BEYOND COA

The Value of a Degree in Human Ecology
Q: What do COA graduates do with a degree in human ecology?
A: Just about everything you can imagine.
WHERE OUR ALUMNI WORK
5% Agriculture/Horticulture
1% Architecture/Engineering
14% Arts and DesignEmployers include:• Center for International Environmental Law• Chicago Botanical Gardens• Dry Bed Creek Farm
• Edward Jones Financial Services• Fiddleheads Forest School• Greenpeace• Maine Biofuels• Museum of Science, Boston• National Park Service• Norman Rockwell Museum• Perkins and Will Architects• The Jackson Laboratory• The Nature Conservancy• UNICEF• United States Congress

17% Business
5% Communications
18% Education
6% Health Services
5% Hospitality
1% Humanities
5% Law/Policy
11% Life and Physical Sciences
6% Social/Community Services
5% Technology
2%Trade/Manufacturing

WITHIN 1 YEAR OF GRADUATION

54% work at a job in their field
26% start graduate school
WITHIN 5 YEARS OF GRADUATION

60% attend graduate school

Most frequently attended
graduate schools:• American University• Boston University• College of the Atlantic• Columbia University• Cornell University• Duke University• Harvard University• Northeastern University• Tufts University• University of California• University of Copenhagen• University of Maine• University of Southern Maine• Yale School of Forestry“I regularly reflect on
how COA facilitated
my identification andpursuit of my passion
while leaving me
better prepared foradvanced studies thanmany of my friends
from more traditional
institutions.”
Yaniv Brandvain ’04, PhD
Assistant Professor,
Department of Plant Biology,
University of Minnesota

HANDS-ON, EXPERIENTIAL WORK IS AN ESSENTIAL PARTOF PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THEIR CAREERS
BEFORE GRADUATION…
100% of COA students complete a 450-hour internship.
100% of COA students design and implement a capstone senior project.

IRIS LOWERY ’09, JD
Attorney, National
Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration

COA GRADUATES SAY …

92%“COA taught me criticalthinking skills.”

98%“COA prepared me to workon complex issues.”

92%“COA prepared me forcreative problem solving.”

92%“I’m doing work that strives for
positive change in the world.”

92%“I’m doing work that’s
meaningful to me.”“I think the most valuable skill I gained while at COA was toconsider decisions holistically and from the perspective of manydifferent stakeholders. Every single day at work, I have to becognizant that the land use recommendations that I make willaffect a variety of stakeholders in different ways.”“I decided to attend COA
because I wanted to beclose to the ocean, but also
because I was drawn to COA’s
interdisciplinary academic
philosophy and self-directedcurriculum. After I decidedto attend law school, myprofessors helped me obtain agrant to complete a molecularbiology study at the MDI
Biological Laboratory for mysenior project. I can’t imagineanother college where anundergraduate on a policy
track, planning to attend lawschool, would have such anincredible opportunity.”

JUAN OLMEDO
DE LA SOTA-RIVA ’12
Company Representative,
Agro-Productores del Rincón,
Mexico“COA taught me to thinkoutside of the box. I considered
myself a technician and thecollege turned me into ahuman ecologist, seeing thecomplexities beyond technicalissues. Now I cannot see
anything without seeing the
big picture.”

Erin Heacock Zwirko ’04, MS
Assistant Planning Director, City of Melrose, MA

COLLEGE OF THE ATL ANTIC105 EDEN STREET BAR HARBOR , ME 04609
207-288-5015 W W W.COA .EDU