Sustainability is a popular focus among the Colorado College student body, and, this year, the Office of Sustainability is capitalizing on this interest through volunteer positions that allow students a gateway to future paid internships.
The expansion of the Office of Sustainability is aimed at providing further opportunities for students to get involved with sustainability on campus, informing the Colorado College community about what the Office of Sustainability does, and making more effective programs.
“This is about expanding our ability and capacity to act, and sending tentacles out to all parts of campus,” said Ian Johnson, Colorado College’s Sustainability Manager. “The Office is interested in expanding the concept of sustainability to all areas of campus.”
Although the Office already employs ten paid interns, there are far more students that want to get involved. This year, each paid intern will be working with one to three volunteer interns who help with the work that can be done.
“We simply don’t have the budget to employ all of the students that are interested,” said Johnson. “This is a way of allowing more students to participate, and letting underclassmen get their feet wet in the office before they potentially take over for those that graduate.”
The students who have taken the volunteer positions work with the paid intern in a certain focus area, such as buildings and grounds or communications, in order to expand the impact of the office’s work.
The paid interns focus on a variety of topics, including greenhouse gas inventory, management, communications, local food, buildings and grounds, web development, zero waste, residential life, curriculum development, and the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System.
Josh Winkler, a senior Environmental Philosophy major, signed on to work with the local food intern Sophie Javna.
“I wanted to get more involved in sustainability on campus,” said Winkler. “I like how the Office of Sustainability is directly involved in the administration, and I think that it is the most effective group on campus.”
Winkler is also interested in reaching out to people in the Colorado Springs community.
“I think it is really important to reach out to people that aren’t in the CC bubble,” said Winkler. “We shouldn’t always be preaching to the choir.”
Gabriella Palko, the senior intern manager for the Office of Sustainability, is excited about this next step for the office.
“Our hope is that by having more people involved, we’ll be able to get more done and diffuse knowledge and awareness throughout campus,” said Palko. “This will also allow for greater longevity for the office and better training for the future interns.”
Before becoming the intern manager, Palko was the greenhouse gas inventory intern. Many of the interns in the office switch positions and adopt different roles in the office from year to year.
The volunteer interns will attend meetings with the other paid interns and be involved in their own projects. Since many of the current interns are seniors, the Office of Sustainability hopes to foster a community of students that could take the empty positions in the following years.