Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Environmental Leadership and Climate Equity

Trafton B.

January 6, 2010 - 4:25 PM

Classes are officially underway for winter term 2010, and I couldn't be more excited.

Okay, obviously I wouldn't mind an extra week of break time, but I am stoked for my classes this term. My schedule is slightly PPPM oriented with Urban Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Policy & Planning Analysis, and Natural Resource Policy. I'm sure I'll touch on those individually as the term progresses, but right now I want to express my unrelenting exuberance in being my experience with the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP).

I met my Climate Equity teammates in our first day of classes this past Monday, and today we met our community partners - Jason and Mel from Partners for Sustainable Schools and Joshua from Oregon Green Schools. Our team will be working alongside both the organizations to teach lessons and raise awareness about climate change and specifically it's relation with transportation. Ultimately, we hope to create action plans for five or six schools around Lane County for reducing carbon emissions from students driving too and from school every day.

To give you a little background (albeit sort of dull in print): Research indicates that transportation accounts for the majority of carbon emissions in Oregon, and single-occupancy vehicles are particularly problematic. Given Oregon's policy (House Bill 3453) to begin reducing carbon emissions in 2010, Governor Kulongoski has outlined strategies for action, placing a "high priority" on reducing the miles traveled by single-occupancy vehicles. This means "single-student vehicle" trips to and from schools must be reduced significantly; that's where our ELP team comes in.

Back to the juicy stuff though. I can already tell that every period our team is going to become tighter as a group. We share a distinct bond with our collective passion for nature and environmental education, which makes me excited to walk into class every day. More importantly, though, I can tell that every day is guaranteed to bring a new challenge.

The one thing that stuck with me from today's class was the representative from Pacific Tree Climbing Institute (PTCI) who is partnering with another ELP team. She explained that there were three organizations making their project happen; PTCI, HJ Andrews Experimental Forest and UO's ELP. And these three organizations were on equal playing fields, meaning that each organization has a responsibility to upkeep. "Each leg of the partnership has a different mission and different goals, but the successes of each are interwoven. Collaboration leads to success."

Now, I knew that college life (and being in my third year here) meant taking on different responsibilities. Heck, no one makes it this far by chance. But personal responsibility used to mean finishing a paper on time or preparing for a test. Now, my actions have a direct impact on the success of another business. Daunting? You bet. But it's exactly what we need if we're going to make it in the real world. The word responsibility never had such meaning to me before today. Now, I get to discover if I have matured enough to consider myself a professional.

My favorite part of it all is that I have an awesome group to work with. I'm excited to get to know everyone's story. Where their passion for the environment began? What they want to do after graduation? I'm excited for the late night lesson planning sessions when we're delirious because we are running on nothing but coffee. I'm excited to encounter problems and smooth out all the kinks. I'm excited to teach students about the environment. And I'm excited to learn from everyone; kids, peers and professionals.

I was warned that ELP would entail a heavy workload, and I'm beginning to see what my advisor meant. I know it will be worth it though. Bring it now, I'm ready.