When Amanda Sargent ’10 enrolled at Evergreen she thought teaching was the right path; after all, her mom and both grandparents were teachers. But the highly sought-after Learning about Learning undergrad program was full.
She recalled relaying her disappointment to a friend, who replied, “You are always talking about climate change and energy policy, why not pursue environmental studies?”
Sargent was hesitant at first. But as she integrated her studies with economics, she realized the programs—especially her two favorites, Energy Systems and Climate Change and Techniques of Sustainability Analysis—didn’t feel like work anymore.
So shortly after graduation, Sargent took a job with Cascade Natural Gas in the regulatory department. “I started on election day in 2012,” she recollected, noting that she had concerns about fracking, a hotly debated environmental and political issue.
“But when I moved into conservation and regulatory work with Cascade, I realized these are the companies that need more Greeners, so we can be the change we want to see.”
Sargent’s position as conservation analyst (she’s also an outreach and education specialist) has her working on all sides of residential, commercial, and industrial energy efficiency. For instance, calculating the delicate balance of integrated resource planning and potential thermal savings in two-and 20-year forecasts for demand-side management.
Summarizing her job satisfaction, Sargent said, “Analysis is my favorite part. There’s a lot of truth in math, with strategy and planning as the result. I contribute to the decisions, make more impact on the changes we want to see, and make conservation a value to the business and the community.
