Through an innovative curriculum and an internship experience, the Professional Science Master’s in Environmental Policy and Management program emphasizes the development of professional skills in environmental management, policy analysis, written and verbal communication, environmental journalism and environmental stewardship.
Steven Leidner, Stephanie Peredo and Kevin Boyd are part of the program’s first graduate cohort – the Class of 2015. Here are their stories:
Steven Leidner
Since retiring from veterinary medicine, Leidner became heavily involved with multiple environmental projects after graduating with his PSM–EPM degree. As an advisor to the organizers for the globally renowned Ultra Music Festival, this year, he leveraged his expertise to lead them towards creating meaningful processes and policies in their environmental stewardship. He also coordinated a workshop on seagrass in Biscayne Bay, the rapid diminishment of which poses a tremendous threat to South Florida.
Stephanie Peredo
After earning her PSM–EPM degree, Peredo was hired as a Health Safety and Environmental Consultant with a private consulting company called Bureau Veritas. She also became a certified ISO 14001 environmental management systems auditor and the site safety coordinator at her office. Her duties vary project by project, but her work includes writing technical reports such as a Phase 1 Due Diligence Report, conducting natural resources sampling (soil coring, air, groundwater and noise) and environmental management system consulting and internal auditing. Some of her current and past projects include Wind Turbine Air Sampling for NextEra Energy, Emergency Response assistance for an FPL fuel farm, and the implementation of an environmental management system for Miami Dade County’s Internal Services Department.
Kevin Boyd
Upon graduating from the PSM–EPM program, Boyd continued his career with the U.S. Coast Guard in District Seven Office in Miami, Fla. He continued to complete the work he and his peer, Peredo, presented in the Regional Response Team IV’s Biologist Assessment concerning the impacts of alternative response technologies on endangered species and essential fish habitats in the event of an oil spill offshore the Southeast U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico. Boyd later moved to Washington, D.C., and took a position with the Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental Policy Division. He made various contributions to the Environmental Policy Division, such as working with a team that established a salvage and marine firefighting rubric to evaluate oil tanker and non-tank (>400 gross ton) vessel response plans for compliance with OPA90 regulations. Boyd now works as a training officer for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Despite his current administrative role, he mentors and trains his colleagues and cadets on Coast Guard career opportunities, including environmental policy and management.
