Alumni Update: Carley Markovitz '10

Carley Markovitz graduated from Dartmouth in 2010, where she received her B.A. in Government with a double-minor in Spanish and Environmental Studies. While taking fantastic courses with Government professors Lisa Baldez and John Carey, Carley focused on Latin American policy and politics and spent her junior fall living in Buenos Aires studying international trade. After graduation, Carley returned to Argentina and spent several months working for the Foundation for Sustainable Development, where she became interested in the intersection between urban planning and climate change. While living abroad, Carley applied for graduate programs in urban planning and decided to attend the University of Southern California's (USC) Sol Price School of Public Policy, where she received a dual Master's in Urban Planning and Public Administration. During her time at USC, Carley began focusing on transportation's impact on urban development and became passionate about dedicating her career to advancing sustainable forms of transportation.

Carley has worked for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), where she oversaw studies on the agency's environmental impacts and spent time working in transportation operations, where she learned the nuts and bolts of putting transit service on the streets – and on the rails. She has also worked in the private sector, where she has served as a consultant supporting public agencies in assessing their multi-modal transportation programs and services and helping them to advance innovative, sustainable new investments to benefit their constituents. Carley is currently a Principal with Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, a small transportation consulting firm focused on advancing sustainable and equitable transportation, and is serving as the LA Office Lead. Overseeing a team of 13 transportation planners, she is leading regional transportation planning efforts in Southern California, which includes supporting the planning for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Reflecting on her time at Dartmouth, Carley is grateful for how her studies in the Government Department paved the way for a career in urban planning. This included an independent study her senior year in which she produced a paper on "Combating Climate Change through Development: A Critical Analysis of SB 375 and the Influence of the Sacramento Blueprint," which served as a gateway to learning and working on sustainable development in California and was later published by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. Carley is passionate about contributing to creating more sustainable, equitable cities and hopes to work with more Dartmouth grads to tackle these pressing, exciting challenges in the future!