Andrew Pattison
Bio
Andy Pattison received his B.A. in Ecology, Evolution, and Animal Behavior from Skidmore College and went on to work as a conservation biologist for New York State and The Nature Conservancy in both New York and Colorado. Andy later taught Biology and Environmental Science at a progressive charter school in Santa Fe, NM and was the Science Program Coordinator at Blue Academy, a non-profit eco-tourism company he helped launch.
Andy moved to Denver in 2003 in order to complete a Master in Public Administration with a focus in Environmental Policy, Management, and Law from the University of Colorado Denver. For two years, Andy worked as a researcher at the Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy supporting the Wirth Chair’s efforts in local and statewide sustainable development policy advocacy. Andy’s Master’s thesis involved working with the Colorado Municipal League and dozens of Colorado municipalities to develop and author a book entitled “Energy Management and Conservation: Municipal Best Practices”.
Research
While pursuing his PhD in Public Affairs at UCD under the IGERT program Andy is continuing his research in municipal-scale sustainable development policy centered on energy and climate issues. The working title of his dissertation is “Beliefs, Learning, and Policy Entrepreneurs: A Examination of Local Climate Policy Development”.
Non-research highlights
Andy is also a fellow in the Center for Progressive Leadership’s Colorado Political Leaders Fellowship program and a fellow in the Denver Community Leadership Forum. In 2009 Andy was elected as a UCD Student representative to the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board (SACAB) and the Chair of the SACAB Sustainable Campus Program Subcommittee. He also currently serves on the Colorado Municipal League’s Energy and Environmental Sustainability Committee and the UCD Campus Council on Sustainability.
Andy has worked and volunteered on dozens of local, state, and national political campaigns in Colorado and the rocky mountain region. He is an avid hiking, backpacker, and naturalist and plays ultimate Frisbee here in Denver.