How did you get interested in planning?
My father is a professor of Geography with an interest in planning. While I was was growing up, he was always involved in local city and county planning issues, but I didn't pay much attention back then. When I was in college, I became interested in environmental activism, so I studied environmental science and biology. I went on to work in environmental consulting and at a land trust, but I couldn't quite find the perfect job. When I took some time off to travel, planning came to mind. All of those meetings that my father went to and spoke at while I was growing up must've made an impression after all. Planning made sense because when I was doing environmental work, I was always interested in other issues, such as the redevelopment of remediated sites and how they fit into the context of their neighborhoods and cities. Planning brings together a lot of things that I am interested in: housing and community development, environmental issues, and social justice.

What kind of work experience do you have? I've done environmental consulting, worked at the Trust for Public Land, and had internships at a city redevelopment agency and the US EPA.

Why did you choose Penn to study city planning?
Since I have a science background, I wanted to attend a planning program that was in a design school, to get that perspective. I wanted to study in the East Coast, since I spent most of my life in California. Philadelphia is a great place to experience urban issues first hand.

What has been your favorite class so far? Professor Sidney Wong's quantitative analysis class has been very useful, in addition to Professor John Keene's law of planning and urban development law class.

What are your career ambitions? I would like to work in urban redevelopment, either ata local level, or in a larger policy context. I am specifically interested in brownfields redevelopment and environmental justice issues.