Lauren Schultz has joined UW Sustainability as the Planning and Policy Specialist. In her role, Lauren will be responsible for leading the process of updating the UW's Sustainability Action Plan along with other efforts. Lauren comes to the University of Washington from Triangle Associates, a northwest environmental consulting firm, where she served as an Associate on a variety of natural resource and economic development projects. Lauren brings a strong and diverse skillset to UW, including a technical background in clean energy development, natural resource management, coastal resource management, and collaborative stakeholder engagement. Most recently, she served as Deputy Project Manager for a Seattle City Light hydroelectric dam relicensing project, providing facilitation and management for various technical and policy working groups. These working groups were made up of tribes, scientists, engineers, local and state regulators, and NGOs.
Prior to her work at Triangle Associates, Lauren worked as a Senior Program Associate at the Great Plains Institute (GPI), a clean-energy nonprofit, where she coordinated projects and led communication efforts aimed at building policy support for the deployment of clean and equitable energy technology across the Midwest region. Lauren also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, where she worked with local communities on coastal resource management.
Lauren holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of Minnesota, with a minor in Leadership and Communication Studies. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and camping across the Pacific Northwest. When not immersed in the great outdoors, you'll find Lauren relaxing at a local coffee shop, cooking with her partner, or planning her next adventure abroad.