By VICKI SALEMI
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Meet students who are learning such skills as environmental engineering and environmental project management, and how that can translate into developing improved forms of recycling, leading the way in commercial or governmental operations, even improving the air quality aboard your next flight.
For Lisa Schnapp, pursuing her bachelor of arts degree in environmental studies at Union Institute and University is an avenue to fulfill her down-to-earth passion. "Of course, my aspirations are to save the world, but I would be happy serving the community regarding sustainable development," says Lisa. That is, learning how to use reuse resources in a thoughtful way.
"We strip the land of its topsoil, change the contours, and use water like there is no end to its availability. We build and abandon strip malls constantly which creates a haven for crime," Lisa vents. "It's time to slow down development and commit to quality green building to last a lifetime."
In addition to project work and paper assignments in environmental ethics and systems thinking in ecology, Lisa met with a professor at Grailville, a nearby education center in Grailville, Ohio. "We toured the farm, organic gardens, and used materials from the on-site library to supplement the research and development of my culminating garden project and paper," Lisa explains. "We performed soil tests on samples from my gardens, and I adopted composting and mulching concepts in my vegetable gardens to improve productivity for my project."
This accounts receivable coordinator also manages the books for her husband's business, and runs a household consisting of two teenage daughters. Her love for her family makes her choice of studies even more important as it encompasses issues of resource longevity. "For any community to become sustainable, it needs to adopt the concept of recycling as many materials as possible."
Like Lisa, online student Shannah Trout is also pursuing a green degree. In her case, the University College of Denver University student has put a master's degree in environmental project management at the top of her ways-to-save-the-Earth list. Her background has always been eco-friendly, beginning with an appreciation for plants as a child, to becoming Earth Club president in high school. She continued on to earn an undergraduate degree in environmental studies at Rollins College, and currently works as environmental engineer at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Her primary role? It is to maintain the space station's environmental compliance. "I work to advance KSC operations to better prevent pollution, buy environmentally preferable products, and recycle," she explains.
The master's program, she says, is teaching her new skills that she can incorporate into all aspects of her life, including environmental law, environmental economics, and managerial decision-making. "Global warming, toxicology, alternative fuels, and water conservation are just a few of the areas [I'm learning about] that affect our daily decisions and opinions," explains Shannah. "Environmental knowledge can help us prevent future problems and solve the problems we have today."
Typically Shannah's assignments include various projects and research requirements based on her instructors' preferences. For one elective in particular, the econology of the Green River, she traveled to Denver on a class field trip to float down the Green River and camp on the river's edge for two days. To get an up-close look at natural resource issues, Shannah and her classmates examined water movement through the Upper Colorado River Basin and the impact of water flow on the surrounding environment.
"We studied the ecological changes in plant communities, fire regimes and wildlife populations of the Upper Colorado Basin from human disturbance," she explains. "To best understand these issues and try to reduce the human disturbance, we visited a working Ranch and the Flaming Gorge Dam and Reservoir to learn how management of the system will help sustain and protect the natural riparian functions." Just another day in class for environmental enthusiasts.
Mike Gonella, adjunct professor at Union Institute & University and Ph.D. candidate of Miami University of Ohio, enjoys helping his students gain knowledge and awareness about the basics of ecology and environmental science, including how various components of the world negatively impacting ecosystems -- "the same ones we depend on," he explains. His primary focus is to develop students' foundational information for reducing these negative impacts through programs such as recycling, policy, etc.
Gonella's area of expertise is ethnobotany, the study of indigenous people's traditional uses of plants. In fact, his assignments require students prepare a case study after visiting a site of ecological significance, such as a local nature preserve or site of ecological restoration. By talking to people, taking pictures, making sketches, conducting background research, collecting samples and familiarizing themselves with the site, "they are truly immersed in the subject matter when preparing their report," he says.
As an environmental engineer for a major transporter of natural gas, Sam Reed also immersed himself in preparing his master's degree thesis in environmental engineering for Kennedy-Western University's online program. Sam's coursework included classes on hazardous waste, air quality, legal interpretation of regulations, and groundwater issues. His thesis, entitled "Passenger Cabin Air Quality in Commercial Aircraft," presented an evaluation of the air quality aboard planes and the public's exposure to airborne contaminants and chemicals during flight.
Pollution may take many forms, explains Sam. "An overabundance of people, an over-concentration of a plant or animal species, an ecosystems' inability to cleanse itself by natural processes. If our effort to maintain the environment in a "clean" form does not start with each and every one of us ourselves, then who does it start with?"
For these Earth-conscious professionals, that starting point is with a green education. Armed with degrees that combine science, environmental techniques, policy development, and an understanding of the importance of protecting mother Earth, making the world a better place isn't such a far-fetched notion.
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