Shane O'Brian

Pronouns: he/him

Bio
Shane O’Brian graduated with honors from the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU) with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies in 2021. He also earned associate degrees in English Writing (2011) and Science (2017) from Casper College, Wyoming, and an associate in Applied Science (2017) from the Community College of the Air Force. Shane served six years in the United States Air Force prior to attending CU, and he was stationed in Utah and deployed to South Korea and Afghanistan during his service. His military duties required routine PFAS exposure, and he lived on multiple military bases classed as Superfund sites because of PFAS-contaminated groundwater.

After separating from the military, his military experiences and passion for Yellowstone Cutthroat trout fishing provided the impetus to pivot into environmental studies. Shane believes that the Water Resources Management specialization at Bren will offer him the best opportunity to accomplish his goal of working with organizations engaged in PFAS remediation, which he considers a global environmental injustice.