Environment and Sustainability

Mimi earned her undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology from Columbia University in the City of New York. She also holds a graduate degree in Climate and Society offered through Columbia University's prestigious Earth Institute. During and since that training, she has been actively engaged in research, policy development, and education regarding sustainability. She has considered a plethora of environmental issues, including the burden of invasive species, social determinants of environmental health in urban areas, water quality issues, energy production and distribution, and food systems.

She has been a contributing author to the Introduced Species Summary Project and the Environmental Policy Analyst Intern for the Office of the Bronx Borough President, Adolfo Adolfo Carrion (who then became first director of the Office of Urban Affairs in the Obama Administration). As Carrion's intern, she was assigned a lead authorship role in drafting the 2004 State of the Borough Address, and she made major contributions to air quality agendas during her tenure.

She also worked as a Scientist at Memphis Light, Gas, and Water in the Water Quality Assurance Laboratory and as the Program Manager for the City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department "Gardens for Kids LA" school-site gardening program. She helped launch the school-gardening movement in LA by coordinating stakeholders to give more than 2,000 kids (mostly low-income) an opportunity to participate in a school-based community gardens.

In addition to teaching courses on Sustainability, Ecology, Climate Change, Environmental Health, and Green Leadership at UCLA and Occidental College, she intermittently serves as a Friends of Playa Vista Elementary School Environmental Sustainability Committee Member.

Invasive Species Summary Available at: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/invbio_plan_report_home.html.