MESM 2022
Bio
Nicholas Bissonnette graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (2013). His interest in the environment and its processes started at a young age due to his father’s occupation as an operator at a wastewater reclamation facility, which leads him to value and understand the importance of water in society. While an undergraduate, he was employed by UCONN’s Water Resources Field Station as a research assistant where he studied contaminated groundwater at a Connecticut public school. Upon graduation, he worked as a certified hazardous materials manager, overseeing chemical spill responses and hazardous waste disposal programs in the Boston area. Nicholas obtained a professional certificate of Environmental Policy from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (2017) and began employment at an interstate water commission, where he worked to improve water quality across the northeast by facilitating policy discussion between leaders in state environmental agencies and technical experts. At the Bren School, Nicholas looks to specialize in water resource management to one day apply his talents towards environmental justice issues. He is motivated to provide equal access to water resources to low-income and underserved communities across the United States. He hopes to pivot his domestic experience one day to work for a non-profit organization whose mission is to fight for water rights in developing countries.