Fossum – a student of UMD’s College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences (CAHSS) known to her friends and colleagues as Jo – will graduate this May after completing her degree in just three years. She is double majoring in Environment, Sustainability, & Geography (ESG) and Political Science.
Fossum is also gaining experience as a student worker at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, where her efforts are focused on closed landfills that have been capped and covered. “If you saw one you’d think it was just a field,” Fossum said. “They can become problematic if left unmonitored, and it’s our job to make sure they're monitored and maintained well, and to make sure they don’t pollute the environment further.”
Combining data organization and outreach skills, Fossum helps maintain public websites that provide Minnesotans valuable information.
“One of the projects I’ve been working on is the Minnesota Groundwater Contamination Atlas," Fossum said. "Residents can go there to check if their well has potentially been contaminated from a closed landfill. I feel like that's so important because a lot of the sites are rural, and those residents would have no other means of getting that information. It’s cool that I was able to be a part of that.“
Fossum said her UMD coursework was instrumental in preparing for her internship.
“School has taught me how to manage time and how to read a really complex text, and quickly summarize it in a way that’s easy to understand,” Fossum said. “I’ll look at a lab report from the Department of Health, summarize it, and put that information into a letter to send to a resident so they understand what’s going on.”
In turn, Fossum said her work at the agency has begun to influence her thinking in an academic environment.
“I think a lot of the work here is protecting the environment for human health, and knowing how humans interact with the land is what the ESG major is all about,” Fossum said. “My work as an ESG major and as a student worker here really compliment each other well.”
Hailing from Moose Lake, Minn., Fossum was raised in a Bulldog family — her mother, father, and brother all graduated from UMD. She transferred to Duluth after her freshman term.
“Going to UMD was the best decision I ever made. I feel so at home and heard. You can reach out to anyone. And the classes too are so immersive and I feel like I'm learning a lot.”
In addition to her role as a student worker with the MPCA, Fossum also works in the Geography Department at UMD. “I've gotten to know the professors one on one, and it's just been a really cool experience,” Fossum said.
Fossum said she is interested in going to law school to study environmental law, but has decided to take a gap year following graduation in May.