Originally published on October 01, 2019.
Not many agriculture majors are able to combine a love for the great outdoors with aiding in policy in Washington, D.C., but Celeste Maloy has done exactly that, serving as legal counsel for Utah Rep. Chris Stewart with expertise in public lands and natural resources issues.
A native of Hiko, Nevada, Celeste graduated from Pahranagat Valley High School in Alamo, Nevada, and came to SUU on an agriculture scholarship. She describes her college experience as "wonderful" and says she valued the smallness of the agriculture department, working one-on-one with professors, having familiar faces in classes, and landing an internship with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
"The time I spent working while I was in school really reinforced the concepts I was learning in class," she says. "Being in such a hands-on program and having an internship that applied the things I was learning really made both work and school blend well for me."
Following her SUU graduation, Celeste worked as a soil conservationist with the NRCS before she took the LSAT test, not knowing if she even stood a chance of passing. When she began receiving letters from law schools, she became more serious about her prospects, enrolled at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Prior to working in the nation's capital where she is grateful to help solve problems and learn from brilliant and accomplished people, Celeste served as a deputy county attorney for Washington County, Utah, where she represented the area's interests primarily in public lands and natural resources, worked for the Utah Association of Counties as its public lands policy advisor, and was employed by the Washington County Water Conservancy District.
"My professional life has blessed me with chances to work with impressive people on complicated problems in places I never thought I would go," she says.
Learn more about SUU’s Agriculture program.
