AU students want to be a lot of things: policy makers, doctors and lawyers are only a few. But, what would AU students do if they had the choice to risk it all for a different career? The Scene answers this question with a look into strange, unassuming and brilliant careers.
During her time as an undergraduate student at AU, Carolyn Levine studied psychology, so she thought she might become a therapist, lawyer or doctor. In 1991, AU’s Career Center changed the trajectory of Levine’s career when she found an internship on their jobs bulletin board at the Environmental Protection Agency starting out as a clerk typist.
Although she knew relatively little about environmental laws, Levine connected with the EPA’s mission to ensure all Americans have access to clean air and clean water. Levine graduated in 1992 and was offered a permanent job at the agency, and for the past 12 years she’s been working in the EPA’s Office of Congressional Affairs.
Levine grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey with a nurse mother, scientist father and two older brothers who also became scientists, but she wasn’t interested in the hard sciences. She didn’t know what she wanted to do for a living but took psychology as a senior in high school and found it interesting. She decided to major in psychology and minor in justice, law, and society at AU.
“Even though psychology is broad, majoring in it influenced who I am now and how I talk to and think about people,” Levine said. “It helps to have people skills- especially when interacting with Congress.”
Levine was able to take many electives as a psychology major, including classes in political science. During her junior year at AU, she went abroad to Europe for half the summer as part of a School of Public Affairs class on the European Union that she was taking. After AU’s Career Center helped her find an internship at the EPA, she started out in the EPA’s Office of Administration and Resources Management as a clerk typist and became a program analyst when she was hired after graduation. She said she became much more interested and knowledgeable about the environment as her career progressed and she saw how hard the EPA had to work to defend its mission.
“I had to learn that some people see environmental regulations as a hindrance,” Levine said. “I think everyone deserves to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and I’m hoping every little bit I’m doing can help to advance the agency’s mission.”
Levine started a two-month summer job before her junior year at the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. She also found this job through AU’s career center and it developed her interest in justice and the law.
As a senior at AU, she interned at St. Elizabeths Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in D.C. The internship furthered her interest in human behavior and, in a way, helped prepare her for her current job. Today, Levine prepares EPA witnesses to testify at Congressional hearings and communicates agency updates to Congress.
A few years after working at the Office of Administration and Resources, Levine had a temporary assignment in the Office of International and Tribal Affairs but went back to the Office of Administration and Resources Management to continue her career. In 2003, she moved to the Office of Congressional Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations and has been there ever since, becoming a team leader in 2006.
The William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, the former home of the National Post Office and the current office for the Environmental Protection Agency. Photo by Adena Maier/The Eagle.
Levine has no average day at work. Part of her job involves managing communications and outreach to Congressional offices regarding agency programs and responses during emergencies such as oil spills and chemical fires, while also responding to incoming queries. She could come into work and have her whole day derailed by a phone call or an environmental emergency like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
“It’s always different, and I’m learning at the same time as I’m educating,” Levine said. “It’s almost like I went to college again because I’ve learned so much, I didn’t know much [about the environment or EPA] when I started out.”
Levine said the last few years have been rough for the EPA, with dramatic budget cuts and a declining workforce. When Levine started, the EPA had roughly 18,000 employees: now, they’re just over 15,000. She said the greatest change since she started working at the EPA in the ‘90s has been the changing political climate and how divided the country has become.
Levine at work. Photo by Adena Maier/The Eagle.
“The morale at EPA has always been high because of the agency’s mission and because people feel, like I do, that it’s important to ensure clean air and clean water,” Levine said. “But in the past few years morale has really gone down as EPA’s regulations have been criticized, and our budget has been cut.”
Levine said she’s hopeful things will improve and that protecting the environment will remain a priority. She encourages students to consider working at the EPA because they have many programs for students and interns.
“If you care about the environment and want to advance that mission, we’re always looking for people,” Levine said. “We’re really trying to bring in new, young talents.”
Click here to view EPA internships and job listings.
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