Alumni Profile – Working for the World Wildlife Fund

Brad Goodman, an alumnus of Hood College’s master's in Environmental Biology program, works for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)in Washington D.C., as a project coordinator, program operations. He started at WWF in 2016 and “since I started I've expanded my responsibilities and now support our entire Freshwater team and most of our Oceans team.”

He has come to know the program and the people in the field more, which makes it much easier. The most exciting part of Brad’s job is supporting a project from the very beginning—this way he knows the work being done both inside and out, and as conditions (financial, timeline, or otherwise) change, understanding how WWF goes about challenges while still meeting grant requirements and conservation goals.

Goodman believes the knowledge he received at Hood was quite current. “This is especially true regarding the food industry and our eating habits, and how they contribute to environmental issues and climate change.”

WWF is especially interested in this issue now, trying to transform markets by attacking the issue from multiple angles—consumer, corporate and government. Goodman advises any student to not be against taking a job that isn't totally in line with your studies. For example, grants management wasn't part of his studies at Hood, but it's an important skill if you want to manage conservation projects someday. Every project needs to be funded, and those funds and the project need to be properly monitored, concludes Goodman.

When asked “Why Hood College?” Brad replied: “I chose the environmental biology master’s program at Hood because it is a very flexible program in terms of the courses you can take. It is also the only program I could find in the Mid-Atlantic that accepted students who didn’t have a major in science or who were looking to change careers.”

Hood’s location close to Washington, D.C. and to home in Delaware also helped in making his decision. His master’s degree helped him understand the projects being done with WWF and showed his long-term commitment to conservation and sustainable development, which in the end contributed toward landing his current job.