Catey Selby ‘25, Environmental Engineering & Sustainability Dual Major
UNHSI: How did you get excited about sustainability and involved at UNH?
Catey: I was a Changemaker Fellow my freshman year at UNH and I fell in love with the community and the programs at the Sustainability Institute. Sustainability encompasses all my passions: advocacy, environmental stewardships, and community wellbeing.
UNHSI: Favorite sustainability experience at UNH?
Catey: Connecting with others in all of my sustainability classes, clubs, and events has been the best part. I enjoy discussing sustainability topics, working together with peers/advisors to make change, and learning about new innovations to improve our future.
UNHSI: Favorite outdoor-fun thing to you like to do in your free time?
Catey: I am a big outside person – I love simple walks (especially on the beach), but also going swimming, biking, and running.
UNHSI: Tell us a little about being a Sustainability Fellow and helping to shape the sustainability pathway at the Honors College?
Catey: Being an Honors Sustainability Fellow for the Honors College and the Sustainability Institute improved my understanding of the inner workings of how universities operate. I really came to appreciate the careful planning and numerous conversations over the course of my time, because it demonstrated to me a real stakeholder conversation that I learned about in SUST 501.
From the students with different academic backgrounds, to the Honors Committee, and the Faculty Advisors, so many different people came together to create the Sustainability Pathway. It was inspiring to see how collective dedication to a problem blossomed into what students will base their academic careers on for the future.
UNHSI: You had a sustainability-related internship this past summer, tell us about that experience.
Catey: I interned at Sanborn Head & Associates in Bedford NH. I worked in the Solid Waste CSA (client service area) and delt with landfill, stormwater, and transfer station design. I gained experience in AutoCAD, sampling, and project management through office and field work. One client that I assisted was WMNH which owns and operates the Turnkey Landfill. This is where UNH gets its methane gas to heat and power the campus. I worked on the site through editing designs for the phases of the landfill and did CQA (construction quality assurance) on the capping and lining of two phases of the landfill. I thought that this a full circle moment since we learned how our energy gets to UNH, but now I was able to see where it comes from. I will be returning for winter break as an intern, and then after graduation for a full-time position as an Associate Project Professional.
UNHSI: What advice do you have for other students, who maybe don’t know what path they want to go down, but know they care about making a difference or want to get involved in sustainability
Catey:
I went into college with the mindset of taking every opportunity available to me, and that is truly what I did and recommend. Take the SUST 401 class. Apply up for an internship. Register for the B Impact Clinic. By doing this, you are getting exposed to more than just sustainability, such as who you are as a person, and how you will make an impact. I know that trying new things can be scary, but I often find that what seemed scary at the time, was one of the best choices I made looking back on it.
