Sustainable UConn with Maura

Transcript

Okay, everyone, let’s head over to one of UCONN’s greenhouses. We’re gonna talk with Maura. Who’s getting her bachelor’s in Environmental Science with a concentration on sustainable community food systems. Maura’s not only studying these subjects. She’s experiencing them by living on a working student-run farm pretty cool. Maura, please take it away.

Hi everyone. Like most 18 year olds starting the college search, there were so many things that factored into my decision. As a budding environmental science student, I wanted a school that would help me learn how to live a sustainable life. That’s why I was so excited to learn about UCONN’s commitment to limiting their impact on the environment. I got involved in sustainability at UCONN on day one, as a member of the Eco House learning community.

Being surrounded by other students who were motivated to learn about the environment and live sustainably was an amazing experience. That’s where I learned about so many of UCONN’s environmentally focused clubs. Like Eco Husky, where we would volunteer at green game days. Picking up trash after the games and informing people how to dispose of waste properly as trash, recyclables, or compost. Or the soil and water conservation society where we help maintain the green infrastructure on campus. Like the green roofs the Bioretention areas and the rain gardens. We also got to look inside the many ways campus is becoming greener. Like the student led office of sustainability. Which helps keep UCONN in the top 10 of the Sierra club’s cool school rankings. Or, the food waste disposal strategy which uses quantum biopower to turn excess food into energy.

In the Fall of 2019, we also participated in a global climate strike as part of the Fridays for future campaign. To show how seriously students take the climate crisis, we striked classes and instead spent the day educating each other on climate change. We marched the president’s office to read him our demands on how UCONN could improve. And as a response, a student led working group was formed to address the issues and let students’ voices be heard. Freshman year, I also learned about UCONN’s Spring Valley Student Farm, where I’ve lived for the past year.

SVSF is a three-quarter acre sustainable farm, located four miles off campus that uses organic and low till practices to grow fresh, pesticide-free produce for the dining halls. We’re dedicated to sustainability and food justice with a main goal of educating the community. UCONN students can volunteer with us at Farm Fridays to learn about sustainable agriculture and how to grow food. At SVSF, we grow all kinds of vegetables. We have several beehives which help pollinate the vegetables. And we plant pollinator friendly plants and flowers, making us a nationally recognized bee campus. We’re also in the process of installing several solar panels which will help power the greenhouses and the home that we share.

By immersing myself in sustainability at UCONN I’m able to get a unique hands-on experience in topics I otherwise wouldn’t have discovered. Working so closely with food helped me realize a new passion for making food production more sustainable. I am confident that the knowledge I’ve gained here will serve me well at UCONN and beyond that’s all from me, Alex, back to you.

Thanks Maura. It’s fitting that a land grant school with a long history of agriculture education is still making new discoveries and blazing new trails in that field. It sounds like UCONN is giving you the tools you need to go out and make the world a better place Maura. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us, take care.