Riya Choudhury (MES ’24) was training to be a chemical engineer when she took her first undergraduate environmental elective. “I found studying the environment really interesting and something I was passionate about for the first time. It had a purpose, and it could be a career for me,” she shares. After taking a few more ecological courses, she had what she describes as an awakening. “I realized how bad the chemical industry has been for the environment,” says the New Delhi, India, native. “For the first time, I was seeing the experience of people around me facing pollution and public health issues.” Factors like industrial and agricultural waste and vehicle emissions, she says, have made the New Delhi air quality among the worst in the world. Riya was motivated to help undo the damage corporations and industry had done. “So, I decided that I wanted my master's in environmental sustainability.”
Penn’s Master of Environmental Studies (MES) program curriculum and faculty research stood out to Riya during her hunt for top graduate schools. “The main thing I liked about the Penn MES was the interdisciplinary and flexible nature of the program,” she says. The degree also offers an Environmental Sustainability concentration. “Once I got into my first semester, I learned that there are so many avenues you can take: You can study waste management, you could do finance or corporate sustainability, you can do anything you want in this field.”
Eager to explore her options, Riya spread her coursework across environmental law, policy, finance, and climate technology. As she progressed, she noticed a difference in how her Penn instructors taught. “My undergraduate degree was super theoretical, but Penn was more practical and gave me the skills that I would actually use in real life,” she says.
For example, in Climate Technology: Finance and Policy, Riya learned about the climate economy, opportunities in sustainable finance, and financial reporting on those opportunities. “Before taking that course, I didn't even think of sustainable finance as a career option, and it’s the job I’m doing right now,” she says. “All my courses have helped me in one or the other aspect of my professional life.”
The course Energy, Waste, and the Environment with Dr. Reto Giere allowed her to explore some of the waste problems like those damaging the environment in India, and directly influenced her degree-culminating capstone project. “Dr. Giere was my capstone advisor,” she says, “and my project was on industry symbiosis and waste management in an industrial park in Gujarat, India.” There is a huge informal sector to the waste management process in India, which makes it difficult to impose regulations or gather data to use to improve conditions and outcomes, causing a lot of environmental waste and damage, she learned.
Outside of the classroom, Riya took full advantage of her Penn experience. “I always say this program is what you make it to be. There are so many opportunities out there that you can explore.”
She applied to and was selected for a Climate Leaders @ Penn Fellowship, where grad students work on climate crisis projects with Penn faculty members. Riya teamed up with Weitzman School of Design assistant professor Dr. Allison Lassiter, developing a report on the UN Climate Change initiative climate adaptation. “The fellowship definitely improved my knowledge,” Riya says. “It was like another mini capstone.”
Additionally, she held a student leadership role as the College of Liberal and Professional Studies student government (LPSGov) representative for the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA), which introduced her to students across campus. She served as the vice president of Penn Sustainability Consulting (PSC), a student club that offers pro-bono environmental services to businesses and organizations, where she gained experience managing teams. She even found time to volunteer off campus with Climate Action PA and a children’s rights organization back home, and was recognized with the 2023 LPSGov Community Impact Award for her devotion to community work.
Eager to build her resume with professional experience, Riya completed one internship with the sustainability office at the Philadelphia Gas Works—sharpening her research, analysis, and reporting skills—and another with Kloopify, a startup that helps companies measure their procurement and supply chain carbon footprint, where she gained experience with lifecycle and emissions impact assessments—skills she regularly uses at her current job.
After graduating in spring 2024, Riya launched a career in sustainable finance, first with the catalytic capital and climate finance nonprofit Prime Coalition, and now with The Catalyst Group. “Steering capital towards climate investments is super important to reducing emissions,” she explains. “As a project and market research associate at The Catalyst Group, I specialize in conducting market research and analysis to support energy transition and decarbonization strategies and projects,” she shares.
Long term, Riya plans on staying in corporate sustainability and sustainable finance, where she can continue to influence business decisions and drive climate action with a big impact.
