Amy Concilio has lived in 15 states across two countries and held a range of jobs spanning from researcher to educator.

The assistant professor of environmental science grew up in Connecticut and moved to Rhode Island to study at Providence College where she earned a degree in chemistry with a minor in environmental science.

Between her undergraduate and graduate degrees, Concillo moved from place to place completing field work in environmental education and research in ecology. Concillio stayed in places such as New Mexico, Colorado, California and Spain, often for no more than six months at a time.

In Spain, she traveled to various cities and worked on organic farms as a volunteer for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WOOF) to explore a possible career in agriculture.

After her time there, Concillo set her sights for graduate school, ending up at the University of California Santa Cruz. There, she learned how to communicate ideas to people from various backgrounds in order to effectively make change.

“Environmental science requires an understanding of a lot of different disciplines and perspectives,” Concilio said. “We [the students at UC Santa Cruz] just thought, ‘these are some really serious environmental problems we’re facing.’ I have some tools to fix it, you have some tools to fix it, let’s fix it together.’”

After earning her Ph.D. in ecology, Concillio taught at several colleges and universities and worked on various research projects throughout the country. One project she is particularly proud of is research she did in Colorado on an invasive plant known as cheatgrass.

“I looked at the environmental problem [of cheatgrass] from every different angle. I worked with people from so many different backgrounds, even a policy person. It was a ton of work for us to collaborate and write a paper together, but I’m really proud of it,” Concilio said.

Her journey eventually led her to a position at St. Edward’s where she is excited to see change come out of her teachings.

“This school is really committed to social justice, which I really like. It seems that social justice is built into everything at St. Ed’s, and when you talk to faculty and students it’s clear that helping people is important to them,” Concilio said.

Concilio’s experience has helped her better illustrate environmental issues to her students.

“Her research experience is really relevant to what we are learning. She’s experienced things we are learning about first hand, and she explains it in a way that is really helpful,” said Rachel Carr, a freshman in Concilio’s environmental science class.

Concilio is looking forward to getting to know all her students here at St. Edward’s.

“Sitting down with students and talking to them and getting to know them is one of my favorite parts of the job,” said Concilio. “I can’t wait to see my students graduate and eventually move on to get jobs and start careers. It’s so exciting.”