Crawford School of Public Policy

From learning and developing, to practicing and implementing. One Crawford graduate takes steps to tackle climate change.

Eryn Gayle de Leon has just completed a Master of Climate Change (MCC) at Crawford School of Public Policy and is now working as a Program Officer for the Philippine Program with the Global Green Growth Institute, headquartered in Seoul.

She explains why she decided to study the MCC and how it’s helped her achieve her goals.

“Climate change is an extremely important development issue for the Philippines because it is one of the most highly climate vulnerable countries in the world,” she said.

“It is vital to have development professionals who are up to speed with the latest tools and know how to evaluate policies and strengthen institutions that will help drive inclusive adaptation.”

Before completing her Master of Climate Change, Eryn worked as a researcher with Clean Air Asia, working with key development and research agencies issues of air pollution and emission mitigation.

“The MCC program has broadened my understanding of the multiple dimensions of climate change and that’s really helped me in my current role,” she said.

“The project I am currently working on seeks to enhance climate change resilience and promote inclusive green growth development planning at a sub-national level.”

The MCC degree has provided Eryn with something a little extra.

“The program is different from other programs as it is uniquely inter-disciplinary. It’s based on the latest scientific research and grounded in practitioner experiences. As well as having excellent research advisers and practical experts, I found the academic environment was really accommodating and supportive,” she said.

“I chose to study at Crawford because of its devotion to research excellence. Aside from this, The Australian National University also has great partnerships with prestigious and renowned universities and research institutes worldwide. I was able to participate in ETH Zurich’s Global Sustainability Summer School and United Nations University-Tokyo’s ‘Building Resilience against Climate Change’ short course.”

Eryn and Associate Professor Jamie Pittock, have just had an article published in Climate and Development. Read more.