Maggie Brown Seeks Bright Future in Geography

After graduating from Salem State in 2013 with a degree in geography, Maggie Brown began the first of two 11-month long service positions in MassLIFT AmeriCorps. Through MassLIFT AmeriCorps, she has been serving as a Land Stewardship Coordinator with two separate land conservation organizations, Essex County Greenbelt Association and the Town of Ipswich Open Space Program. Greenbelt is a private, non-profit land trust organization that is based in Essex, Massachusetts and works to conserve scenic, agricultural, and natural resources throughout Essex County. The Open Space Program protects and promotes public open space lands in Ipswich, Massachusetts. In this position she has been responsible for monitoring osprey populations in salt marshes throughout the county, leading trail events to remove non-native invasive plant species from open space properties, and publicly promoting environmental sustainability initiatives- just to name a few projects! In addition, she has recently started supervising GIS (Geographic Information Systems) interns at Greenbelt to create and edit geospatial data, which will help the organization work more efficiently. Maggie says, "My first year with MassLIFT, Greenbelt, and the Open Space Program was such a good experience for me that I renewed my position for a second year."

For her next step, she will be attending Tufts University to pursue a master’s degree in urban and environmental policy and planning, with a focus on environmental policy. She says, "I will also continue to use the GIS skills I learned in the geography department and have been vital in my experience ever since. While at Salem State I learned about the problems facing society, and through my AmeriCorps service I have been able to gain practical experience in areas that interest me. Now I hope to work towards a solution at Tufts because with the professional skills I learn and the people I meet, I will be able to combine my interest in the natural world with my passion to help people by pursuing a career in environmental policy." After completing her master’s program, Maggie hopes to assist public or private organizations in striking a responsible balance between the needs of economic development and a sustainable environment.