Zachary Cole, Msc Email & Phone Number

Mahwah, New Jersey, United States

Boonton, Nj

I worked directly with the Executive Director and the Policy & Communications Director to advocate for sustainable, environmentally compatible development in the NJ Highlands. My responsibilities included managing all digital communications (email and social media) to build the Coalition's brand and develop public support for the issues. I also provided administrative support and resources for the Coalition's member organizations; researched and wrote about trends in regional sustainability and natural resource protection in New Jersey; and planned fundraising and educational events, including the Northwest New Jersey Rivers Conference and the NJ Forests Forum. I was frequently the organisational representative for the NJ Highlands Coalition in meetings with state agencies and legislators and lead drafting and submission of comments on certain policy issues affecting the Highlands region, natural resource protection, in particular the forests and rivers.Project experience:- Lead the writing and distribution of NJ Highlands Coalition White Paper: Policy Recommendations for Forest Stewardship and Preservation of New Jersey's Public Lands.- Lead the development and planning of the 1st Northwest New Jersey Rivers Conference at Centenary University (2019), and the 2nd and 3rd Northwest New Jersey Rivers Conferences (2020 and 2021), which were both virtual events.- Established the Highlands Hikers, an online outdoors group focused on exploring and promoting outdoor recreation in the NJ Highlands. This group now has almost 200 members.- Lead the development of the NJ Highlands Coalition Webinar Series, which features expert presentations and discussions around natural resource protection and environmental stewardship. This initiative was driven by restrictions due to COVID-19 but resulted in the creation of a popular YouTube Channel, where each of our presentations can be accessed at any time.

New Jersey

I lead sales in REI's Action Sports department - Bikes, Kayaks, SUPs, Skis and Snowboards as well as all the accessories, including transport. Additionally I enrolled new members to the REI Co-Op, explaining the benefits of membership and ensuring maximum customer satisfaction.

New Jersey

My role with Solar City was to develop leads for residential solar. I did this by engaging people about the benefits of switching to clean, affordable and sustainable energy, and qualifying potential clients on the spot using satellite images of their property.

Rce Graz-Styria

I participated in a programme with Change Agents UK, which offers graduates the possibility to work abroad in a European country. I was placed at the University of Graz in Austria, working at the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) Graz-Styria. The institute seeks to develop practical applications for sustainability. I collaborated on two projects: CONSUS, an award winning initiative to integrate sustainability concepts more widely into higher education, and URB@EXP, which is investigating the concept of testing sustainability and capacity building at the local level through Urban Laboratories. My responsibilities were to research existing literature on Urban Laboratories and write up my findings with a view to contributing a chapter to a paper being produced on the subject by the project partners.

London

My role with the Government Relations team was to research and produce materials to establish and expand the use of private sector environmental data in climate change policy. - Lead CDP’s consultation on Corporate Social Responsibility reporting for the UK Department for Business, Skills and Innovation, and contributed to a private evaluation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s energy investment plan. - Co-wrote CDP’s position paper concerning strategic alignment with the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals.- I was part of a small team that conducted primary analyses of companies’ engagement with environmental policy. My analysis involved categorising responses according to particular criteria for comparison and drawing insights on trends from the data. The data was published in a UN Global Compact Report: "Guide to Responsible Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy", and "Tricks of the Trade", a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

New Jersey

The NJLCV (New Jersey League of Conservation Voters) is a chapter of the national LCV, an organisation whose mission seeks to hold elected officials accountable for their decisions regarding climate change, sustainability and conservation in the USA. I managed NJLCV’s database of legislators’ voting record concerning environmental legislation, which lead to my co-authoring and leading design of the NJLCV 2013 Scorecard.

Msc Environment & Sustainable Development, Development Planning Unit, Sustainability And Development

At UCL I developed my academic research skills in the field of environment and sustainability. The 1 year program included modules.

Ba English With Media Studies, English Language And Literature, General

European Baccalaureate, English, French, Italian, History, Geography, Maths, Biology And Philosophy