Career Pathways: Meet Jo Brickman, Deputy Director and Director of Impact at VertueLab

 Please tell us about your employer.VertueLab is a nonprofit tackling the climate crisis by providing catalytic funding and holistic entrepreneurial support to cleantech innovators. What is your background and what brought you to Portland?I am a native of San Diego, CA. Growing up on the ocean and around people whose livelihoods were tied to the ocean through the tuna fishing industry and the US Navy meant that the natural world was ever-present - despite being in a relatively large city. That interdependence on nature wasn’t always honored, with disappointing results; and my concern about that led me to become an environmental activist starting in high school. I went on to get a degree in Environmental Studies from Scripps College in Claremont, CA, with a special focus on the intersection of earth science and social science. I also pursued studio art as a side concentration. I was drawn to Portland in the late 90’s because it had the feel of a big city while still having terrific access to nature. I could get to the Pacific Ocean for a touch of home, but also reach mountains, rivers, and lakes in no time. I fell in love with the music culture, the arts scene, the public transportation, and the funky blend of gritty industry and environmentalism that thrived here at the time. What influenced you to pursue a degree in science? Did you have any science role models?Science was a big part of my upbringing, with both of my parents being in medicine. My mom was a nurse and my dad a doctor, and they each had their own fascinations in other fields of paleontology, archeology, and botany. We always had the journal Science and National Geographic around to read and watched a fair amount of Nova and Nature on PBS. Even with all of that, I didn’t imagine a career in science when I was a child. I struggled with math, and though I wound up catching up during high school, it was always something I perceived as a barrier to entry. As far as science role models, I know I’m not alone in naming Jane Goodall at the top of my list. Dr. Goodall’s determination, perseverance, and courage combined with her gentleness and humility are all traits I aspire to demonstrate in my own life and work. Plus, she has been an outspoken advocate and author; and when I think of some of my other science role models - David Suzuki, Oliver Sacks, and Arlene Blum – I realize that none were content to simply stick to the lab and publish papers. They moved other people to action, reflection, and insight.   Tell us about your current role and what led you to this position. Did you switch career paths at any point? I have been with VertueLab for a decade now, over which time my position has changed quite a lot. The thread running through it all is working as an accelerant to the adoption of new and innovative solutions to environmental challenges. Prior to VertueLab, I worked for ZGF Architects, a national, award-winning architectural design firm rooted and headquartered here in Portland but with offices across the county. That was really my first professional role. I was hired there in late 1999 to help the firm get a handle on how their buildings were impacting the environment through the materials they were selecting. We worked to finalize the documentation of the country’s first-ever LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the rating system of the US Green Building Council) Platinum building, a science building at UC Santa Barbara. Here, my role expanded to supporting the firm’s growing list of LEED projects and advising our clients and project teams through making design and construction decisions that would lead to the least possible impact on the environment, through materials, energy use, water use, site impacts, and the quality of the indoor environment. What future goals do you have for your career?Empathy and connectedness are two of my core strengths that could be used in my work in a more integral way. I do my best work in partnership. I want to use my ability to scale impact through connected and harmonized efforts to benefit the movement to reverse the causes of the climate crisis. If we don’t achieve that goal, “future” and “career” will be irrelevant to me. Do you have any advice for women who are pursuing careers in science?Find a problem that matters and focus your passion and brilliance on that. I’m not a science for science’s sake kind of person; especially not when we face the kind of existential issues we are facing today. Science can help us solve and avoid these problems in the future. What are some challenges you have faced along the way?I mentioned earlier how my beliefs about my lack of math skills kept me from dreaming about science and engineering. Unlearning those beliefs and telling myself a different story has been key to my becoming more of a data nerd than I ever would have believed 30 years ago. There certainly have been times when my contributions have been devalued in a field dominated by white men. The only remedy for that has been to root me in my experience and my values, and just being unapologetically myself. That’s an ongoing challenge for all of us: acknowledging imposter syndrome for what it is, and dismissing it. No time for that! We need to keep at our work and be like water – flowing to where the openings are. Let’s get stuff done, people.What is the impact you are making or would like to make in your field?I think it’s too soon to say what impact I have had. What I have done is to consistently seek out the toughest challenges and find a way to contribute to the solution in whatever way I can: applying systems-level thinking to intransigent problems, challenging the notion that the old way is the best or only way, and seeking a way for more people to access the abundance of nature rather than to suffer from the abuse of it.What is a fun fact about you that not many people know?Fun fact: I’m in a band (just playing covers at the moment) called Drunken Angel, named after the Lucinda Williams song. Through the warm spring and summer months, our outdoor rehearsals on our lead guitarist’s deck (lots of open air and social distancing) became impromptu concerts for whoever wandered through our neighborhood. We’re in a bit of a weather-induced hiatus and I can see that I’m going to need a new musical outlet during the months ahead. Fortunately, tech is rapidly innovating improved online musical collaboration tools, so perhaps playing “together” will be possible again soon! Author BioKylia Ahuna is originally from Fort Collins, Colorado and moved to Portland in the fall of 2019. She received her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder and is currently a research assistant in a lab at Oregon Health and Sciences University. Kylia is also passionate about making research more accessible to the public and, as such, she is pursuing a graduate degree in Science Writing. She is excited to be a part of the Women in Science organization and looks forward to sharing stories of women in STEM fields through this blog series!