Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Middlebury Campus
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Going green: alumni in the field share their sustainable stories

It is no surprise that many Middlebury graduates go on to pursue careers relating to the environment, sustainability or climate change (or all three). Scholars-in-residence like Bill McKibben and organizations like Sunday Night Group and Weybridge House encourage activism and environmental interest, and provide students with impressive credentials to bolster their résumés. Middlebury alumni have played pivotal roles jumpstarting environmental NGOs and movements like 350.org that are global in scale and are shaping international environmental policy today. While there are no doubt hundreds of alums currently involved in environmental work of one kind or another, the following profiles provide a brief sample of just a few. (Seniors, take note.)

Bennett-199x300


Bennett Konesni ’04.5

After helping to start the Middlebury College Organic Garden (MCOG) while studying at Middlebury, Konesni’s passion for gardening has translated to his newest project — the founding of Sylvester Manor, a 243-acre educational farm located on an old plantation on Shelter Island, N.Y. “Our mission is to preserve and interpret the property,” Konesni said. “And to encourage a culture of food that is delicious, joyful and fair.” His uncle inherited the property and when Konesni suggested creating something similar to Shelburne Farms, there was no stopping them.

“I really enjoy designing things, then trying them out to see how they work.” Konesni said. “I guess I’m a little bit of an inventor in that way, whether it’s systems in the fields, a barn layout or an efficient office space.”

Konesni graduated with a triple joint major in music, anthropology and environmental studies with a focus in human ecology. After founding the farm, he now works as its executive director and is in charge of daily administrative duties, athough he tries to spend as much time as possible in the fields.

He cites his experience starting and managing MCOG as the one that ultimately encouraged him to continue to pursue farming and local foods.

“The experience of starting the garden, from navigating the college bureaucracy to building a shed to harvesting and selling our first produce, has prepared me extremely well for my life as an entrepreneur,” he said.

More than anything, Konesni said that his professors and classmates pushed him to pursue his interests — to grow, question and improve constantly.

“Professionals like Jay Leshinsky reinforced our budding knowledge and professors like Bill McKibben, John Elder, Anne Knowles and Jon Isham urged us on and fed us ideas to consider,” Konesni said. “Finally, though, it’s my Middlebury classmates. The encouragement and ideas that they have given me has been the best Middlebury gift of all.”

Konesni encourages all of us to visit the organic garden. “Get your hands in the soil and all of your other projects, classes, and relationships will improve,” he said. “It’s a powerful place — go explore it.”

Elizabeth-228x300


Elizabeth A. Baer ’04

A former environmental studies & policy major, Baer is putting her degree to good use at Conservation International, an environmental non-profit based in Washington, D.C. Baer works in the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business on a team called Conservation Tools for Business.

“My team develops tools and methodologies for companies to help companies shrink, green and offset ecological impacts in their supply chains — the chain of growers, producers, transporters, exporters, processors and others who are involved in making products and delivering services for a company,” Baer said.

“We do this by helping companies develop targets for how they would like their suppliers’ performance to change, methods for building capacity in the supply chain, incentives to encourage performance improvement, monitoring methods to track change, and approaches to report on and communicate about changes with the public so that consumers can make more informed buying decisions,” she explained.

Baer enjoys the ways in which her work can have far-reaching implications, as even small changes made by major international companies like Starbucks, Wal-Mart or McDonald’s can have enormous effects.

While she has always considered herself to be environmentally conscious, she credits Middlebury with putting her consciousness into a global context and grounding it in science.

“It’s an extraordinarily exciting time to be in the environmental field,” Baer said. “We’re facing critical global challenges, certainly, and the science only tells us that things are getting worse. But at the same time, we’re seeing more and more companies, individuals and nations engaged in environmental issues than ever before.”

“The world is beginning to understand that environment is not an ‘either-or’ proposition, but that if we can shift our way of thinking and operating, ‘win-win’ solutions exist for us to develop sustainably while protecting the natural resources we rely on to thrive,” she continued. “The question now is whether we have the will to make the right choices and to implement the necessary changes quickly enough.”

Jason-223x300


Jason Kowalski ’07

After working to organize Step It Up 2007 with other Middlebury graduates and Scholar-in-Residence in Environmental Studies Bill McKibben, Kowalski now works as a policy coordinator at 1Sky, a start-up grassroots campaign urging congress to pass strong climate legislation as soon as possible.

“My role is to make sure legislators on Capitol Hill hear the demand for action coming from their constituents,” said the former English major. “And also to make sure advocates around the country have the tools they need to apply pressure to the legislative process. Overall, it’s a mix of lobbying, policy analysis and working with our grassroots network.”

Kowalski describes his experiences at Middlebury as key to his current career trajectory. “Working with great professors like Jon Isham really got me thinking about what I was learning in the classroom and how I could apply it to the real world.”

After taking science and economics courses, Kowalski worked with friends and professors to calculate the College’s carbon footprint and figure out how much it would cost to switch from dirty oil to sustainably harvested biomass.

“A combination of student support, solid relationships with the administration and economic analysis led to a triumphant ‘yes’ vote in 2007 from the Board of Trustees to move forward with the aggressive carbon reduction agenda being implemented on campus right now,” Jason said.

In many ways, Kowalski argues, Middlebury’s carbon neutrality initiative closely mirrors the battle underway in Washington right now — “only,” as Kowalski says, “Capitol Hill is much more hostile than Old Chapel.”

Bonnie


Bonnie Frye Hemphill ’08

After graduating in 2008, Hemphill finds herself working at Climate Solutions in Seattle as a fellow in business partnerships. A small non-profit working to accelerate practical and profitable solutions to global warming was a perfect fit for Hemphill after four years of involvement with Middlebury’s SNG.

“I give many of my classes and professors a good deal of thanks,” Hemphill said. “But far and away, I learned the most from Middlebury’s student climate activism. The basic skills of organizing — inspiring diverse folks to mobilize around abstract goals, conducting large group debates and cold-call phonebanking the media to show up at events — have all proven invaluable.”

At Climate Solutions, Bonnie coordinates the Business Leaders for Climate Solutions program with campaign planning, research, administrative, communications and networking support. “It’s a network of more than 550 northwest businesspeople making the case for building the clean economy,” Hemphill said. “It was just 125 at this time last year.”

Her work allows her to be involved in a number of projects at once, including drafting an op-ed for a utility CEO to publish in a local paper supporting Senate action or clean energy investment; researching green tax incentives; helping a group of businesspeople put together a trip to Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress about successful alternative energy projects; and, of course, reorganizing the database.

“Though I am pretty tired at the end of the day,” Hemphill said. “I can honestly say I love it. I took full advantage of Middlebury’s remarkable resources and networks to jump from school to my work here.”

Baroody-300x225


Julie Baroody ’03.5

After graduation, Baroody envisioned herself working in international public health, but the former international studies major now considers herself very lucky to have found the Rainforest Alliance (RA). The RA is an international conservation organization that strives to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior.

“My current role is as coordinator of the RA’s climate activities,” Baroody said. “I’m thrilled to be part of the new and rapidly growing forest carbon community, with my colleagues finding ways to ensure credible reductions of greenhouse gas emissions through avoiding deforestation and forest degradation.”

While at Middlebury, Baroody was involved in environmental groups on campus, though she did not major in envrionmental studies.

“I lived in Weybridge House and attended ES colloquia regularly, and discussed environmental issues all the time with my peers,” Baroody said. “To me, integrating environmental issues into daily life, instead of focusing on them as something special or separate, is the only way to truly address some of the biggest challenges faced by individuals, communities, businesses and all the governments of the world.”

DavidBarker-300x166


David Barker ’06

Barker has spent the past two years working as a project manager for the New York City Parks Department helping to implement a program called Schoolyards to Playgrounds as part of the mayor’s 30-year sustainability plan known as PlaNYC.

“The mayor wants all New Yorkers to live within a 10-minute walk of a park and since there’s not a lot of vacant, available land in the city, he saw the opening of 265 schoolyards (locked after school hours and on the weekends) as a practical way to accomplish this goal,” Barker said.

In his own words, Barker “has worn a lot of different hats for the team,” from attending participatory design meetings with schools to coordinating with different agencies during construction to make sure it does not interfere with other projects to responding to requests about the status of each project from public officials, civic groups and City Hall.

“I really wanted to be involved with something tangible after graduation,” Barker said. “There’s nothing better than seeing a barren asphalt yard be turned into a vibrant community space. The feedback from the schools and communities has been incredibly rewarding. At a recent ribbon cutting, the kids wrote each of us thank-you notes describing their favorite amenities. It’s work that rarely feels like work.”

While Middlebury did not provide the former Campus features editor with the technical know-how to interact with a team of architects, engineers and construction staff, it helped in other ways. “It taught me to look at the big picture, to communicate effectively through writing and public speaking and to juggle multiple tasks at once.”

Tyler-259x300


Tyler Lohman ’08.5

After graduating with a joint major in geography and German, Lohman now works in New York, N.Y., as the general manager, sustainability director and chief operating officer of Dos Toros, a brand new taqueria in Manhattan.

While he does his fair share of burrito rolling — “I’m pretty solid: the trick is to use your pinkies at the end” — much of his time is spent scheduling, doing payroll, advertising, marketing and other customer relations duties. However, his true passion lies in making the company as “green” as possible.

“Being the Midd alum that I am, I don the few Patagucci and Pradagonia items that I own and have started to make the restaurant as sustainable as physically and fiscally possible.” Lohman said.

The taqueria currently features salvaged furniture, energy-efficient lightbulbs, low water usage toilets and faucets and greenware. In addition, the ceiling is constructed from tin found on the side of the road, all food waste is composted and even the used deep fryer oil gets turned into biodiesel — and, of course, the restaurant serves only local organic beans and sustainably raised chicken.

“Middlebury has influenced every move and decision I’ve made,” Lohman said. “While at school I knew I was learning things I believed in, but I did the work slightly more for the sake of the grade and what I thought the teachers wanted. But now, in the ‘real world,’ I’ve realized that I indeed do have very strong personal beliefs and tremendous drive to initiate my own projects — skills that I definitely picked up at Middlebury.”


Comments



Popular