Profile: Climate science and policy expert Lyndon Valicenti

Aug. 20, 2010

By Jessica Tobacman

As a consultant for the Chicago Department of the Environment, Lyndon Valicenti was thrilled to find out earlier this week that the department had landed a grant. It will provide incentives for residents, helping them to plant greenery in their front or back yards, including trees and native plants. Rain barrels can also become available through this program. “We’re really excited about that,” Valicenti said. The grant provides funding for two years, a time period that will likely begin this fall.

Valicenti manages projects for the Department of the Environment, and has worked there since March 2008. She is involved in three areas: in education and outreach to city residents; planning work for the city focused on the Natural Resources and Water Quality Division, including working to help the city with strategies to expand the tree canopies covering it from 17.2 percent to 20 percent by 2020; and policy work, including changes in ordinances and federal policies. She works on issues involving natural resources, urban forestry, urban agriculture, water conservation, storm water and waste water management, and water quality.

She is very pleased with her current position. “I adore it, and can’t imagine doing anything else.” Valicenti especially appreciates working at the city scale. She had previously been employed at the Global Roundtable on Climate Change at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where she had worked at the global level from May 2006 to August 2007. There, she dealt with an immense population, with the potential to make a large impact. The job was fulfilling, but also moved at a slower pace than she preferred. Valicenti’s current job allows her to have a more immediate impact while working with 30 to 50 residents. “They remind me why I’m doing this. It felt natural to come here.”

Her path always seemed headed in an environmental direction. She has spent much of her career on the science and policy of climate change. Although she has always been interested in the environment, a family trip to Alaska during a spring break solidified her enthusiasm. “It was eye-opening.” Later, Valicenti completed a summer marine biology program at the Shedd Aquarium, and studied marine biology in college at the University of California-Santa Barbara, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from one of the country’s top marine biology programs.

After she graduated in March 2004, Valicenti moved to Ithaca, N.Y., where she helped a friend with data analysis at Cornell University. That winter, she worked as a research technician in Antarctica for about six months. Graduate school at Columbia University followed, and she received her Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy in May 2006. Then she stayed in the area, working for her alma mater.

About three years ago, Valicenti moved away from New York City and the Earth Institute, and to an organic farm in France. She still keeps up her interest in growing healthy foods today by maintaining a plot in a local community garden, and being active in groups including the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council, and two younger organizations—Growing Pride, which is the Humboldt Park community garden association; and Advocates for Urban Agriculture, which represents all food growers in the city.

Valicenti describes herself as a pretty goal-oriented person. In five years, she hopes that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will have created, and decided that she was perfect for, a new Midwestern food planning position. It would involve Chicago’s food planning system, helping to connect local farmers with institutional buyers, such as hospitals and schools, and dealing with policy at the state and federal levels.

Her current aims are for the short-term. The grant comes first. “We’re currently getting the project off the ground. It’s the next big project for me. There’s a lot of work to do.” She will be the project manager for the grant, often dealing with logistics. Fortunately, she’s looking forward to it. “It’s all very fun.”

She “always knew” that she wanted to be active in the environmental field, and has moved in that direction for many years. She is looking forward to more work and play in that area.