ENVS Contributions to the Woltemade Big Problem Challenge, Spring 2024

The The Woltemade Big Problem Challenge asks students to engage “entrepreneurial thinking to create a plan that could improve water quality in the Ohio River and/or Lake Erie. (The) plan should rely on a business-focused solution to improve water quality in these bodies of water.”

As part of the Spring ’24 Conversations Towards a Sustainable Future course, five groups of students (consisting primarily of new freshmen majors and graduating seniors) are developing entries for the Challenge.

These ideas were developed quickly and with students having little student background in business or entrepreneurial concepts. I think it’s working out really well.

Dr. Matt Vollrath of the Department of Economics and Business is helping us with these projects this semester.

Slides on each of the projects were shared at the Feb. 7 Sustainability tAsk Force Meeting. Contact the students, or me (jbkrygier@owu.edu) with feedback!

Citizen science water testing kits – Brandon Edwards, Ashley Bahrey, Caroline Cane

Saline Solutions – Ryan McKee, Alex Bzdafka, Luke Miller

Invasive Jewelry – Abbie Kline, Lauren Hollinger, Ella Neuenschwander, Braden Saeler, Payton Andisman

Elemental Advances – Using Sandstone to Heal Local Water Sources – Matt Kelly, Charlie Hornacek, Andrea Pichardo, Owen Dooley,

Environmentally Friendly Stickers – Chris Nagle, Neah White, Jordan Glover, Hayden Kelner, Maria Thibodeaux

Spring ENVS Poster Session

Semester projects for GEOG 369 Remote Sensing (Rowley) & ENVS 399 Sustainability Practicum (Krygier). OWU Science Center Atrium, Tuesday May 2, 2023.

ENVS 399 info: GEOG 369 Remote Sensing

 

Apply Now: Student Sustainability Coordinator: 2022-23 Position

 

Applications for the Fall 2022 – Spring 2023 Student Sustainability Coordinator position are open.

Applications are due Tuesday, April 5th at 11:59 p.m. 

Brief interviews: March 22nd – April 19th.

Decision: Wednesday, April 27th

Questions: Talk to Krygier

Apply here: 2022-2023 On-Campus Internship Student Application

STAP Internship Title: Student Sustainability Coordinator

This position links to ongoing campus-wide efforts to improve sustainability, including a revision of our 2017 Sustainability Plan and a CleanTech U proposal that would substantially affect OWU’s campus and student experience.

Position Description: The Student Sustainability Coordinator position plays a vital role in maintaining and developing sustainability efforts on campus.

The student will organize and lead the campus Sustainability Task Force and liaise with the Environment & Sustainability Department (Anderson, Krygier, Rowley). Students in the position will also work with faculty, staff, and students (including those in Geography 360 & Geography 499) on-campus sustainability projects. Typically, the student attends the 0.25 credit ENVS 100.2/400.1 Conversations Towards a Sustainable Future course and works with new ENVS students.

Students may engage with additional research projects with ENVS faculty, pursue environmental activism efforts, help manage OWU’s Green Week, May Move Out, and other initiatives. Two students who previously held the position were authors on research papers published in part based on work undertaken while in a STAP position. The 2019-20 coordinator was awarded a PhD level graduate fellowship with full funding. 

Skills/Qualifications Required: Candidates should be organized, enthusiastic, and work well with other people (students, staff, faculty). Experience with sustainability efforts on campus helps. Ability to maintain outreach and scheduling while working well without excessive oversight. Basic ability to use Google Drive apps, Doodle, etc. necessary. But who can’t do that?

Examples of Assignments/Duties: Sustainability Task Force (leadership, organization, content) in collaboration with Anderson, Krygier, Rowley. Assist with organization of May Move Out, Green Week, campus habitat enhancements (Chimney Swift Tower, bird habitats, etc.), recycling issues, food issues, composting, liaise with WCSA, Tree House, Citizens Climate Lobby, regional ROAR collaboration (Otterbein, Denison, Kenyon, etc.), City of Delaware, MTSO, Stratford, Preservation Parks.

Applications: Students interested broadly in the environment and sustainability. Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Biological and Earth Sciences, P&G, Sociology, Nutrition, Psychology, etc. Future interests in environmental leadership, careers in the environment, graduate school

Unique Responsibilities: This position, as described above, is literal career training in that it requires passion and competence while allowing the student to pursue and develop important, practical skills. In addition, some previous students have used this position to engage in research, publication, and use the experience as a springboard to graduate school. Responsibility, leadership, motivation, and working for the better good of the environment and sustainability on campus and beyond are central to this position.

Ohio Wesleyan Professor, Student, Entrepreneurial Center Businessman Earn 2019 Awards

(OWU News Source)

At the recent Keep Delaware County Beautiful Awards, Ohio Wesleyan professor Sean Kay, student Brianna Graber ’20, and entrepreneur-on-campus Steve Flaherty all were honored for their efforts to improve the environment.

The awards were handed out Dec. 4 by the Keep Delaware County Beautiful Coalition, which provides recycling and litter prevention programs and environmental education activities to county residents and businesses. The coalition is led by the Delaware General Health District.

Sean Kay, Ph.D.

Sean Kay, Ph.D., a politics and government professor, earned the group’s Garrison-Brown Award for his volunteer work at the 2019 Northern Olentangy Watershed Festival, Olentangy River Cleanup, and Scioto River Clean Sweep, where he used his kayaking expertise to keep volunteers safe and moving forward as they pulled debris from the water. According to the coalition, the Garrison-Brown Award “is given to recognize initiative and significant environmental contribution to the community.”

Although Kay is widely known as an expert in global security, he also is interested in environmental issues and currently is researching grassroots campaigns for river conservation in the United States and abroad.

In May and June, he will be traveling to Utah and Colorado with OWU students who completed his Travel-Learning Course, “Environmental Politics and Policy.” After a semester in class, the group will spend 10 days in the two western states, including a four-day river-rafting trip through Dinosaur National Monument. To prepare for the trip, Kay spent two weeks over the summer working as an assistant guide rafting down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

As part of his hands-on research, Kay also has been working on the River Shannon, Ireland’s largest river, and exploring the Dublin Bay biosphere, a region recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for its environmental, economic, cultural, and tourism significance.

Brianna Graber ’20

Student Brianna Graber, a zoology major and Spanish minor from Noblesville, Indiana, was honored with the Keep Delaware County Beautiful’s 2019 Litter Prevention Award. She earned the award for spearheading a project to install a trash-collecting storm drain net in the Delaware Run, which flows through campus. The device collects trash and organic debris, which Graber and future OWU students will analyze to determine the net’s impact on the quality of the water.

Steve Flaherty

Entrepreneur Steve Flaherty earned the coalition’s 2019 Recycling Award for his work to develop technology that turns non-recyclable plastics into asphalt paving. His business, necoPlastics LLC, is headquartered at the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at Ohio Wesleyan University.

The 6,000-square-foot entrepreneurial center is a collaboration of Ohio Wesleyan, Delaware County, and the City of Delaware. It is the first-of-its-kind liberal arts business accelerator and the first-of-its-kind city, county, and educational institute partnership.

The Keep Delaware County Beautiful coalition, led by the Delaware General Health District, provides recycling and litter prevention programs and environmental education activities to the residents and businesses of Delaware County. For a complete list of 2019 award winners, visit the health district news and events page.