MESM 2022
Bio
Kerry Nixon graduated from the University of California Berkeley (2012) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Socio-cultural Anthropology and a Minor in Global Poverty and Practice. While at college, she read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which spurred a fascination with the idea of food systems as a nexus point between the political, social, economic, and environmental spheres. She then volunteered at a food justice non-profit where she deepened her understanding of the causes and consequences of disparate access to healthy food. After graduating, Kerry worked for five years in the commercial real estate industry at a Fortune 200 firm. Exposure to the economics of development and the importance of urban land use policy inspired her to learn more about the interaction between the built environment, human ecology, and social-environmental outcomes. After enrolling in a permaculture design course, she was introduced to systems science and the elegance of adapting natural processes for human uses. These experiences led her to pursue an Environmental Science and Management degree at Bren, where she plans to specialize in the Economics and Politics of the Environment. Her research interests center on the intersections between environmental policy, social justice, and sustainable development. She wants to explore the potential for the application of systems science in developing effective environmental policy solutions that can achieve bipartisan support and positively and tangibly impact people’s lives.