Environmental Resiliency Grad Program Enhances Skills for Sustainability Professional

As an active transportation coordinator in the Office for Sustainability on campus, Emma Armendariz spends every day working to make the U of A and Fayetteville more sustainable. Yet she found the university's Environmental Resiliency program still pushed her to deepen her understanding of sustainability and rethink how she approaches the work.

Armendariz, who is graduating this spring with a master's degree in environmental resiliency, didn't plan on pursuing a master's degree until she learned about the program, which she saw as unique and applicable to a wide variety of topics and fields.

Armendariz took courses spanning sustainability topics, from Built Environmental Certification Systems to a course on sustainable fashion and textiles, and another on data tracking. But her most memorable courses centered on leadership: "Leadership is Convening," which focused on bringing different stakeholders with varying views and interests together to accomplish a common goal, and Adaptive Leadership, which offered insight on how to be flexible and adaptable in a rapidly changing world.

"A lot of the classes discussed how to be an adaptive leader, understanding how everything within the world is connected, and how you can use that understanding to create change," she said. "I thought that was really cool and a course I didn't have available to me as an undergraduate."

The variety of courses, coupled with the flexibility of the program — which is offered completely online — was "essential" for Armendariz.

"I work full time and, like so many other adults, have a variety of other commitments to juggle each day. Being able to complete the coursework on my own schedule was essential to my ability to pursue advanced education," she said.

And the courses, taught by leaders in the sustainability field, offered a real-world, practical education that Armendariz is applying in her work in the Office for Sustainability.

"This program helped me sharpen my real-world skills related to environmental literacy, adaptive leadership, data driven decision making and strategic leadership and communication practices," she said. "Everything in the program had a tangible, real-world application that I could use within my work. I think that's because so many of the faculty members use their own personal, professional and real-life experiences in the classroom."  

Armendariz graduated this past fall and plans to continue working in the Office for Sustainability. With the rapidly shifting landscape of the sustainability field, the program helped her gain skills in adaptability and leadership that she can continue to apply throughout her career.

"Sustainability is often centered around change, and change is really hard," she said. "This program helped me learn about how to navigate change and work with people from a variety of backgrounds and careers. We have a lot more in common than we may realize, and this program helped me understand how nature-based solutions can help us address the many challenges we face today."