A Hands-On Approach to Climate Action: Jamie Snook

After graduating from Lesley University in 2017 with a degree in environmental science, Jamie Snook, now 29, decided she needed a hands-on job that didn’t feel limiting.  

“I didn’t want anyone telling me that I needed to create differently,” she said. “It reminded me that life can be a little bit more grounded in the landscape we’re surrounded by.”

She eventually found her way to carpentry after moving to Maine, stumbling into an opportunity to gain skills alongside a crew of two men on a renovation project. She’s among many women entering the trades to connect with alternative ways to help the environment and improve housing.

“Bringing more diversity into the trades creates a more robust conversation,” she said. “Carpentry requires a lot of mental work and presence, and women have this nurturing energy. We’re able to think about how we will do this differently, and how we will work with the earth rather than against it and use less energy.”

Drawn to sustainable materials, alternative building practices, and energy efficiency, Snook landed with GO Logic, a Passive House builder out of Belfast, five years ago. She’s now a foreman, managing her first building project, including crewmembers who are often older than she is. “I fell into it by accident and just fell in love with the work and how it made me feel — how engaging it was. I think there’s a stigma around trade work that it’s just for brutes. And that’s just not true.”

She’s also part of a group of women in the early stages of forming a nonprofit called Tradeswomen Collective as a landing place for women in the trades to provide resources, connect, and celebrate their work. That potentially includes on-ramp opportunities for young women interested in knowing more about the field as an option for their post-high school years.

“I was definitely pushed into academia after graduating from high school. And I think there was a lot to gain from that; I don’t regret my decision there. But I had no idea this field would be an option,” she said.