Stacey Thomas is a MA candidate in the Natural Resources and Sustainable Development option. She is currently enrolled as a GPSI with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
I am interested in increasing community knowledge of environmental issues in order for people to make a positive connection between protecting the environment and increasing their quality of life. I believe environmental issues are community issues because the environment provides a literal common ground for people to come together and work to protect.
As an Americorps volunteer with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, I talked with elementary school classes and lake associations about how to reduce non-point source pollution around their homes and neighborhoods. As the Environmental Affairs Coordinator for Southeast Chicago Development Commission, I often served as a liaison between local citizens, businesses, and government agencies on environmental justice issues in an industrial neighborhood.
