State College sustainability coordinator got start at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jasmine Fields found Penn State because of its reputation for world-class research. She said she loved science and biology and thought she might become a doctor. Soon after, she became interested in protecting the environment and her passions shifted toward creating a more sustainable world.

In 2018, she earned her degree in geosciences from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) and immediately got to work just down the street.

Fields got involved in research projects and made local connections. Now, she’s the sustainability program officer for the Borough of State College. Her main role is working with local and state governments as well as members of the community to make State College a leader in grassroots sustainability efforts. Everything from climate action plans to bike lanes to green spaces and community gardens come across her desk.

Fields was born in New York and raised in Baltimore. Penn State stood out, she said, because it was home to students from all over the world. She wanted that diverse experience.

“It was important for me to be able to connect with people from different parts of the United States,” Fields said. “I also was very impressed by the amount of research that the University leads and really wanted to be able to be a part of the groundbreaking research that was being conducted at Penn State.”

She read the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson and was fascinated with the complexity of the Earth system.

Almost immediately, she found undergraduate research. She was advised by an Earth systems pioneer, Susan Brantley, a decorated researcher with extensive experience in understanding the planet — and the people within it — as an interconnected system. 

She said she credits Brantley with teaching her how to write for a scientific audience and for giving her a break in research. Fields researched how hydrofracking wells for natural gas extraction impacted nearby streams.

“I became interested in environmental regulation and started researching with Penn State’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research,” Fields said. “I really wanted to be a part of the conversations about our energy transition and what that really meant for our future.”

Fields said the climate and sustainability field is always advancing. Her geosciences background helps her understand science. It also taught her how to lead and manage projects.

“I have to make recommendations to borough staff members, the community and elected officials, and I think that the skills that I learned in EMS really help me to be able to push my projects to the end and build a case for a lot of the ideas that I’m proposing for our community,” Fields said.

Outreach is one thing she loves about her job, she said. She knows that no matter how well community leaders do their job it matters little if the public isn’t on board. She believes in a bottom-up approach and makes it her mission to build relationships with the local community. She noted that helping members of her community see the value of climate action and sustainability is something she learned as a student at Penn State.

“The research that I worked on and the work people at Penn State continue to do isn’t just for the scientific community,” Fields said. “The research relates to things like water, sustainability and the environment. These are things that people need and it’s important to me that I’m able to work on things that are so critical to our future.”

Editor's note: This story is part of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' "Brain Gain" series featuring graduates of Penn State who stay in Pennsylvania and go on to serve in roles that are vital to the state's infrastructure, economy and public service sectors.