From Zoom Rooms to Real Impact: How Janina Millis Turned Connection into a Career in Sustainability
- Apr 14
- 3 min read
Graduate school is the antithesis of college. You enter knowing what you want to learn. Your cohort becomes your colleagues, not necessarily your friends, unless you are lucky.
I was.
I met Janina Millis during the height of the pandemic on a COVID-era Zoom. After a brief conversation in a communal breakout room, our professor assigned an Adobe Photoshop project, something I still do not quite know how to use. Looking for help, I asked a classmate. While she could not assist, she gave me Janina’s number.
That introduction turned into something much more.
Nearly six years later, I am lucky to call Janina one of my closest friends. In that time, she has carved out a path in environmental sustainability, becoming a driving force in North Carolina’s environmental communications efforts as the NC Air Awareness Coordinator for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
I spoke with her about how she has turned her passion into a profession and what it takes to build a career rooted in purpose.
1. How did you get interested in environmental conservation?
I feel like those seeds, pun intended, had been planted throughout my life. Maybe they have been intentional or unintentional, from where I grew up on the coast to just being observant of the natural world, to having teachers who encouraged my interest in science and the environment. But the lightbulb finally turned on for me while interning with the North Carolina Estuarine Research Reserve, my sophomore year of college. There, I was able to share my love for my home with people who had never seen the coast. I enjoyed talking to students and adults and sharing my knowledge.
2. How do your professional and personal interests intersect?
I feel that my personal and professional life intersect quite beautifully. If I didn’t have this natural inquisitiveness about the natural world, I don’t think that would serve me well as an environmental educator. You have to be willing to keep asking questions and dig deeper to understand the answer, but not only that: I have to take that found information and make it understandable to anyone. And I think that came really easily because of how I grew up, my love for hiking and kayaking, and just generally spending time outdoors.
3. What are some ways people can become more environmentally aware?
A lot of the things that people can do to be environmental stewards are very basic things. It could be simple things like remembering to turn off lights to save energy, which will reduce the amount of air pollution created, or remembering to throw trash in a proper receptacle, so it doesn’t end up in our waterways, or something like choosing to plan meals for the week to reduce the amount of food waste and food sent to landfills. But for anyone just starting their environmental conservation journey, I would say start with something you’re interested in. If that is clothing, consider shopping secondhand. Or even waiting 24 hours before making that impulse buy. Small habits, small changes really do make a big difference.
4. What advice would you give to students and young professionals who want to get into governmental communications?
My advice for young professionals interested in environmental communication would be to say yes to every opportunity that you reasonably can. If that means going to a field site and doing research, do it. If that means studying under a specific professor, do it. Wherever you can obtain knowledge, it’s going to make you a better communicator, a better public servant, and just a well-rounded steward for the environment.
5. What’s the next chapter?
I don’t know what my next chapter is. I’m very happy with where I am now, but that’s not to say that maybe 5-10 years down the road I may want to make a change. Regardless, I still see myself working for and with the environment, and teaching those around me about its importance.
