Jonas Goldman

About me

I was born/grew up in: Born Toronto, ON, Grew Up Boston Ma, USA and Saxton's River VT, USA

I now live in: Toronto, ON

I completed my training/education at: Dalhousie University – Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science & Political Science);  Columbia University – Master of Public Administration (Environmental Science & Policy

What I do at work

My work varies from day to day but requires a broad skill set. Sometimes I collect economic indicators for various parts of the economy. Sometimes I examine ecological systems, such as the flow of carbon in and out of ecosystems. Sometimes I determine the energy efficiency of different technologies. The decisions I make are related to what information is useful to policymakers and which is unimportant.

My background in STEM is useful for my job. I use my STEM knowledge to change technical information into something politicians, or others not familiar with that field, can understand. It's very helpful that I have some knowledge of a lot of different STEM fields. This is because my work touches on a variety of topics. My work sometimes involves collaboration with a team on a shared research report. At other times it involves a solo deep dive into a topic. I mostly interact with my colleagues on Teams or Zoom.

My career path is

When I was in high school, I wanted to be the next Crocodile Hunter. I still do most days, but this will have to do. Oh boy did I have a lot of internships! One at a news agency. Another was as a butterfly biologist, and one was working on communicating environmental policy at a local NGO in Halifax. I also did part-time event management, worked in retail and behind a grill at a burger place. I guess you could say my career path has been all over the place. That's kind of the reason I like research: it's so varied and it gets to touch on so many different things.

I ended up in the research/think tank world somewhat by accident. When the pandemic started, I had just graduated. I was looking for work and really didn't want to keep having to live at my parents' house. It took me 11 months from when I started looking for work to when I landed my first real job, which happened to be at a think tank. I had applied to pretty much everything under the sun! However, I fell in love with this work and couldn't be happier where I ended up.

I am motivated by

My motivation comes from the fact that I can have an impact at the level of governments, and the economy. Most importantly I enjoy how our collective impact shapes our living planet. In my job you get to work on really big things. If you can find the right think-tank/consultancy/government department you could have a hand in shaping policy that changes the lives of millions of people for the better.

Policy is the computer software that determines how society functions. It can be a huge lever for good. At its heart politics is who gets what and how much. Policy is how those decisions are implemented. It's important that there are people with good hearts helping shape the policy process.

How I affect peoples’ lives

Policy is taking a piece of the universe's complexity and remaking it as it should be. It is an agreed upon set of ideas or a plan of what to do in a particular situation.  I've seen the work I've done show up in the Federal budget. It's not every day that your decisions get to change the lives of millions of people or protect ecosystems.  It's a lot of coffee and staring at computer screens but it's also word made flesh. It pushes the limits of what any individual can do to create systems change. Plus, I can do 90% of my job in my sweatpants!

Outside of work I

Rock climbing, boxing, EDM shows, camping, and reading.

My advice to others

Write and publish. I don't care where, submit your ideas to any newspaper/journal/website you can think of, especially the place you think is too good for your work.