Environmental Leadership Program

Mieko works at the University of Vermont's Office of Sustainability. She has worked at UVM since 2008 as the Sustainability Projects Coordinator. Prior to joining the UVM staff, she worked at The Food Project in Roxbury and Lincoln, Mass., a sustainable agriculture non-profit organization, and Boston Day & Evening Academy, a charter high school. Mieko manages UVM's Clean Energy Fund, a fund sustained by a $10 per student per semester and generates $225,000 per year for renewable energy projects on campus. 

She holds a B.A. in Philosophy and minor in Studio Art and Honors Program from SUNY Geneseo. After graduating from college, Mieko interned for a year at a residential alternative high school called Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center before attending her first master’s program. She earned a M.S. in Environmental Education from the Audubon Expedition Institute at Lesley College; studied and traveled in the Pacific Northwest, Big Island of Hawai’i, and the Atlantic Coast bioregions. During her final semester, she completed a curriculum development internship at the Urban Ecology Institute. Recently, Mieko earned a Master of Liberal Arts in Sustainability and Environmental Management at Harvard University Extension School. She concluded her studies with a capstone project on best practices for implementing and managing campus student green funds.

Mieko was an outdoor educator and kayak guide, trained through Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), prior to her work in experiential education and campus sustainability. She lives in Vergennes, VT with her husband Josh, where they paddle in their hand built wooden Greenland style sea kayaks as well as hiking, rock climbing, and skiing in the region.