In India, at Wal-Mart and in Providence, students pursue sustainability projects
Sophia Li
Issue date: 11/28/07 Section: Campus News
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These on- and off-campus experiences come together in ENVS 2010: "Special Topics in Environmental Studies," a seminar required of all first-year environmental studies graduate students. The seminar's topic changes every year, and this semester's focus is carbon neutrality.
The nine students in the class were divided into three groups, each working with a different client to address issues related to climate change.
One group is working on carbon assessment for the city of Providence, while another is thinking of ways for the Ecological Society of America to be more ecologically friendly when holding conferences. The third group is working with a pallet manufacturer.
"It's an unbelievable amount of waste," said Nat Manning '08, who is in the group working with a manufacturer of pallets, which are structures used to ship goods. "(We're) figuring out how that industry can just literally be greener."
Manning said pallets require more wood than any other product, except paper.
Manning, the only undergraduate in the course this semester, is concurrently pursuing a B.A. in religious studies and an M.A. in environmental studies.
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Steven Hamburg, who teaches the course, said he encourages his students to understand the theoretical basis of their work while acknowledging the constraints of the real world.
"It's a blend of the two that will effect real change," Hamburg said. "We often get sidetracked with the theoretical, with what people should do instead of what we expect them to be able to do. When we merge those two, we come up with some really effective solutions."
Beyond the course, Hamburg has encouraged student engagement off College Hill by helping them find jobs after graduation.
Hamburg has advised Wal-Mart on energy efficiency, and he connected Noam Ross '06 and Josh Apte '04 with the retail giant, which hired the two recent graduates to work toward making their operations more environmentally friendly.