Pardee Alums Convene to Inspire the Next Generation of Leaders in Sustainability and Environment
In celebration of Earth Day, Pardee Career Services hosted a virtual panel aimed at connecting students with alumni working across environmental and sustainability sectors. The event was moderated by Adil Najam, a Professor at Pardee and President of WWF International. It brought together three inspiring alumni — Cameron Davis, Eric Bindler, and Saliha Agha — who shared their diverse career journeys, the challenges of working in an ever-evolving environmental landscape, and the critical importance of staying adaptable in the face of global environmental change.
What became clear throughout the event is that the field of environment and sustainability defies a one-size-fits-all path. The panelists’ professional journeys, while different, all echoed the same message: environmental work lives at the intersection of many disciplines requiring continuous learning, self-reflection, and adaptability.
In a time of rising temperatures, shifting global priorities, and complex social-environmental challenges, the need for thoughtful, informed, and compassionate leaders has never been greater. The alumni emphasized that sustainability work is not only about environmental preservation but also about social justice and equity. The systems are always facing changes, as the world and the environment.
When asked to provide essential career advice to the emerging talent, the panelists emphasized on clarity, hard skills, and adaptability.
Cameron, an environmentalist, who has worked with several elected officials for water-based initiatives including President Obama affirmed there are two main ingredients to professional success. First, having an honest conversation early on with oneself about one’s aspirations and passions. Second, doing whatever it takes to break into the field one is interested in.
“I started out as a volunteer, showed that I could work hard, and that I was a good team player. And slowly I got elevated to part time, then full time, and then I put myself through law school at night in order to provide more value. And just kept reinvesting in myself so that I could reinvest in the career path.” — Cameron Davis (BA ‘86)
Eric pivoted his vocation to environmental studies after his scholarly pursuits in musicology and ethnomusicology. With almost a decade’s experience in the water and wastewater domain, his career after earning a graduate degree in Global Development Policy has largely focused on market intelligence in sustainability. According to him, cultivating hard skills related to data can help students stand out.
“It doesn’t mean you need to go out and be a data scientist. You don’t need to be a python expert. If you’ve got that background, that’s great, it can be really helpful. But understanding enough to kind of speak the language… Just being able to understand and manipulate and work with a data set to kind of draw insights and inferences is really helpful, even if you’re not an expert coder.” — Eric Bindler (MA ‘17)
With extensive experience in social governance, environmental, and policymaking sectors, Saliha has worked for the Pakistan government, United Nations, USAID, and Pakistan-China Institute. She highlighted multiple factors required to flourish in the industry including honing big data skills and cultural agility.
“Have the mindset to be resilient to change, and the willingness to recreate yourself along the way definitely needs to be there… I think that one of the skills that need to be developed along the way is being cross-disciplinary. There are crossroads between sustainability, climate change, you know, a lot of work on global health education, they all are kind of in this network of a complex relationship with one another.” — Saliha Agha (MA ‘17)
The event encouraged students to think not only about where they want to go, but why. Careers in this space are rarely linear. Instead, they often require taking risks, pivoting, and occasionally reinventing oneself. Students were reminded that skills like communication, diplomacy, empathy, and cultural competence are just as critical as technical knowledge in shaping impactful careers. Cam Davis shared how BU served as the launchpad for his interest in environmental law and policy. He offered a powerful reminder: “You have to have an honest discussion with yourself about why you want to do this work,” tying his motivation back to a sense of spirituality and duty to give back.
The Earth Day provided a fitting backdrop for the event while reminding participants that the environment is not a niche interest, but a shared stage upon which all our lives and careers unfold. The panel closed on a hopeful yet urgent note. With climate crises intensifying, the need for passionate, creative, and persistent individuals in the field is greater than ever. Whether in NGOs, think tanks, public utilities, or grassroots movements, the message was unified: “Just do it.” Believe in yourself, take the first step, and stay open to the intersections — where your interests and the planet’s needs meet.