István earned an Honours Bachelor degree in Applied Economics and Global Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University, which provided academic grounding in a wide variety of political, economic, and social issues considered through interdisciplinary lenses. His academic and research interests are now focused on environmental public policies and the barriers communities encounter that prevent swift and decisive action on climate change. As part of his decision to pivot his career path to embrace these interests, István collaborated on two working papers during the 2020-2021 academic year that explored current environmental policies and their instruments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian road transportation.  

As a candidate for the Master of International Public Policy program, István intends to continue building on his academic background to support his beliefs that innovative environmental policies could better embrace a community’s complex political and social networks and that adopting a culturally empathetic lens would stimulate enduring transformation to environmentally sustainable communities. With the knowledge base and tangible experience from the MIPP program, István plans to find a meaningful professional path where he can advocate for his beliefs and contribute to the political and social change necessary to more effectively combat climate change.