Alumni return to class, but this time as mentors

Both in the field and in the classroom, Environment alumni are giving their real-world experience, industry insights and professional connections to enhance Waterloo’s curriculum. Not only are they helping students have meaningful experiences that will prepare them for the workforce, but they are also showing students what’s possible beyond graduation. We caught up with Diego Almaraz De La Garza, Robert Demare, Danielle Juneau, Matt Scoular and Lovey Sidhu to find out how they’re helping build the future of environmental education.

Diego Almaraz De La Garza (BES ’13)

Almaraz De La Garza is a School of Planning alum who is now Senior Manager, Placemaking & Operations for the Toronto Downtown West BIA. Since graduating, he’s come back to Waterloo to act as a client for PLAN 313: Community Design Studio where upper-year students work as consultants to address challenges, such as identifying opportunities for placemaking. “It’s always very helpful working with students to help you explore possibilities,” he says. “At work we don’t have as much time to explore this because we are so busy with daily activities. Working with students is a great outlet for exploring ideas while giving valuable learning experience.”

Almaraz De La Garza has also hosted workplace tours and been a guest lecturer where he shares his expertise on placemaking and his career journey. “I didn’t follow the traditional urban planning path, which has been very rewarding. I think that’s been very helpful for students to see there are so many possibilities with an urban planning degree.”

Robert Demare (BES ’93)

Demare is a former Geography and Environmental Management student who is now the Head of Executive Development for A.P Møller Maersk. He hosted our Copenhagen museum field course students and fellow alumni at the Maersk private archives for a special presentation by historian, Henning Morgan, who spoke about the Maersk company museum – connecting many of the concepts learned in the course to a real-life example.

“I had not been in touch with Waterloo for a long time and it was super to have this opportunity to connect with students and alumni living in Copenhagen,” he said. “When I heard about the program focus of the students, I immediately thought of our corporate museum and our dedicated curator, Henning. I’m looking forward to staying in touch with the people I met.”

Danielle Juneau (BKI '15; MDEI '16)

Juneau is currently a Senior UX Research Consultant, most recently at Too Good To Go. As a former Knowledge Integration student, she once participated in the museum field course to Barcelona. This spring, when current students took the same course in Copenhagen where she now calls home, she welcomed them to her workplace and shared insights about her education and career journey. She also led a special session on how the skills developed in Knowledge Integration are a strong foundation for a career in UX research, an area many of the students encountered for the first time.

"As technology becomes more embedded in our lives, we need people who bring empathy, critical thinking, and a human lens to design. That’s exactly what UX research demands—and why Knowledge Integration students, with their cross-disciplinary mindset and innate curiosity, are so well-suited to it," she says. 

Matt Scoular (BES ’03; MES ’09)

Having graduated from both ERS and then the School of Planning, Matt now works with SLR Consulting (an environmental and sustainability focused firm) as their Power and Energy Transition Lead for Eastern Canada based out of their Guelph office. He returned to campus as a guest lecturer for ERS 202: Natural Resource Ecology in fall 2024. Scoular and his colleague, Dan Harvey, SLRs Geospatial and Data Solutions Lead for Canada, lectured on how they support SLRs renewable energy and energy storage clients with early project siting and routing advisory services to reduce environmental impact and regulatory risk. The students learned about using publicly available environmental spatial data to inform a critical issues analysis and regulatory roadmap for project planning. 

"We were really impressed by the students during the mock exercise," Scoular says. "They demonstrated a strong understanding of the issues they felt needed deeper consideration for a hypothetical project of their choosing. It’s clear that the University of Waterloo is preparing future leaders who will help drive the energy transition and deliver real benefits for both the environment and society." 

Lovey Sidhu (BES '15)

It didn’t take long to get Sidhu back in the classroom. She graduated a decade ago from the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development. Now as a sustainable investment specialist at Mercer, she has come back to the class as a mentor and guest lecturer for sustainable financial management. During her lectures, she shares insights on the rapidly changing world of sustainable investment, highlighting key trends, challenges, and opportunities in integrating sustainability into financial decision-making. Drawing from personal experience as a former student, Sidhu focuses on making her lectures practical and relevant, offering advice on career paths and tips for making the most of university life. “The students’ enthusiastic participation, optimism and thoughtful questions make for an engaging and rewarding discussion for everyone involved,” she says. “The opportunity to contribute to the education of students at my alma mater and to give back to UWaterloo that shaped my own career is truly a fulfilling experience.”

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Thank you to our alumni
We’re grateful for the role you play in shaping the next generation of environmental leaders. You're not only enriching the curriculum, you’re helping students see what’s possible for their own futures. Your continued connection to the Faculty and Waterloo strengthens our community and reminds students that learning doesn’t stop at graduation.