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In a two-day series of events, from networking lunches to art activities and bowling, the �Ǹ�Թ�’s Masters of the Environment (MENV) celebrated its 10th anniversary. ��The festivities culminated at Folsom Field’s Byron White Club, where alumni, faculty and staff shared stories highlighting ways in which the program has made significant strides in sustainability and has not been afraid to adapt to a changing landscape.��

“Stability, predictability, and static conditions are not traits of our field. It is messy, ever-changing, and we’re in this constant, uncomfortable middle. Luckily, those are the traits we train for and conditions we train in, in MENV,” said Maria McDonald, an MENV Alumna, Instructor & Career Advisor and the Founder of Footprint Sustainability.

As the sun faded behind the Flatirons at the Bryon White Club, Natalie Ooi, MENV Director, Myles Maland, Director of Department Administration and Alice Reznickova, Capstone Lead, underscored stories from the program's history and presented three awards to distinguished MENV alumni.��

McDonald received the Alumni Achievement Award while Abigale Purvis, a 2025 MENV graduate and a Climate Preparedness Manager at the Colorado Governor’s Office of Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery, received the Emerging Leader award.�� Vinod Malwatte, a 2017 MENV graduate and a conservationist from Sri Lanka who serves as Executive Director of the Lanka Environment Fund, received the Community Impact award.

A Silent Auction for Student Scholarships

Throughout the night, attendees could browse a table featuring silent auction items, ranging from outdoor gear to handcrafted items. Bridget Flanery, a 1st-year Environmental & Natural Resources Policy student, helped attendees place their bids through the online auction hosting platform, Give Butter.��

Bridget shared that her experience working on the auction development showcased the magnitude of support that MENV has, “from categorizing donations to guiding attendees to place bids, I was able to get an up-close look at the MENV community and how much faculty, alumni, capstone partners, community members, and other stakeholders pour into the program.”��

Of the nearly 40 items in the silent auction, there were many experience-based items, including a 7-day adventure to Costa Rica’s Pacific coast with Natural Habitat Adventures, lift tickets to Arapahoe Basin and Eldora Mountain Resort, and tickets to 2027 Rocky Mountain Folk Fest.��

The silent auction raised over $13,000 for student scholarships.��

From a Cross-Country Road Trip to an Intensive Network��

To begin the reception, Myles Maland shared that it was a challenge getting the word out for MENV at the beginning.��

Once he accepted his MENV job offer, he had less than 3 months to market the program to prospective students before the graduate student deadline in Fall 2015.��

So, while moving from Charleston to �Ǹ�Թ� to begin his new position with MENV, he went on a college road trip with a U-Haul trailer and marketing materials that had “more pretty pictures of �Ǹ�Թ� than details about the program.”��

Maland shared at the reception that he “talked with basically anyone who would listen, armed with my one-page brochures and everything I could remember from my interviews a few weeks prior. And it worked…Once I landed in �Ǹ�Թ�, the phone calls and emails from faculty and prospective students started picking up…and applications started rolling in.”��

Maland’s 2,000-mile road trip with a Subaru Outback pulling a heavy trailer culminated with 34 students taking a chance on a brand-new, untested program.��

Matt Frommer, Smart Program Director for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), was part of MENV’s first cohort. During an Alumni and Career Summit Panel, the day prior to the reception, Frommer told current MENV students to make use of MENV’s extensive network.��

Frommer admitted he was somewhat envious of current students. He did not have a built-in network of 10 years of sustainable leaders to draw from, urging students to foster strong connections through MENV in and outside of the classroom.��

10 years of Industry Collaboration������

What began with images of the Flatirons has led to 10 years of unmatched student partnerships with industry professionals.��

While presenting MENV's 10-year story during the reception, Alice Reznickova shared significant accomplishments garnered from students' capstone work. The Capstone program is four semesters long, and each student contributes 600+ hours towards the project. Capstone students provide impactful products and services to partner organizations.�� ��

Reznickova noted that the Town of Erie adopted the Resilience Plan that students drafted during their capstone. Students also designed the Sustainable and Circular Procurement Toolkit for ICLEI USA, which supports local governments in implementing sustainability in procurement.��

Another group of students wrote a report for Protect Our Winters, which will soon be used to argue for investments in resilience and cleaner energy systems in DC.�� ��

“Many of our projects directly benefit communities in the State of Colorado, but each year, our impacts are also felt nationally and globally,” stated Reznickova.��

She continued her address by proudly sharing that the National Sustainability Society recognized the program’s collective accomplishment and awarded the MENV Capstone Program its 2026 Innovation in Sustainability Education Award.

As the celebratory event came to a close, alumni, students, staff, and faculty left with a shared sense of pride and a renewed commitment to providing a top-caliber academic experience for future MENV students, collaborating with communities and partners, and ensuring that MENV has many more milestones to celebrate.

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