CURes is sad but excited to announce LMU alumna ’17 and CURes staff member, Emily Simso, resigned on May 3rd to take on a new journey in Washington D.C. She started working at CURes during her sophomore year doing research with CURes managing director Dr. Michele Romolini. During her time at CURes as an undergraduate, she had connected with so many people and learned so much that she wanted to continue to work with the center after graduation. And that is exactly what Emily did! After graduating with a biology degree and environmental science minor, Emily began working part-time for Center for Urban Resilience as a research fellow.
“I can’t think of a better job to have straight out of college because there are so many different projects going on at the same time and you get to wear so many different hats”.
Emily seemed to have an endless number of positions at CURes. She managed the students involved in the Long Beach Coyote Project, kept the website updated, successfully contributed to marketing and assisted Schoene Mahmood in the Restorative Justice Project. Her biggest accomplishment at CURes: publishing a research project with Dr. Romolini and Dr. Strauss, “Visitors’ attachment to urban parks in Los Angeles, CA”
“What I love about CURes is that it opened my eyes to so many aspects of resilience I did not understand before. It continues to offer new perspectives on resilience”, said Emily, referring to one of CURes many projects: The Restorative Justice Project.
Looking back on her time spent at CURes, Emily said her favorite memory was field days. “We did this one project with wolf hybrids up in Frazier Park. It was a unique opportunity to get to know the staff and student workers on a different level outside of an office setting. I loved field days because you realize all the work we do in the office is actually for something real and seeing it in person makes it so special”.
“And then we always got tacos…”
Emily is headed to Washington D.C. this summer to intern at Cartica, a company that responsibly invests in developing businesses. She will take on the role of ESG (Environmental Social Governance) and Global Strategies Intern.
“I see a lot of connections between Cartica and CURes. For one, they both have strong female role models”. Other connections Emily spotted were, “Finding alternative solutions that are more sustainable” and “Empowering communities and elevating developing markets”.
Emily attributes her new success in landing this job to CURes and her other on campus job, with the University’s Treasurer. There, she worked to develop responsible investing policies following the United Nations supported Principles of Responsible Investing. She learned of Cartica’s internship opportunities from her LMU finance supervisor, Caroline Wilhelm. Cartica is one of LMU’s investment managers.
“CURes shaped my passion for empowering communities and environmental sustainability and I will be forever grateful for my experience here.”