Graduate Profile: Rainy Shorey
Rainy Inman Shorey had been interested in environmental issues throughout college, so when the environmental studies minor was created her junior year she immediately adjusted her schedule.
“The environmental studies program was crucial in helping me gain field-based research experience through activities like wildlife management studies in Kenya that have served me well during my graduate education and professional teaching and research career,” the 1997 graduate says.
That career has led her from wildlife conservation to teaching at the university level to currently working for Caterpillar, Inc. She focuses on environmental policy and sustainable development initiatives for the Corporate Environment, Health and Safety group.
Rainy Shorey
The broad range of classes in the minor allowed her to integrate a variety of environmental knowledge into her different positions.
“This gave me a more holistic view of how I could tackle environmental concerns by incorporating culture, economics, ethics and politics,” she says.
“Few pure science programs offer students an opportunity to explore environmental issues from such a variety of perspectives. This helped to teach me that my career would not be focused solely on science, a lesson I have been continually reminded of throughout my profession.”
Shorey, a biology major was attracted to Alma because of the science program and academic reputation as well as the hands-on learning environment.
She was a thrower for Alma's track and field team and a two-time All-American in discus. She also was a resident assistant and an assistant hall director, vice president of the biology honor society and a member of Students United for Nature.
