Environmental Course

My basic course in Ecology was really the class that started my journey into thinking about sustainability and integrating it into my daily life and routine. I was still in the beginnings of my academic career and I was just trying to fill in a class requirement, but through the teachings of my professor, Dr. Krista Capps, I became helplessly interested in Ecology as a field of study. I was also taking the mandatory lab in conjunction with the class, and we had to conduct several basic studies analyzing the environment around us. I specifically remember testing the water behind the art school, fishnet in hand with my group-mates, and wondering if I should change my major from Art History. All of our trips still bring back fond memories, from visiting a local farm and meeting with the farmer to discuss soil and small farming techniques to the final project. The final project was the instigator for my push toward sustainable techniques in my own life. In this requirement for the class, we were all asked to change one habit that we had to better the environment. Some chose to lower their time in the shower, and others chose to start recycling. I decided to monitor my waste output and try as much as I could to reduce everything, and so I stopped using plastic bags at the grocery store. It felt really silly to walk out of the store with all of my things still loose in the cart, and the trips to take all the things I had bought into the house were more than I’d like to remember, but eventually I started to bring my own bags. I started to only use glass bottles, to cut out fast food completely and to change my shopping habits altogether, fully integrating myself in sustainability at home. It was actually in the Ecology class that I first heard about the Sustainability Certificate, Dr. Capps was recommending we all take it, and I was so happy to find a resource that would allow me to continue learning about sustainability, while not having to give up my other passion, Art History. Dr. Capps herself was so inspiring, asking us to go out into the world and be a force, something I hope to bring into my field.