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Andrew Davis
Office of Sustainability
anjdavis@indiana.edu
812-855-1822

Last modified: Wednesday, July 15, 2009

IU Office of Sustainability names summer interns

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Bloomington Office of Sustainability has named 19 summer 2009 interns to spearhead efforts toward a greening of Indiana University. Building on the work of the IU Task Force for Sustainability, the interns will work in a variety of areas from utility conservation and green building to prairie restoration and campus wetland preservation.

The office started work on March 2, 2009, with the mission of developing a coherent, campus-wide sustainability program that coordinates academic, research, operations and student activities. Under the leadership of IU's first director of sustainability, Bill Brown, the interns will be laying the groundwork for much of the future efforts of the office.

The new class of interns follow a tradition started by the IU Task Force for Sustainability of promoting experiential learning. During the summers of 2007 and 2008, the task force hired student interns for research and outreach projects. During the 2008-2009 school year, it extended this program to bring in 14 interns for the entire academic year.

Past projects of the sustainability interns include gathering data for the Campus Tree Inventory and Campus Waste Audit, as well as coordinating events such as the 2009 Campus Energy Challenge. This summer's projects will continue that tradition and represent an effort to expand awareness of sustainability to all campus operations.

The summer 2009 interns and their areas of responsibility are:

Nathan Bower-Bir -- LEED Documentation

Bower-Bir will assist compiling previously completed or partially attempted IU Bloomington LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) credits, with estimates of expense and human resource issues for assistance to future projects. He will assist in revisions to design deliverable requirements, design standards, general conditions, RFPs, etc., to cover LEED responsibility assignments.

Zach Brown -- Prairie Restoration and Labyrinth Development

Brown is a School of Public and Environmental Affairs undergraduate student entering into his fourth year. He is majoring in environmental science and minoring in biology. He also is assisting in a disease ecology lab at Indiana University.

Marie Buckingham -- Prairie Restoration and Labyrinth Development

Buckingham is a four-year undergraduate student in SPEA, pursuing a degree in environmental management and a minor in Economics. She is also serving as the undergraduate representative for the Environmental Management Association.

Brown and Buckingham are working to convert the 12-acre grass field adjacent to Hilltop Garden and Nature Center from a lawn of non-native and invasive grass species into a no-mow prairie of native Indiana plant species. Currently, sustainability interns are focusing primarily on the research and development of a methodological restoration plan. Based on this research and further assessments, this plan will be specialized to the specific characteristics of the given site. The development of a labyrinth footpath design in the emerging prairie will allow and encourage community members to visit.

Susan Coleman Morse -- Sustainable Computing and E-Waste

This internship will focus on increasing the sustainability of computing at Indiana University. Specifically, the intern will continue current work on e-waste pick-up events where vendors pick up old monitors, cell phones, and other types of e-waste so that it can be handled appropriately, with zero cost to the community. This position could also aid in the Campus Recycling Center Feasibility Study with the creation of a long-term plan for collecting smaller e-waste, such as toner and ink cartridges, batteries, cell phones, etc., on campus. This position would benefit from a student who is willing to contact multiple people in departments across campus including residence hall managers and outside partners.

Andrew Davis -- Communications and Outreach

Davis is an MPA student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs with concentrations in sustainable development and policy analysis. He has a diverse background, ranging from archaeology to film and television production, and was born and raised in Bloomington. His work as an intern will concentrate on upgrading the IU Office of Sustainability Web site and raising the office's profile on campus and in the community.

David Gehl -- Campus Sustainability Reporting Research and Database

Gehl is a dual MSES/MPA student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs with a specialized concentration in climate science and policy. He hails from San Diego, and graduated cum laude from the University of California in Santa Cruz, with majors in European history and language studies. He developed an interest in sustainability while serving with the Peace Corps as an environmental educator in Senegal. This summer Gehl will be working on developing a system of metrics to help Indiana University measure its progress in improving campus sustainability.

Sarah Germann -- Transportation

Sarah Germann is a MPA student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) concentrating on sustainable development and policy analysis. In 2005, Germann graduated with high distinction from SPEA, with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree. She worked for three years with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) as an environmental scientist, and also has interned with the Indiana Geological Survey and the City of Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force. This summer she will be evaluating the alternatives of the adoption and implementation of a university car-sharing program, as well as evaluating the variables and outcomes from other university's carsharing programs.

Melissa Greulich -- Campus Recycling Center Feasibility Study

Greulich is a Master's of Science in Environmental Science student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She received her B.S. in biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008. Greulich is interested in a range of environmental issues, including recycling, and hopes to work after graduation for an environmental agency that addresses such issues. She is specifically interested in human impacts on the environment that are associated with toxicology and conservation of wildlife. The recycling center feasibility study is an internship continued from spring semester. The spring semester was focused on the costs and benefits of having a recycling center on campus and also gauging students' attitudes about recycling. After researching these topics, we found students wish to recycle more, but the convenience of recycling is inadequate both on and off campus, which inhibits students' ability to recycle efficiently. This summer's will focus on fulfilling the students desire to recycle. A framework for a recycling center and better on-campus recycling will be developed for future interns to implement. This framework entails collaborations with waste management agencies in Bloomington, applying for grants that may fund the expansion of the recycling program, and a plan to educate Indiana University students about recycling.

Trevor Hagedorn -- Campus Tree Inventory

Hagedorn is a Master's of Public Affairs student at SPEA, concentrating in sustainable development and comparative & international affairs. His educational background includes graduate studies in landscape architecture and an undergraduate education in psychology and foreign language. Hagedorn's recent work includes ongoing county-wide GIS green space mapping for the City of Bloomington Environmental Commission / Planning Department as well as GIS support for the City of Bloomington Mayor's Office of Sustainable and Economic Development. His fellowship with the IU Office of Sustainability will focus on a GIS-based inventory of campus trees.

Devin Hartman -- President's Climate Commitment

Hartman is a dual MSES/MPA student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University with concentrations in environmental policy and natural resource management, policy analysis, and a specialized concentration in energy systems and policy. He graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in economics and a B.A. in political science and environmental studies with a minor in sociology, his favorite subject. He enjoys learning about the multidisciplinary facets of energy affairs and contributing to relevant policy. This internship will supplement extant work to deliver a comprehensive assessment of the benefits and drawbacks of adopting the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) from a university perspective. In particular, emphasis will be placed on methods to achieve the educational component of the ACUPCC, a description of peer institution actions, biomass use in the university power plant, the outlook for carbon capture and storage utilization for IU electricity supply, central plant cogeneration potential, and collaborative clean energy projects with external suppliers.

Anya Hopple -- Campus Wetlands

Hopple is a junior majoring in environmental science with a focus on ecological systems, and minors in biology and geology. For the past year, she has assisted in large scale experiments investigating the evolution of weediness in plants with the Beaver Research Group at Indiana University. She is also involved with a project at Kankakee Sands, Ind., that focuses on promoting biodiversity in prairies. This summer, Anya Hopple will be conducting an inventory of wetlands located on the IU Bloomington campus. She will classify the wetlands based on their ecological health and integrity and provide recommendations for potential future uses.

Nora Kayden -- Environmentally Sustainable Practices at the IMU

Kayden is a senior finishing her degree in environmental management from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She grew up in Marietta, Ga., but now considers Bloomington her home. Last summer she assisted Professor Bill Jones and IU graduate students with the Clean Lakes Program in the Limnology Lab at SPEA. She also worked for the nonprofit organization, the Wilderness Education Association. She will be working with the management of food services and utilities in the IMU to strengthen sustainability and environmental awareness efforts. She will assist in addressing waste management, environmental education, chemical use, local purchasing and energy usage with the managers and staff and promote the IMU's environmental consciousness.

Wesley Kocher -- Native Landscaping

This internship will help to enhance the use of native and locally adapted landscaping to help reduce the need for fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation and bring down costs. Native species also help to preserve the biological heritage of Indiana and help to showcase it through our campus. This internship will involve (1) developing a native species database for campus (including species traits and other information needed to design new native plantings), (2) developing educational signage for naturally landscaped areas, and (3) restoration and protection of areas of campus threatened by invasive plants. Additional opportunities exist in the restoration, protection, and scientific monitoring of areas of campus threatened by invasive plants euonymus in Dunn Woods and tree of heaven along the railroad corridor.

Gavin Merriman -- Utility Conservation, Non-Academic Buildings

Merriman is an MSES student at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, concentrating in water resources. Prior to enrolling in the MSES program, he spent several years working for the City of Bloomington Utilities Department as the pretreatment program coordinator, where he was responsible for enforcing provisions of the Clean Water Act. While studying at IU, Gavin participated in the SPEA Service Corps program and was placed with the Monroe County Highway Engineering Department where he assisted in the continued development and implementation of the Stormwater Management Program. Merriman is working this summer with the IU Utilities Information Group to develop an auxiliary building utility (gas, electric, and water) efficiency audit procedure. In addition, he will evaluate building efficiency upgrade options and identify 15-20 IU owned facilities to be included in energy efficiency pilot projects.

John Miller -- Campus Energy Metric Development

This internship will provide metrics to help IU Engineering Services study and manage energy use and improve building occupant comfort. Several new buildings on campus will have the ability to provide fine-scale data of building energy use and comfort levels in order to fine-tune building systems. The intern will help develop accurate greenhouse gas emissions coefficients for measuring the IU campus's carbon footprint, accounting for the power generation mixes in each region.

Jenna Morrison -- IUOS Funding

Morrison is a dual MPA/MSES student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs concentrating on nonprofit management, policy analysis and biodiversity conservation policy. She graduated summa cum laude from Colby College, where she co-founded the Environmental Studies Club and worked as an intern to review the campus recycling program and green dining services. In 2006-2007 she served in AmeriCorps as an assistant environmental education coordinator at the City of Elkhart Environmental Center. At IU, Jenna serves in a leadership role for the Environmental Management Association and the Graduate and Professional Student Organization, is the graduate assistant for the IU Research and Teaching Preserve and volunteers with Sycamore Land Trust. This summer Jenna will be researching and pursuing funding opportunities for campus sustainability projects including revolving loan funds, external grants, and collaborative efforts with the IU Foundation and IU Alumni Association.

Veronica Rog -- Utility Department Media Relations

Rog is a dual MPA/MSES graduate student at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Her research interests include environmental policy and raising children sustainably. This summer she will be working with the Central Heating Plant as a Media Relations intern. She will be making new information about the Central Heating Plant's efforts to become more sustainable available to the public and students at Indiana University.

Madoka Yoshino -- Green Purchasing Guide

There is a growing desire among various departments to purchase environmentally preferable products, but often some confusion about which products represent the greatest environmental benefit, and how to obtain these products through IU Purchasing Department. This intern will help create a purchasing guide to help the IU community "buy green" wherever possible. This guide will include office supplies, equipment, cleaning products and event supplies such as cups, plates, and utensils. The intern will research products currently used by departments on campus and help develop price comparisons between recycled and other environmentally preferred products from traditional products.