I think you should learn it because carbon accounting is an emerging industry that is already a “big business”. Learning this much sought-after skill can help save the world and your own career as we work together to battle climate change.

Coming as soon as I finish packing my apartment: The top 5 reasons you should learn to count carbon. Stay tuned!