Tara Jackson
Tara Jackson (MSE EnvE ’07) says she was drawn to environmental engineering during her undergraduate studies because she “recognized that engineers play a key role in developing a design that minimizes potential environmental impacts.”
She chose to attend U-M for her graduate studies because she wanted to work with Professor Lutgarde Raskin.
“During the summer of 2004, I did research with Dr. Raskin on anaerobic wastewater treatment. I learned a lot in a relatively short amount of time and really enjoyed the research. As a result, I decided to attend graduate school and ultimately decided that it made sense to work with Dr. Raskin again.”
Today Jackson is an operations lead at Chevron in Houston.
“I enjoy that each day has different challenges. I am on a steep learning curve and I am gaining new technical (subsea engineering and flow assurance) skills as well as leadership skills.”
Jackson’s favorite memories from CEE are of friendships.
“I have fond memories of spending time with two students who became some of my lifetime friends. The first is my roommate who was also doing a master’s degree in environmental engineering. We spent many hours studying and drinking coffee (to stay awake and warm). The second is a PhD student who was in my research group. We had great conversations at some of the many tasty restaurants in Ann Arbor and he would often help me to stay motivated to exercise during the winter.”
Jackson’s advice for current students is “to take the time to enjoy their studies as it is a unique and priceless time in their lives. To prepare for entering the business world, be sure to complete as many internships as possible in different industries and keep an open mind. This approach will help to build your network and give you a good sense of where you would like to work once you graduate.”