Zachary Marmet believes businesses can play a pivotal role in battling climate change.
Marmet entered his freshman year at the University of Michigan undecided about the career path. After taking the introductory level course Global Change, he said, he knew he wanted to study the environment.
“I really struggled to see myself picking a subject and only taking classes in that narrow subject for the rest of college. So, I love that the environment major is really interdisciplinary and flexible and allows you to take a lot of different types of classes that relate to sustainability,” Marmet said.
Four years later, Marmet is set to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in LSA’s Program in the Environment with an entrepreneurship minor.
Marmet serves as co-president of the undergraduate Fellows Program at the Erb Institute. A partnership between the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability, the institute’s mission is to create a sustainable world through the power of business.
“I consider it very much the core of my experience here,” Marmet said of his time at the Erb Institute. “Sustainability and business, and the intersection between those, has really been what I’ve learned most about being at school here; and working at the institute … and making all of these great connections with really interesting and cool people has been an amazing experience.”
Marmet said other highlights of his undergraduate experience include studying abroad. The summer after his sophomore year, he interned in Tel Aviv, Israel, for two months at a tech startup.
Marmet also studied in Barcelona, Spain, the second semester of his junior year. He said living abroad gave him a deeper understanding of global sustainability efforts.
“From a sustainability and career perspective, the experience was really valuable. Climate change is such a global phenomenon and problem that it’s so important to understand and know other parts of the world in order to create solutions,” Marmet said.
“And from more of just a personal perspective, I just love being in a new place, trying new things, exploring new foods, learning new languages. Those were all fun and special experiences to me that I’ll remember forever.”
Upon graduating this spring, Marmet plans to move to Chicago to work as a strategy consultant with Accenture.
He hopes to work with the company’s sustainability strategy consulting team. Advising clients on sustainability strategies could include helping companies create a net-zero-emissions plan, determine future financial risk due to climate change factors, and develop a more sustainable supply chain from a social impact or environmental perspective.
