Careers in Climate Action: K-12 Climate Education

On October 10th, we heard from a panel of climate and sustainability educators, including Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni, as they reflected on their careers, education, and current work in K-12 climate and sustainability education.
This event was in collaboration with Harvard Graduate School of Education Career Services Office
Jennifer Feller, Ed.M. ’98, is a longtime environmental advocate, science educator, entrepreneur, and school founder. She is currently a Senior Climate Educator and the Statewide K-12 Director at Mass Audubon, based in Lincoln, Massachusetts, where she focuses her work on K-12 climate justice and environmental literacy. Prior to her work at Mass Audubon, she was the CEO and Co-Founder of ReFleece, a re-design and re-manufacturing company, founded to inspire re-use of materials by both consumers and companies. Jennifer is also a former consultant, working with nonprofit charter schools and start-ups at the intersection of business and social impact. She holds a Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.S in Biology from Yale University.
Meredith McDermott is the Director of Sustainability for the NYC Department of Education within the Division of School Facilities. The department oversees operations and compliance for waste and utility management (electricity, gas, steam, water) as well as outreach and educational programming for the largest public school system in the United States (1,850+ schools, 1.1 million students). Flagship programs include NYC Solar Schools, Solar in Career and Technical Education, Zero Waste Schools, NYC Demand Response Program, School Garden Initiative, and extensive training/professional development programs for technical, facilities, and food service staff as well as teachers, administration, and students.
Prior to her work at DOE, Meredith began sustainability efforts for Chicago Public Schools. She negotiated CPS’ first district-wide recycling program that achieves over 25% annual cost savings. Meredith also started a commercial composting pilot program to mitigate food waste and assisted efforts to replace foam lunch plates with a compostable option. A biologist by education (M.S. Marine Biology and M.S. Environmental Management from the University of Queensland, Australia), Meredith is passionate about advancing leadership in sustainability and bridging the gap between science, education, career preparation, and youth.
Margaret Wang, Ed.M. ’20, is the COO and co-founder of SubjectToClimate, a nonprofit organization empowering all educators to easily and effectively teach about climate change, justice, and action. She was a high school teacher, primarily in economics and business, for several years before she pursued an M.Ed. in international education policy at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Working with Professor Fernando Reimers, she supported and edited several books regarding education reform and climate change education. She received her teaching certification at Princeton University.