Understanding our carbon footprint is an important part of sustainability work . A carbon footprint quantifies greenhouse gas emissions and enables an understanding of climate change, which in turn, makes it possible to create a more sustainable world. Purdue Environmental and Ecological Engineering  (EEE) alumna Mia Bouska  is making her School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering  ( SEE) family proud with her sustainability work as a Carbon Footprint Manager at Archer Daniels Midland.

As a Carbon Footprint Manager, Mia is dedicated to a myriad of sustainability efforts, including: producing Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs), often using Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA); building infrastructure to support the LCA team in more effectively prioritizing and calculating LCAs and then leveraging the results; engaging and collaborating with the LCA value chain by quantifying upstream benefits of Regenerative Agriculture and delivering decarbonization to downstream customers; and creating a commercial sustainability strategy.

When asked about her favorite parts of her job, Mia shared:

“the food and agriculture industry is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, yet these activities are critically needed to feed a growing population. I get to drive change in one of the biggest multinational players in that industry. Along the way I learn about and assess products across ADM's diverse portfolio including food & beverage, feed, industrial solutions, and biofuels.”

Mia’s dedication to driving change is truly having an impact. Trellis Group, an organization committed to “empowering professional communities to confront the climate crisis,” just awarded 26-year-old Mia Bouska with a 30 under 30 honor for her sustainability work.

Trellis championed Mia’s efforts, stating:

“From 2023 to 2025, Bouska completed life-cycle assessments across ADM products and sites tied to roughly $2 billion in annual revenue, quantifying over 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Her work enabled a five-fold increase in renewable feedstock volumes for a major industrial chemicals partner, with long-term potential of 100 million pounds. 

Bouska, who has a master’s degree in environmental engineering, also supported field-level data collection to help validate a new disease-resistant mint variety, demonstrating its sustainability value to growers and customers. Bouska’s carbon data tools empower ADM clients to make climate-smart sourcing decisions backed by science.”

Mia chose to pursue a degree in EEE to make this impact possible. She said,

“As a child I always loved wildlife and especially snorkeling, where I observed coral bleaching. In high school I developed a passion for environmental science and learned about the biological and chemical explanations for coral bleaching, ozone depletion, and other fascinating processes. My junior year of high school I attended a Purdue EEE info session where I saw a tag-line I'll never forget: "Where passion for the environment meets Purdue Engineering." The idea to not only learn about the environment but also develop a skill set focused on problem-solving really resonated with me. I saw EEE as an avenue to make a difference.”

For more information about Purdue’s School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering, please visit: https://engineering.purdue.edu/SEE