Jess Heckman is currently a third-year PhD student at the University of California Los Angeles’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; her research interests focus on coastal resilience and disaster planning. In this episode we had a great discussion about coastal concerns, disaster planning and policy, and shifting perspectives. She also shared how her personal experience with Hurricane Sandy shaped her research interests and offered some hopeful advice for figuring out graduate school and finding your path.

Learn more at: ioes.ucla.edu