Making A Career Out of Sustainability: Here Are Some Options

Bay Foundation 2012 Intern Class

While we can talk all we want about Frostburg focusing on campus sustainability, there is another aspect of the green movement that we’ve neglected: jobs. For a sustainability focus to really benefit a college campus, it has to not only save the school money and reduce their carbon footprint, but also help students get well paying green jobs so they can come back and become role models for future generations of students. Additionally, one of the biggest disconnects we’ve seen as we spoken to students was the lack of interest in sustainability because they couldn’t see a personal benefit.

With those two facts in mind, we’ve done a quick round-up of green jobs and internships available in Maryland. The state of Maryland has made a significant investment and commitment to green jobs through the Department of Labor, meaning that there is a growing market for students with some knowledge of sustainability, across a number of disciplines. In fact, the state claims to lead the nation is green jobs per capita, and Governor Martin O’Malley recently made a strong commitment to green jobs, claiming that the state is planning to add 10,000 new green jobs by 2015.

“In Maryland we have set a goal of creating at least 100,000 green jobs by 2015, and we are working across our State government – along with partners in organized labor, and in the private, academic, and non-profit sectors – to implement specific action items that are designed to create new jobs, advance eco-friendly technologies, and provide more Marylanders with the skills they need to participate and maximize the benefits of a green economy for their own families,”

Summar Goodman, Associate Director of Communications for the Maryland Department of Labor, echoed this. “We’ve committed to investing the time and resources to make sure that green jobs come to Maryland,” Goodman said, “but we need to make sure that we have people ready to take those jobs.” When asked what he meant, Goodman admitted that in part it means that students will need to add classes in sustainability that aren’t even available at many of the state’s college campuses. “We need to make sure that the schools are investing in creating workforce-ready employees, and have the resources needed to do so.”

Elysian Energy, which focuses on energy efficient homes and business, is looking for interns in both educational outreach and marketing.

The Accokeek Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on rivers in the state of Maryland and sustainable agriculture, is seeking a fundraiser and donor contact person.

Groundswell, Inc is seeking a community organizer in Baltimore, who will go out and organize residents to collectively bargain for more efficient and affordable green energy.

SolarCity, which has hired more than 90 new employees in Maryland in the last year, is hiring staff for both their sales team and installation team.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundations, one of the state’s leading non-profit organizations, is looking for a legal intern in Maryland, along with an HR representative and Administrative Assistant in their main office.

Green staffing company Peter Kaza and Associates is hiring engineers  in Maryland and DC.

Bob Jackson Landscapes is looking for a plant health technician in Owings Mills.

We’re also going to link to this internship, though it is out of state, since they are looking for a field we haven’t touched yet.

The Environmental Law and Policy Center is seeking two MBA graduate students to intern in their Chicago office.

As for preparations for finding green jobs, Frostburg students have a number of options to make themselves more marketable. The most obvious choice would be a major in Environmental Analysis and Planning, but that isn’t the only academic path available. The new Sustainability Studies minor can be paired with any major, from Engineering to education, providing students with a head start on the green market. Additionally, the English department annually publishes E=LG2, a student-produced publication that focuses on sustainability and gives future environmental writers with their first portfolio piece and publication credit in the field.

How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint As A Student

While many of the issues that we discuss on this page include large scale projects and initiative, that isn’t the only way that Frostburg can improve their efforts toward environmental sustainability. In fact, individual students can have a major impact on the school’s efforts by taking a few extra steps each day to reduce their environmental impact. We’ve compiled a list of things that students, even those in the dorms, can do to reduce their impact on the environment.

1. Cars: There are a number of things that students can do in regard to their vehicle to reduce their carbon footprint. The most obvious one is to just leave it parked unless you are leaving town. Frostburg is a small campus and a small town, and with the bus and Safe Ride running there are few occasions when a student should need to drive on campus. Other tricks include using a ride share when possible for trips home, not idling when waiting for people and keeping your tires full to reduce gas usage.
2. Electricity: This one is as simple as turning off all lights and electronics when leaving your room. Fans, televisions, radios and the like are major drains that are often left running even when no one is in a room. Students can also take responsibility to turn off classroom lights if the class is leaving the room. Using a laptop rather than a desktop can also reduce electric usage by as much as 80%.
3. Books: Purchasing e-books or used books means that new books don’t need to be printed, and will save you money to boot. Arranging private sales of books, rather than mailing them back to Amazon or other retailers at the end of the semester will also result in a small carbon footprint.
4. Paper: Print only the minimal number of copies required. For drafting, use smaller fonts or two sided printing to reduce paper usage. Don’t print out information that is readily available on Blackboard unless you are required to do so.
5. Recycling: There are recycling bins available for paper, plastic and glass available in every building on campus, use them. If you see recyclable materials lying around campus or in other trash cans pick them up and recycle them as well.
6. Cleanups: Cleaning up after yourself reduces the amount of waste that winds up in the environment. If you are going to hold parties make sure that all cups and cans are policed at the end of the night. Joining in on campus and community cleanup projects allows additional opportunities to reduce your footprint.
7. Lose Weight: Heavier people have a larger impact on the environment, so maintaining a healthy weight is good for both you and the planet.
8. Temperature: It gets cold in Frostburg, which means that heating uses quite a bit of electricity or oil, depending on how your home is heated. Lowering your room or apartment temperature by three to four degrees can reduce power usage by as much as 25%.
9. Buy Local: Everything from food to clothing can be purchased from local sources. Check labels at the store or go directly to the suppliers to reduce the environmental cost of producing the items you are purchasing. Purchasing food at the Frostburg Farmers Markets, or farm stores provides an inexpensive way to both reduce emissions and save money.
10. Freecycle: Never throw out anything that may be useful to someone else, or purchase an item that may be available free. There is an active freecycling program in the Frostburg area, where people offer up items that they would normally just throw away for people who need or want them.

With just these ten, low-impact steps students at Frostburg, or other schools, can significantly reduce the impact that they are having on the environment.

Links To Your World: Poo Edition

Could California manure digester be key to reducing nitrogen runoff and fossil fuel shortages?

A similar project in Wisconsin features food waste.

Another company is attempting to turn manure into plastics for everyday use.

Alaskan fishermen and Walmart spar over labeling of salmon.

Orlando power company is providing solar power directly to consumers through new solar garden.

In Indian, colleges are beginning to install solar panels to reduce energy cost.

Photo Assignment Peeks at the International Student Fair

Xuan “Ann” Fun shows a video about Taiwan to a group of undergrads.

Shih-Cheng “Peter” Liu lends a hand.

 

At another table, FSU Seniors Katie Dixon and Patrick Burke tell transfer student Christina Davis about their time in Ireland.

 

Northumberland Rep Jack Bousfield shares a laugh with with Angela Ramallo from Murcia.

A sign graces the entrance to the event.

 

 

Our Exclusive Interview With President Gibralter

Any campus-wide efforts to ensure environmental sustainability is going to require leadership from the top, and at Frostburg State University that person is Dr. Jonathan Gibralter, the school’s President since March, 2006. We sat down with Dr. Gibralter last week and had a chance to ask him about his role in the sustainability efforts on campus, and what he plans for the future.

Getting Buy-In

We opened by asking Dr. Gibralter why sustainability has become a signature part of his term as president of Frostburg State University. “I’ve always cared about the environment,” he said, indicating his copy of a poster from the first Earth Day in 1972. “Frostburg has to be more than just located in the mountains, we need to be part of them. We need to take advantage of our local resources.” He also insisted that it can’t just be an effort by the administration; “We need to get feedback from students in order to be successful.

Why it matters

Dr. Gibralter insists that sustainability isn’t just about doing right for the environment, but doing so for the school. “Sustainability is an economic issue for the school as well. We spend $1.5m a year for water and power, so any reduction provides an immediate benefit to the school economically.” He also emphasized the opportunity provided for students and professors to conduct research into green energy and environmental analysis.

Major Changes

Among the successes that Dr. Gibralter highlighted during our talk was the introduction of the Learning Green, Living Green committee, replacement of the lights in PAC and the PE center with more energy efficient LEDs, and the replacement of the shower heads in the dorms with low-flow heads. These changes have cut the water and power bills for the school significantly, with the LEDs alone reducing power usage in those buildings by 70-80%. Going forward the school intends to have more buildings on smart meters, which will allow them to monitor and limit electricity usage.

Constuction

Building efforts were a key part of Dr. Gibralter’s plans over the last six years. The opening of SERF, the Sustainable Energy Research Facility, came under his watch last school year, though the building still remains closed to the public. Additionally, the new LEED-Gold CCIT building was constructed under Dr. Gibralter’s watch, and will feature things like waterless urinals and heat-reflective glass.

Plans for the future

Dr. Gibralter discussed a number of projects that Frostburg will be working on in the future. On an academic front, he claims the school is looking into adding a PhD program in environmental science. The Living Green, Learning Green committee will be selecting students and faculty for the President’s new Advisory Council on Sustainability. One notable figure from off-campus that Dr. Gibralter revealed may be part of this new group is former Western Maryland Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who championed the cause of the environment during his extended stay in the House of Representatives. Right now the school produces 40,000 metric tons of carbon a year, but he has a goal of reaching a zero net carbon mark by 2030.

There are no plans to build future rain barrels or rain gardens like the ones at Gunter Hall or CCIT. “It just isn’t worth it right now, the other buildings don’t need the recaptured water for gardens, though eventually we want to encourage each building community to design and maintain their own grounds.

Fleet

One change that Dr. Gibralter pointed out may have gone unnoticed by most students, but actually resulted in the school violating purchasing proceedures. The University is required, under Maryland law, to follow federal guidelines for fleet purchases. Those guidelines currently require that all new vehicles offer a flex fuel/ethanol option. When he realized that there wasn’t the infrastructure in place to support a flex fleet, the school instead opted to purchase ten Honda Civic hybrids, each of which now has between 150,000 and 200,000 miles on them. The school is currently petitioning for a change in the law that will allow them to purchase additional hybrid vehicles to supplement the fleet in use by IT and the Physical Plant.

Misconceptions

As we wrapped up our conversation with Dr. Gibralter, he took the opportunity to clear up a few misconceptions about the environmental efforts at the school. First off, we discussed the ownership of Frostburg Grows, an off-campus gardening and conservation project. “Frostburg Grows isn’t actually owned by the school”, he informed us, “the school partners with other organizations to run the project.” Moving on to the ethics questions around SERF, Dr. Gibralter complains that “People were hard on us. Everything we did was well within the limits of the law. The land that SERF resides on is under the control of the county, so it was their decision, not ours, on how to select the developer.” He went on to express his belief that the school will be vindicated when the ethics panel issues their ruling in December.

 

Links To Your World: Western Maryland Environmental News

Image Via HobbitatSpaces.com

The Appalachian Lab is seeking nominees for their environmental education award.

As shale fracking research continues, Allegany County residents are asked to contribute to study.

Environmental Maryland issues report in opposition to fracking in Maryland in anticipation of a government ruling.

Out of state company buys local wastewater treatment plant.

Garrett County company is building micro-houses out of reclaimed materials. More information about Hobbitat can be found here.

Maryland DNR limits off-road vehicle use to single trail in Savage River State Forest.

DNR also awarded Rocky Gap State Park over half a million dollars for improvements.

What Sustainability Means At Frostburg: Student Edition

Red Spotted Newt, Photo By Kerry Wixted

One of the biggest problems that faces any group make an effort to change behavior is facing entrenched attitudes about a subject. With Frostburg undertaking a major effort towards ensuring both the environmental sustainability of the campus and a role in the large fight against climate change, we’ve decided to ask students what they think environmental sustainability means. We spoke to a random sampling of students, asking them a few basic questions about environmental sustainability.

First, we went to a professional to see what she had to say about sustainability . Kerry Wixted is a 2005 Frostbug graduate, with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management, She also holds an MS in Biology from WVU and is currently serves as an Educational Outreach Specialist for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources specializing in Ecology and Conservation. We asked her for her take on what sustainability means, and why it is important.

“Environmental sustainability is a complex topic, but I will try my best to break it down. I think of environmental sustainability as the wise use of the Earth’s resources, so our environment can remain productive over time with little harm done. Environmental sustainability is important because we live in a world of limited resources.

We depend on the environment to survive, so it’s important to take care of it and to ensure continual resources for future generations.”

Ms. Wixted’s definition and justification stand as a stark contrast to the answers we received as we spoke to students around campus.

Kelsey, Masters student in Business Management

What does sustainability mean to you?

“I don’t know what that means, and i really don’t care.”

Do you do anything to help the environment?

“I never bother to recycle, I just don’t think about it.”

Is there anything that would motivate you to participate?

“I would care if I was better educated on it. I just don’t think the school does enough to show the value of participating.”

Michael, English Major

What does sustainability mean to you?

“Nothing, really. At best it’s lip service paid by the school toward the environment.”

Why is it important?

“Everyone says it’s important, and I guess it is, but it really isn’t important to my life.”

Do you participate in any environmental sustainability efforts?

“I recycle, when I remember, and I try to walk to class when the weather is nice.”

Jessica, Accounting Major

What does sustainability mean to you?

“It means protecting the environment, and not burning fossil fuels”

Why is it important?

“It should be important, but it isn’t. No one here really cares, so why should I?”

Do you participate in any environmental sustainability efforts?

“No, it just doesn’t make a big enough impact”

Sam, Biology Major/PreMed

What does sustainability mean to you?

“Nothing.”

Why is it important?

“It isn’t. It’s a career path that leads to what, a $60,000 max income? What’s the point?”

Do you participate in any environmental sustainability efforts?

“No”

Kelli, Law and Society Major

What does sustainability mean to you?

“It means making sure that we use fewer resources than our predecessors.”

Why is it important?

“We’ve only got one planet, and need to protect it.”

Do you participate in any environmental sustainability efforts?

“Not really, I just don’t have time to bother.”

The results weren’t all negative, however, as a few students did seem to have a firm grasp on the subject.

Ronald Troutman, Wildlife and Fisheries Management Major

What does sustainability mean to you?

“It means protectecting and preserving out limited resources by a managed approach.”

Why is it important?

“We need to ensure that those resources are available for future generations. It’s important that Frostburg works for sustainability to set a good image, and act as an inspiration. The majority of people on campus just don’t care, but those who do can’t be the only ones if the school wants to be successful.”

Nicole Wilson, Environmental Analysis and Planning Major

What does sustainability mean to you?

“It’s about creating lifestyles that can last throughout time.”

Why is it important?

“Our present lifestyles are too consumptive for the earth to manage for an extended period of time. We have to create lifestyles that aren’t wasteful so that we can have a stable economy and be productive and profitable for years to come. It’s important because the world goes on turning even after we are gone and it would be unethical for us to lead these lives and leave a barren wasteland for generations to come. Also, out actions have very direct effects on other innocent species that are now becoming endangered or extinct.”

While some of the answers we received were discouraging, and should be noted by members of the school’s sustainability team, it was reassuring to see that at least a few students had a firm grasp of the issue.

Frostburg Sustainability Survey

We’ve created this survey as part of an effort to determine the effectiveness and community involvement with environmental sustainability efforts at Frostburg State University. Please take a few minutes to fill it out by following the link below.

FROSTBURG SUSTAINABILITY SURVEY

 

Thank you for your time. Results will be published in two weeks.

The Man In The Middle Of It All: Dean Joseph Hoffman

While most students know his name, Dr. Joseph Hoffman is still an unknown-entity to most Frostburg students. Even though Dr. Hoffman, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is primarily an educational administrator, most of the sustainability efforts at Frostburg fall under his purview as well. With that in mind, we sat down with Dr. Hoffman last week to discuss a few efforts underway at the school, and his plans for the future.

Photo via Frostburg State University

In order to understand why Dr. Hoffman is so integral to the sustainability plans on campus, it is first crucial to know a bit about his background. He came to the administration from the Physics department, where he was a professor. His PhD is from Colorado, with Astro-geophysics, and he has studied energy since the early 1970’s. His main field of study was theoretical plasma physics, a mastery of which would result in far more efficient energy use and more “clean” energy. Since arriving at Frostburg in 1981 Dr. Hoffman has been an integral part of the energy efficiency efforts on campus, with his most visible success being the LEED-Silver status achieved by the Compton Science Center, which has been open for a decade. One of the components of the Compton Science Center that deserves attention, according to Hoffman, is the wind tunnel, which is being used to test horizontal wind turbines, which are more efficient and less intrusive than the larger versions topping local mountains in the area currently.

Among the other successes Dean Hoffman touts are the opening of the LEED-Gold status Center for Communications and Information Technology (CCIT), which will feature such eco-friendly developments as a rain garden, flush free toilets and a green roof space. He cites the lessons learned in building Compton in the development of CCIT, saying “We’ve learned a lot in ten years about building a state of the art facility, and CCIT will benefit from all that experience.” In addition, Dean Hoffman discussed the efforts of the campus to emphasize green jobs and reduced energy usage, an effort that he has helped to spearhead. Hoffman shared that Frostburg, like the rest of the University System of Maryland, buys part of their energy from green sources, and hopes to see much of that come from local sources in the near future.

Artist Rendering of the CCIT building via Frostburg State

While many of these major projects will be completed after current students graduate, there is one note of specific interest to current Frostburg students. When asked about the ARAMARK food services contract, Dean Hoffman told us that “The President is committed to sustainability in everything we do, and that will include our future food providers.” While he was unwilling to go into specifics, an increased emphasis on local food sources and composting could both be coming to Frostburg in the near future.

When asked what current projects hold the most promise, Dean Hoffman spotlighted two ongoing developments happening on opposite sides of Frostburg. The first, Frostburg Grows, is a public partnership that is offering Earth Science and Biology majors and professors, along with other students the opportunity to participate in a local food incubator that Dean Hoffman hopes will produce actual food for campus with a year or two. When asked about the importance of this facility Hoffman replied that he “Believes that the work being done with Frostburg Grows could change the way local farmers raise their crops,” a potential major development.

The other project Dean Hoffman highlighted was the Sustainable Energy Research Facility (SERF), where professors and outside companies are conducting research on green and sustainable energy. While SERF isn’t officially open for tours, the building is completely off the grid, and work is already underway on developing new sources of energy.

Asked to look back over the last fifteen years, Dean Hoffman reflected on the changes that have taken place on campus. “There wasn’t an impetus to change ten years ago,” he said, “we knew climate change existed, but no one was ready to make major changes.” That’s obviously changed, with Hoffman pointing out a number of developments over the last decade to back up his claim. The school has begun to hire faculty who are committed to reducing waste and working toward sustainability, with many new professors going to Blackboard or other online resources to eliminate paper waste. The school has also partnered with the city of Frostburg, as well as private industry, to develop new technologies and reduce inefficiencies. While Frostburg State still has a number of challenges toward become a fully carbon-neutral campus, it appears that administrators like Dean Joseph Hoffman have the school on the right foot towards reaching that goal.

Frostburg’s President Emphasizes Sustainability in Convocation Address

While Frostburg State University’s 2013 convocation focused, predictably, on educational and safety goals, there was an additional topic that should reassure anyone concerned about the school’s environmental commitment. During the on-campus event, held Friday, September 27th, President Jonathan Gibralter, in his address to students and faculty, expressed the school’s commitment to “further develop our focus on sustainability.”

Among the programs that President Gibralter spoke about were two major initiative that have been undertaken under his tenure as president; the Sustainable Energy Research Facility (SERF) and Frostburg Grows. SERF has become a very public symbol of Frostburg’s commitment to sustainability, as the building will not only house researchers looking at alternative fuels and green energy, but is also the first LEED-Platinum building in the University of Maryland system. That rating is the highest efficiency/green rating available, which is made possible by the SERF building being wholly self-sufficient for its energy needs. President Gibralter also highlighted the LEED-Gold status of the new academic building, the Center for Communications and Information Technology, which should open in time for the 2014 school year and boast a number of environmentally friendly features.

The second major project featured in the convocation address was Frostburg Grows, a sustainable farming project taking place on a patch of reclaimed land a few miles from campus. At this facility students and professors are conducting research on a variety of different projects, including composting, tree growth and locally sourced foods. The project uses food waste from on-campus dining to create new soil, reducing the overall footprint from campus, while providing a nutrient-rich environment for food growth. Students have assisted with the project both with research and in the construction of the greenhouses on site. Dean Joe Hoffman, whose college of Liberal Arts and Sciences oversees the project, boasts that he hopes that within the next few years that Frostburg Grows “will be able to provide fresh, local produce directly to campus food service.”

Along with highlighting ongoing sustainability projects on campus, President Gibralter also announced the formation of a new oversight committee, The Presidents Advisory Council for Sustainability. The group, made up of both students and university employees, will help with the oversight and implementation of the school’s Climate Action Plan. It is unclear at this time what actual power the advisory council will hold, but it is another piece of a larger commitment to the environment being made by Frostburg.

It wasn’t just in the address itself that sustainability received a mention during convocation. As the school embarks on yet another rebranding effort, they included mentions of Frostburg’s relationship with the local environment, SERF and sustainability research as part of a five minute advertising video that will be used to market the school to incoming students. That very visible commitment will make it difficult for Frostburg to back off of their promises, which should reassure anyone concerned that President Gibralter’s words were just a hollow commitment.

For the full text of the convocation address you can visit the school’s website here.

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