Janet McCabe has been a tireless advocate for public health, clean air and the environment, formerly as an official in the Environmental Protection Agency before her dual roles as professor of practice at IU McKinney and as director of the IU Environmental Resilience Institute. A go-to expert on environmental issues, she recently has been a leading advocate for Hoosier children impacted by lead poisoning and has been a mentor for the next generation of attorneys with a passion for public service.
What part of your career has been most meaningful to you personally?
Although I have enjoyed every single job I have had, I have to say that working at the U.S. EPA has been the professional peak. For anyone working on clean air issues, the opportunity to work with the EPA’s outstanding career staff on policies and programs that improve air quality and public health for the entire country, and even outside our borders, would be hard to top.
What’s your advice to law students seeking a career in public service?
Keep at it. You will find that right job. And you may find yourself becoming passionate about a different issue than you were interested in at first. When I graduated from law school, I wanted to be a legal aid lawyer. But the job I got was in the Environmental Protection Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and that ended up being what I’ve devoted my professional life to.
