Within a few months after earning his master’s degree at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), Caleb Milliken (MS ’22) stepped into the position of environmental economist at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, an independent, nonprofit institute that provides research, development, and technical services to government and commercial clients worldwide.

Clients, including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and many others from the private sector, seek the assistance of RTI on a wide range of projects—such as environmental impacts and economic impact assessments.

Milliken considers his position a “unique role” that incorporates environmental consulting and academic research, and encompasses his passion for environmental and climate issues.

“What I love about my job is that I get to work on so many different things,” said Milliken. “Clients come to us when they don't have the answers they need—and I work to find those answers for them. That means I dive deeply into distinct research projects every few months.”

The diversity of research is a welcome challenge to Milliken.

“I really like learning about a swath of things that are interesting to me,” Milliken related. “I find that very mentally stimulating.”

SEAS experience

Milliken, who pursued the Environmental Policy and Planning (EPP) specialization at SEAS, came to the school just as the Sustainable Development (SusDev) specialization was getting underway. His advisor, SEAS Professor Pamela Jagger, was instrumental in developing the new specialization, and Milliken joined her lab, Forest + Use + Energy + Livelihoods (FUEL). He also took the required classes for SusDev in addition to his EPP studies.

“My time at SEAS—especially being able to work with a professor on academic research projects—prepared me well for the work I’m doing today,” said Milliken. “Learning about data analysis, doing literature reviews and writing academically—a lot of that came from classwork. But as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Jagger’s lab, I was able to put it all into practice.”

Before coming to SEAS, Milliken had managed research projects for a former employer in Rwanda, Nepal and the U.S. after earning his BS in economics from the University of Nebraska in his hometown of Lincoln. He had planned to return to Rwanda to do fieldwork for his master’s thesis at SEAS, but COVID restrictions prevented him from traveling.

“Dr. Jagger and I decided it was time to get creative on what I could do for my thesis, because I could no longer collect the primary data I needed,” Milliken related. “As it happened, she had a project in Rwanda that was promoting the use of clean cookstoves for urban households, because the predominant local cooking method of charcoal or firewood is harmful to human health—and comes with environmental, and even climate, hazards.”

For his thesis, Milliken studied the detailed data on clean-burning pellet stoves that use readily available residues from farms—creating a kind of circular economy. When he analyzed the adoption trends, however, he changed his focus to the use of liquified petroleum gas (LPG).

“It turned out that the original business model didn’t succeed,” said Milliken. “But households were rapidly adopting LPG—an even cleaner-burning fuel, which made for an interesting analysis case.”

Network and explore

“I couldn’t have made my transition from SEAS to my current job without the good relationships I had with professors,” said Milliken. “The reason I knew about a lot of the places I applied to was because I talked to professors who did things that I thought were interesting.

“It's essential to use those resources at SEAS—along with the network of students you meet. There were job opportunities that came from Dr. Jagger and her connections, and also from recent grads. That kind of networking is extremely important, and one of the big benefits of going to SEAS.”

Milliken offered a word of advice to current SEAS students.

“Not everyone knows about the great classes you can take at U-M while you’re at SEAS,” said Milliken. “I took a lot of classes at the Ford School of Public Policy. They have a very good quantitative program, and their policy analysis courses helped me to become a better writer. So, if you have the opportunity, explore the options to add to your education.”