PROFILE: Lindsey Nieratka, Sustainability Manager, Boca Raton, FL
Lindsey Nieratka
Sustainability Manager
Boca Raton, FL
I am the City of Boca Raton’s first Sustainability Manager, beginning in 2018. My first main task has been to assess the sustainability work already being done across the City and work with staff, advisory boards, and the public to develop the City’s first Sustainability Action Plan. Another exciting project in which I am involved is working with Palm Beach County, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and several other municipalities in the southern part of the County to develop a regional climate vulnerability assessment. I’m also finding opportunities to engage the community in topics and actions that are of expressed interest, such as the upcoming home composting workshop and Intracoastal kayak clean up and to reach out to our business community to engage in waste reduction.
My road to sustainability was a bit winding. As a kid I wanted to work with nature and pursued studies in ecology. Several travel experiences, including a study abroad in Tanzania and work in the Peace Corps in Honduras, taught me that what really fascinated me was the way the people interacted to their environment. In graduate school I studied community-based conservation and continued to try to make ecology and conservation biology fit that interest until I discovered that the field of municipal sustainability existed! I learned as much as I could and was eventually lucky enough to land a job as the part-time sustainability coordinator for a nearby city. The City of Boca Raton is my home, so when the Office of Sustainability was created I jumped at the change to go for the Sustainability Manager position.
Although I am a transplant from the Midwest, Boca Raton is my home. My family and I love to take advantage of the many parks, libraries, nature centers, and beaches found in the City. When I am not playing with my four and six year old sons, I use my free time to paddle on a dragonboat team.