While majoring in international relations and economics at the Maxwell School, Lauren McNamara ’21 became increasingly interested in a career in environmental research and policy.

In her junior year she learned about a relatively new degree program that complemented her studies, fit in her schedule and set her on course for the career she envisioned. Environment, sustainability and policy (ESP) is considered an integrated learning program, designed to pair with a range of majors across Syracuse University’s 13 schools and colleges, everything from public health and religion to supply chain management.

“I knew that I was interested in going into environmental work, but I was missing that natural sciences foundation,” said McNamara, who earned a bachelor of arts. “ESP has given me the qualitative and quantitative foundation that I needed.”

McNamara learned about ESP in her junior year, shortly after returning from a study abroad trip to Strasbourg, France. She worried at first about fitting the additional degree requirements into her already busy schedule. In addition to her studies, she worked as an intern in the University’s Center for Sustainable Community Solutions/Environmental Finance Center, helped prepare fellow students for international travel as a Global Ambassador and volunteered with local nonprofits as a member of the Alpha Omega National Service Fraternity.

“When I got back from France, I was able to complete the international relations and economics degree requirements,” she says. “The faculty were amazing in encouraging me and helping me make it all work.”

A hallmark of ESP is its requirement that students complete a capstone, or final research project. McNamara created a 30-minute podcast featuring interviews with Maxwell geography and the environment faculty members Timur Hammond, assistant professor, and Robert Wilson, associate professor. They discussed air pollution disparities between BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) and non-BIPOC communities in the United States.

“I compiled interviews, news clips, secondary research and more to provide background,” says McNamara of the capstone. “I also researched and proposed policy solutions for the new president’s administration. The project reinforced to me how environmental issues overlap with every sector of the world today.”