News

MENV Faculty, Staff and Alumni Recognize Achievements and Encourage Optimism During 10th Anniversary Reception

Jodi Dye — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 19:49:09 +0000

MENV Faculty, Staff and Alumni Recognize Achievements and Encourage Optimism During 10th Anniversary Reception Jodi Dye Tue, 10/06/2026 - 13:49 Noah Shoaf

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.

Off

Traditional

White

MENV's 2025 Capstone report is released

Jodi Dye — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:45:17 +0000

MENV's 2025 Capstone report is released Jodi Dye Wed, 09/16/2026 - 09:45 Norman Kalen

In Fall 2025, 78 Masters of the Environment (MENV) graduate students completed 26 capstone projects with external partner organizations, investing more than 46,800 hours in advancing sustainability and climate action across Colorado and beyond. The results of that work are now captured in the 2025 MENV Capstone Impact Report, available now.

MENV is an interdisciplinary professional graduate program that empowers students to drive change through sustainability solutions and climate action. Designed to meet the growing demand for sustainability professionals, MENV equips graduates with the knowledge, skills, and hands-on experience to address complex environmental and climate challenges. The program builds partnerships with purpose, collaborating with a diverse ecosystem of communities, governments, nonprofits, and industry partners to amplify student impact and prepare the next generation of sustainability leaders.

The report documents the breadth and depth of student impact across six key areas: resiliency, decarbonization, conservation, strategy, community, and policy. Partner organizations spanned nonprofit, government, private, and education sectors, with projects reaching communities across 10+ U.S. states and multiple countries.

The following are just a few examples of the real-world outcomes capstone projects produced for partner organizations. The Town of Erie capstone team developed a Resilience Action Plan in collaboration with Erie sustainability staff that was formally adopted by Erie Town Council in March 2026. In Northwest Colorado, a student team worked directly with the Town of Hayden to inform its developing resiliency plan through community engagement at local events including Hayden Daze and the Routt County Fair. A third team partnered with Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to align the city’s capital projects with its net-zero greenhouse gas goals, delivering a practical emissions tracking tool and action plan.

Other projects addressed long-duration energy storage policy for the Western grid (OneEnergy Renewables), urban forestry strategies to mitigate extreme heat across Colorado communities (Colorado State Forest Service and Colorado Governor’s Office for Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery), supply chain environmental risk in global organic food operations (Riverside Naturals), and the social and ecological conditions for beaver reintroduction along the Front Range (�Ǹ�Թ� Watershed Collective), reflecting the interdisciplinary, applied approach that defines the MENV program.

The report also marks the first time the MENV Capstone Program formally measured its impact through partner surveys, and the results were striking. 100% of Capstone Partner organizations reported satisfaction with their experience, and 100% said the program effectively supported their organization’s goals. 96% agreed that students adapted well to challenges and changing project needs, and 92% said students communicated clearly, consistently, and professionally. Partners also noted that student teams generated new ideas and innovations (80%), supported data collection and analysis (73%), and informed key organizational decisions (73%).

“The Capstone team exceeded my expectations, delivering innovative, data-driven work on interconnection pathways that will help our company explore new opportunities to accelerate decarbonization. Mentoring the students while gaining such high-quality results was incredibly rewarding.” — Mikkela Blanton, Associate Director of Development, OneEnergy Renewables

Beyond organizational outcomes, partners also reflected on the professional growth they observed in students. Through the capstone experience, students practice disciplinary skills such as data analysis, GIS, financial modeling, stakeholder engagement, and technical writing, as well as essential leadership and management skills including project management, communication, critical thinking, and public speaking. 96% of partners reported growth in time management and self-organization, 92% in both project management and communication, and 88% in critical thinking, research, and stakeholder engagement. These are the competencies that define successful sustainability careers, and MENV students graduate having applied them in real-world settings.

“Our Capstone team members were exceptional. They really dove into the project and showed ownership over their scope of work — they consistently demonstrated that they could ask the critical questions to understand the request, complete the task, and provide a quality deliverable without delay. They really did help lighten the load on staff and expand our capacity.” — Tegan Ebbert, Deputy Town Manager, Town of Hayden

The Capstone Program has also proven to be a direct pathway to employment: each year, multiple MENV graduates transition directly into roles with their capstone partner organizations. Following her project with OneEnergy Renewables, Kaylie Larson accepted a full-time position as Senior Associate in Commercial Strategy with her capstone partner. Sarah Nick transitioned into a role as Sustainability and Energy Analyst with the �Ǹ�Թ� Valley School District, her Capstone Partner in 2024, where she continues building on the decarbonization goals her capstone team developed. Abigale Purvis now works for Colorado’s Governor’s Office for Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery, and has since returned as a capstone partner herself for the 2026 Capstone iteration.

Faculty, students, and partners also shared their work at Colorado Climate Week, the CU �Ǹ�Թ� Campus Sustainability Summit, Mountain Towns 2030, and the Second Nature Climate Leadership Summit in Chicago, extending the reach of capstone work well beyond the classroom.

The 2025 MENV Capstone Impact Report is available now. Read the full report here!

Off

Traditional

White

Sustainability-focused capstones leave impact on �Ǹ�Թ� and beyond

Myles Maland — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:35:23 +0000

Sustainability-focused capstones leave impact on �Ǹ�Թ� and beyond Myles Maland Wed, 06/24/2026 - 12:35

Cass Mendoza

CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s MENV program has spent more than a decade pairing graduate students with community partners on sustainability capstone projects that address needs local organizations may not otherwise have the capacity to tackle. Recent projects supported BVSD’s district-wide decarbonization plan, assessed the market for regionally native plants in �Ǹ�Թ� County, strengthened �Ǹ�Թ� County Farmers Markets’ food hub, and advanced sustainability planning for �Ǹ�Թ� Theater and Fox Theater. Together, the examples show how MENV capstones create practical, lasting impact across schools, landscapes, food systems, and cultural venues in �Ǹ�Թ� and beyond.

Off

Traditional

White

MENV Students Prepare to Launch Capstone Projects

Myles Maland — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 19:58:44 +0000

MENV Students Prepare to Launch Capstone Projects Myles Maland Fri, 04/10/2026 - 13:58

Post-presentation discussion with the Colorado State Forest Service capstone team. Photo credit: Gregor McGregor

Ash Lehto

Who would not want to combine a beautiful summer in Colorado with collaborating on impactful sustainability projects? This is exactly what a summer in the Masters of the Environment, a graduate professional sustainability program, looks like. As the Spring semester wraps up, MENV students are about to launch their official Masters Capstone Projects.

A Capstone Team with Resource Central standing in front of their presentation. Photo credit: Gregor McGregor

On Friday, April 10th, 25 Capstone Teams presented the plans for their Capstone projects to the MENV community. Kaila Hood, an MENV student, reflected on the event, “The presentations were a good way to share what we’ve been working on and learn more about our peers’ projects. It made me excited for the summer and ready to dive in with my teammates and partners!”

Two capstone students drink coffee while debriefing with Meghan McCarroll, a capstone advisor.

The MENV Capstone partners student teams of two to four with government entities, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and private companies to tackle sustainability issues across a variety of sectors. This year’s cohort of nearly 80 students is MENV’s tenth Capstone cohort – and that’s something worth celebrating! This year’s Capstone Partners include repeat partners such as the Aspen Global Change Institute, OneEnergy, and the Town of Erie, as well as many new partners including Leitner-Poma of America, Mountain Towns 2030, and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Some of the projects build on the work done by teams in prior years: last year, the Colorado State Forest Service and Governor’s Office of Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery partnered with MENV students to identify communities in Colorado that would benefit from an increased urban forest canopy to mitigate the impacts of climate change and performed pilot projects in communities to identify best communication methods. This year, the collaboration continues as the new student team develops a project toolkit for urban foresters that includes funding and implementation guidelines and an interactive, regionally-organized database on recommended tree species and resources.

MENV program thoughtfully incorporates opportunities for students to mentor each other – in this case, second year students who completed their Capstone last year were also invited to offer feedback on this year’s presentations. “I really valued watching the Capstone presentations as a second year, especially because I got to be in the same room as my Capstone Advisor from last year,” says Erin Bucchin, who sat in on three presentations. “It felt very full-circle, and it was amazing to see how different projects can be - where mine was so stakeholder engagement and research-focused, all the projects I sat in on were field- and land-based. And yet, many of the considerations, questions, and pieces of advice were the same to these teams as they were to mine a year ago.”

Capstone Advisors, MENV faculty members and industry professionals, facilitated discussion in the nine concurrent presentation sessions. "It was exciting to watch students think through complex challenges across the sustainability spectrum, taking time to deeply understand their project scope before jumping in. That early focus on understanding the scope sets them up well for the kind of consultative approach that effective sustainability work demands in the real world. The first-years are clearly up to the challenge, and I can't wait to watch the projects unfold throughout the year!" Maria McDonald, founder of Footprint Sustainability and an instructor for several MENV courses, and a first-time advisor for the capstone program, reflected on her experience.

Post-presentation discussion with the Colorado State Forest Service capstone team. Photo credit: Gregor McGregor

After this event, the teams will finalize their Scopes of Work with their partners and start the work. With summer just around the corner, students are eager to get started on their projects – all of which offer actionable insights and impactful deliverables to Capstone Partners on the Front Range and beyond!

MENV students are launching their summer Capstone Projects, partnering with organizations to tackle real-world sustainability challenges. At an April event, 25 teams presented project plans, highlighting collaboration, peer learning, and diverse approaches. Now in its tenth year, the Capstone connects nearly 80 students with public and private partners. Following presentations and feedback, teams will finalize scopes and begin work, delivering actionable sustainability solutions across Colorado and beyond.

Off

Traditional

White

Record low snowpack tests Colorado’s recreation economy

Myles Maland — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:05:30 +0000

Record low snowpack tests Colorado’s recreation economy Myles Maland Wed, 03/11/2026 - 11:05

Katy Marquardt Hill

Natalie Ooi, a teaching professor who is the director of the Masters of the Environment (MENV) program and leads the Sustainability in the Outdoor Industry specialization, studies sustainable tourism and recreation economies. CU �Ǹ�Թ� Today recently spoke with Ooi about why this season stands out, how towns built around outdoor recreation can adapt, and what longer-term conversations communities across the Mountain West and beyond should be having.

Off

Traditional

White

Learning by doing: How Masters of the Environment grad students support Colorado's decarbonization goals

Myles Maland — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:07:36 +0000

Learning by doing: How Masters of the Environment grad students support Colorado's decarbonization goals Myles Maland Mon, 03/09/2026 - 09:07

Capstone team Annika Cederstrand, Casey Chabot and Kaylie Larson with capstone advisor Joshua Radoff

CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s Masters of the Environment (MENV) capstone program is advancing Colorado’s clean energy transition through real-world projects on energy storage, building decarbonization and electrification. By partnering with industry and government, students produce actionable research that informs policy, investment and workforce development supporting Colorado’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040.

Off

Traditional

White

2026 Capstone Partner Announcement

Liz Holland — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 22:36:10 +0000

2026 Capstone Partner Announcement Liz Holland Tue, 12/16/2025 - 15:36

The Masters of the Environment (MENV) Graduate Program is CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s flagship environmental and sustainability professional graduate program. To provide our students with the best opportunities for honing their skills in their chosen industry, MENV created the Capstone Project. For the last decade, student teams have partnered with public, private, and nonprofit organizations to address sustainability and climate challenges.

Over 12 months, students design and implement impactful solutions such as sustainability and resilience plans, toolkits and best practices for industry, policy recommendations, and others. These projects are shared widely within our partner organizations, City and/or County meetings, and at our Capstone Symposium each Fall. The Capstone Project is completed during the MENV program and is a consulting experience that allows students to develop and practice technical and leadership skills, while also expanding their professional networks. All of this sets them up to be competitive for a successful career in sustainability.

Since 2016, MENV students have completed 223 Capstone Projects, and we are excited to welcome our 10th Capstone Partner cohort today!

Aspen Global Change Institute*

�Ǹ�Թ� County Parks & Open Space

City of Lafayette

City of Moab

Cloud City Conservation Center!

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Governor's Office of Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery*!

Colorado State Forest Service and Governor's Office of Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery*!

The Conservation Alliance

Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure and City and County of Denver Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency Office*

Group14 Engineering!

Invenergy*!

Leitner-Poma of America

McKinstry!

Mountain Towns 2030

Ocean First Institute*

Office of Economic Development and International Trade

OneEnergy*!

Resource Central

St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District

Sun Valley Kitchen and Community Center!

Sustainable Energy Utility Team of Empower Our Future!

SustainEd Farms

Town of Erie*!

Town of Keystone!

Town of Nederland*

*-Returning Partner

!-MENV Alumni led/affiliated project

We are so energized by the incredible Partners joining our community and can’t wait to see the meaningful work that comes to life through these Projects.

Off

Traditional

White

CU �Ǹ�Թ� Today Feature: Graduate students expand capacity of local governments

Liz Holland — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 17:27:44 +0000

CU �Ǹ�Թ� Today Feature: Graduate students expand capacity of local governments Liz Holland Mon, 12/15/2025 - 10:27

CU �Ǹ�Թ�'s Masters of the Environment (MENV) program partners with Colorado communities through capstone projects and coursework to build local government capacity, advance sustainability and resilience initiatives, and provide students with hands-on professional experience.

Off

Traditional

White

Outreach and Community Engagement Feature: Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship-Gregor MacGregor

Liz Holland — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 19:02:29 +0000

Outreach and Community Engagement Feature: Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship-Gregor MacGregor Liz Holland Thu, 11/20/2025 - 12:02

Gregor MacGregor gets bored if he sits behind a desk for too long. His energy seems boundless. That’s key because MacGregor’s interests are vast, and his personal ethos about service transcends the personal and professional.

Off

Traditional

White

Students learning dam good lessons from nature's busy builders

Liz Holland — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 16:19:07 +0000

Students learning dam good lessons from nature's busy builders Liz Holland Wed, 11/19/2025 - 09:19

In a capstone project partnership with the �Ǹ�Թ� Watershed Collective, Masters of the Environment students study what it means to live alongside beavers

Off

Traditional

White