ERM Graduation Speech by Jillian Student at the Graduation ...

ERM Graduation Speech by Jillian Student at the Graduation Ceremony of 7 th September 2012
Before we set off on our different paths, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the adventure
that we have gone through together. A year ago we were sitting in a room together with a group
project to figure out how to analyze a thesis project of a former ERM student. And this was no easy
task because we were fifteen people, we had to evaluate two thesis projects and we had to come to
an agreement on it. All fifteen of us, people with very different backgrounds.
But in the end, we did it.
In our first week of class we came across an undeniable truth when it came to our program and the
field of environmental sciences: interdependence. It is a humbling reality that it is impossible to be
an expert in all fields of environmental science because there are too many disciplines and there is
too much uncertainty. The requirements of the program were intense and necessity helped make us
realize that the unknown faces of the first project were sources of knowledge that could complement
the holes in our understanding of environmental issues. We were all very active in creating and
maintaining a network on Facebook, in class, outside of class hours and that really helped us get an
idea of and access to knowledge that was beyond our field. In all of my previous studies, I have not
seen the level of collaboration as I have witnessed with this group.
And because of our network, we did it.
The program itself takes us through a range of approaches and challenges on environmental issues
from the human made problems discovered in the natural sciences, the economic valuation of the
services, to the policy approaches to environmental issues and tools on how to analyze
environmental problems.
Some of these concepts were easy to absorb, while others were more difficult to adapt to our
paradigms. For example, there were debates on what is a good indicator‐ is the carbon footprint a
good indicator of environmental problems or performance? There is a trade‐off between how much
detail is necessary to be scientifically sound but at the same time simple enough that it is still has
communicative value to a larger audience. And of course the classic debates of the appropriateness
of evaluating nature. Some of these concepts we could find common ground on while others we had
to respect that they existed.
When we finally did our own thesis projects, it was inevitable that we realized that while it is
relatively easy to critique someone else work during the first week, but it was quite another task to
individually look at a scientific issue and come up with a scientifically sound analysis.
In the end, however, we did it.

Now we sit, once again in the same room with another group project, reflection on our
accomplishments during the past year. This program doesn't give us silver bullet solutions to
environmental issues, but it does teach us how to ask questions and gives us the skills to work with
people whose backgrounds both challenge and complement our own.
In the coming months as we transition to the next phase, we face again uncertainty of how to adapt
our knowledge to the constantly emerging and dynamic field of environmental sciences. And though
again there are no silver bullet answers to what our role should be, I do feel confident that we all
have the ability to ask the necessary questions and when necessary access our networks so that in
the end we get there.
We did it.