Name: Jennifer Jensen

Hometown:   Des Moines, Iowa

Major(s) and Graduation Date:  Biology, Environmental Science & Agronomy, May 2016

Favorite ISU class:  AGRON/ENSCI 360 Environmental Soil Science (really anything with Dr. Burras)

Company:  Sustainable Environmental Consultants

Job Title & Company:  Manager of Sustainable Practices & Environmental Analytics

Major Job/Position Responsibilities:  I oversee SEC’s sustainability risk management platform, EcoPractices®.  In my role, I manage and coordinate client projects and everyday operations with my team including collecting, storing, analyzing data, verifying and quantifying to generate environmental impact values.  We bring players together from different ends of the agriculture food value chain to advance sustainability and regenerative agriculture.

What you like most about your job/position?  I consider myself lucky to have found a non-traditional role in the agriculture space focusing on advancement of best management practices along with the needed verification and quantification of the impact generated, allowing others to participate in the journey.

I enjoy showing producers and growers the scientific benefit of certain conservation practices and then helping them find resources to make those practices possible.  I enjoy bridging the gap, illustrating to SEC’s supply chain customers so they feel empowered with the knowledge and understanding they get from the EcoPractices platform to make decisions and implement business changes for the greater good.

What advice would you give to current students pursuing a career in Agriculture and Life Sciences?  Choose your adventure at Iowa State, build a unique path.  Follow your passions and ask questions.  I was undecided on major my first year and really wasn’t sure where I was going or what I wanted to do after graduation.  I was able to mix my passions into degrees that provide different perspectives to problems we face in row crop, dairy, pork, poultry, and specialty crops all over the U.S. & global.  We are a new generation of problem solvers, find something to work hard on fixing and make a difference.

“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” -Theodore Roosevelt

Feb 2020