Environmental Protection Agency at MSU
Career, Internship & Student Employment Services will host the Environmental Protection Agency on campus Wednesday, October 23 and Thursday October 24.
Student Engagement Opportunities
Information Table:
- Wednesday, October 23 - SUB Union Market
- 11 am- 3 pm: Visit with an EPA representative.
- Thursday, October 24 - Norm Absjornson 1st Floor
- 10 am- 2 pm: Visit with an EPA representative.
Information Sessions:
- Wednesday, October 23 - American Indian Hall Room 122
- 2-3 pm: Grad Info Session (FOR GRAD STUDENTS ONLY)
- Wednesday, October 23 - Barnard 103
- 5-6 pm: Undergrad All Majors Info Session (ALL STUDENT WELCOME- No RSVP Required)
1:1 Coffee Chats with EPA Representatives:
- Want to learn how your career interests align with opportunities within the EPA?
- Wondering about the application process for jobs and internships with the EPA?
Environmental Protection Agency representatives want to meet with ALL STUDENTS to explore the various paths to a career within the EPA!
Sign up for your 20 minute coffee chat HERE!
If you have issues signing into your HireABobcat account or if you would like to sign up over the phone, call our office at 406-994-7627.
Student Organization & Group Sessions:
EPA representatives welcome the opportunity to meet with your student organization. If your organization is interested in scheduling a visit with the EPA, please email Jennifer Shore, Director of Career Services, at jennifer.shore@montana.edu
Podcast Interview – MSU Employer Partners Featuring the EPA
Andrew Mutter currently serves as a senior advisor and program specialist for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 8 in Denver, Colorado. There he provides senior advisory services in the areas of communication, outreach, human capital
acquisition/talent management, strategy development, planning and operations. Previously, he served as the Director, Public Affairs/Office of Communication and
Public Involvement in Region 8, and prior to joining the EPA he served as a senior
program manager at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington D.C. and is a 27-year
Army veteran.
Wendy Dew is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Outreach and Education Coordinator.
She has worked at the EPA for over 27 years. Wendy has specialized in environmental
communications her entire career. She has worked in the non-profit world as well.
She has a degree in Biology from the University of Montana. Wendy has also been active
volunteering with animal rescue groups over the years and lives with her husband and
turtles in the Colorado mountains.
Wendy Cheung has been with Region 8 for over 21 years as an environmental engineer, all with the
Underground Injection Control Program. The UIC Program protects underground sources
of drinking water during injection of fluids to develop natural resources or for disposal.
She has led various UIC projects focused on energy related and industrial fluid disposal
activities, uranium in-situ mining, experimental technologies and carbon sequestration
wells. She oversaw the development of a simple to use model to assist federal and
state regulators in making aquifer exemption decisions through an EPA Regional Applied
Research Effort grant. She also represented EPA as part of an Office of International
and Tribal Affairs Team teaching NEPA fundamentals in Vietnam, deployed during the
2013 Colorado flood as part of the Region’s Water Emergency Response Team, and deployed
to the Santa Rosa Fire, East Palestine Derailment and Maui Fire as an Environmental
Unit Leader with EPA’s Incident Management Team. She has also served as a Regional
Equal Employment Opportunity counselor, Co-Chair for the Asian and Pacific Islander
Special Emphasis program, and Chair of the national UIC Technical Workgroup. The last
few years, she designed and built the a first of its kind EPA multi-regional UIC database.
She received her Bachelor of Science from Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. in Civil/Environmental
Engineering from the University of Colorado – Boulder.
Jessica Gutting Smith remediates Superfund facilities across Montana as a Remedial Project Manager with
Region 8 in the Helena, MT office. She has been with EPA for two years and worked
with Montana Department of Environmental Quality on Superfund and Brownfields sites
throughout Montana for 14 years prior. Jessica has worked on emergency responses over
the years, including the Silvertip Oil Spill on the Yellowstone, the Bridger Pipeline
spill in Glendive and the East Palestine Train Derailment in Ohio. She has a BS in
Environmental Biology and a minor in Native American Studies from Montana State University.
She currently lives in Helena with her family and visits Bozeman often.
Barbara Dehnert currently manages and provides oversight of Drinking Water Program contracts and
manages the budget for the Region 8 Drinking Water Program. She has worked for the
EPA for over 26 years as an environmental scientist and environmental protection specialist
where she has conducted compliance monitoring of state and tribal environmental programs;
provided technical assistance to states, tribes and the public regarding the direct
implementation of the National Primary Drinking Water Standards and the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. She served as co-coordinator for the Worker Protection
Standard and Pesticide Applicator Certification & Training Program. Barbara also managed
the Hispanic Employment Special Emphasis Program where she actively promoted environmental
community outreach and education to Hispanic communities across Region 8. She has
a BS in Microbiology/Medical Technology from Colorado State University.
Max Tolstedt is a senior undergraduate student from Billings, MT studying Microbiology with an emphasis on environmental health. Max served in the Marine Corps from 2018 to 2022 and was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton as a member of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion. He operated amphibious assault vehicles for his first three years and managed hazardous waste and materials for the battalion in his final year of service. Max is currently a Pathways student intern at the EPA, working within the Superfund Emergency Management Division’s strategic planning section. His internship is focused on contracting and acquisition procedures as it pertains to the needs and requirements of Superfund sites. His goal is to make a tangible, positive impact on both public health and the environment while continuing to grow personally and professionally in order to support those around him and improve our natural world for those to come. In his free time Max enjoys playing the drums, fly-fishing, golfing, and spending time with family, friends, and his cat, Dumpling.