Charity Zimmerman: For the Good of the People
When Charity Zimmerman tells people she studied economics they tend to ask her for investment advice. “But, that’s only one little part of economics,” said Zimmerman.
“I like the more environmental and behavioral side and seeing why people make decisions and how that affects their livelihoods,” said Zimmerman who grew up in California and received a bachelor’s in economics from California State University, Chico.
The environmental and behavioral side of economics is also Caroline Noblet’s area of expertise, Zimmerman discovered, as she searched far and wide to find the right master’s program. After a few conversations with Noblet, an associate professor in the University of Maine School of Economics and Mitchell Center faculty fellow, Zimmerman decided to leave California for 91 to pursue a dual program — a master’s of science in economics and a master’s of arts in global policy.
She was also accepted into the One Health and the Environment initiative, a U.S. National Science Foundation Research Traineeship program. The program uses an interdisciplinary approach to study interactions among human, animal, plant, and environmental health, both locally and globally. Many One Health and the Environment team leaders are also faculty fellows at the Mitchell Center.
It was 2021 when Zimmerman arrived at 91; the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) crisis and its impact on Maine’s people and environment was in the news on a regular basis. Zimmerman had intended to study recreational opportunities in Maine, but Noblet, who served as her advisor, was deep into PFAS research, and Zimmerman pivoted to join her.
“Some of my friends in my graduate program were always teasing me: ‘You’re on the hot button issue,’” Zimmerman said.
As some researchers focused on PFAS-contaminated agricultural crops, and others delved into PFAS concentrations in public and private drinking water supplies, Zimmerman and Noblet looked at the problem from the peoples’ perspective, rather than the parts per million side.
As social scientists, they wanted to understand Mainers’ attitudes and motivations regarding PFAS, so they designed and implemented a comprehensive survey in collaboration with the , the , and the nonprofit .
It was the first comprehensive PFAS survey in Maine, assessing baseline knowledge of PFAS contamination as well as respondents preferences for generation and allocation of funds to address the contamination. For example, Zimmerman and Noblet learned that some Mainers had limited awareness of PFAS contamination. Mainers also expressed their greatest ire at companies that used PFAS in production, even after they knew it was a problem, and further survey results found that Mainers are willing to contribute financially toward solutions and change their own behaviors to limit additional PFAS contamination in Maine.
From design to publication, the survey honed Zimmerman’s technical skills but also her soft skills including communication, humility, and collaboration.
“The opportunities to present my work taught me how to speak to different audiences and how to condense my message into a five-minute conversation versus an hour at a conference. I learned that I needed to develop 20 different ways to get my message across to 20 different people,” she said.
Zimmerman also learned to check her pride at the door. “You don’t have to sound like the smartest person as long as you can get your point across,” she said. The real priority is to make sure people care about and understand the work, not showcasing how intelligent or knowledgeable you are, Zimmerman explained.
Researching the PFAS crisis, whether based on behavioral data like Zimmerman collected or research related to water filtration systems, often placed Zimmerman at the table with people from vastly different fields. Zimmerman learned that in order to communicate effectively, she needed to eliminate jargon and to be unafraid to ask questions; skills that proved essential as she began her career.
Although she loves Maine, Zimmerman accepted a job at the California Air Resources Board after graduating and returned to her home state. First, she tracked emissions and economic data to forecast future pollution levels in California. She recently switched roles and is now helping to develop the California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which requires companies that do business in California with total annual revenues exceeding $1 billion to annually disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.
In both roles, Zimmerman is one of the only social scientists on her team, working mostly with engineers and chemists. Her co-workers often tap her to help lead presentations because of her ability to convey complex information in simple terms, with humility — the very skills she learned at the Mitchell Center.
Zimmerman acknowledged that her work can sometimes feel removed from the people impacted by the pollutants she tracks. She has to remind herself that each little line of data she’s working on will eventually become part of a comprehensive picture that’s important to the health of California’s people, wildlife, and environment. Her work at the California Air Resources Board generates foundational data used by others for modeling and policy decisions, just as her PFAS survey results continue to benefit the people of Maine by helping to steer how policy makers approach PFAS contamination, especially access to clean drinking water.
“It’s for the good of the people,” Zimmerman said. “It’s in the name of public service.”