ON AND OFF CAMPUS: A SUSTAINABLE NOTE

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently recognized Bard for its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least half within 10 years. Bard is one of the 50 organizations that have joined the DOE’s Better Climate Challenge, and the only small liberal arts college in the country that is converting its built environment to carbon neutral as a Better Climate Challenge partner. The College has already cut energy use on campus through more efficient lighting, HVAC, and insulation retrofits; added solar arrays; and has plans to eliminate fossil fuels by converting buildings to geothermal. The goal is to use only renewable energy through a combination of on-campus solar and microhydropower and the purchase of off-site renewable electricity.

On the academic side, Bard launched the Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Justice last March. Organized by the Graduate Programs in Sustainability, with support from the Open Society University Network, the teach-in brought together climate-concerned educators and students at universities and high schools from around the globe for conversations about changing the future. Teach-in organizers hope to engage 1,000 colleges, universities, and other institutions this year, targeting at least 100,000 participants worldwide.

Students are also leading the charge, particularly when it comes to food. BardEATS (Education, Advocacy, Transparency, and Sustainability), a collaborative partnership among Bard students, dining services, faculty, and staff, is working to make campus food systems more sustainable and equitable. The organization coordinates pre- and postconsumer composting systems on campus, which has resulted in roughly 230 pounds of food per day being diverted from landfills. That number is likely to go way up thanks to entrepreneur and investor Christopher R. Lindstrom SR ’01, who this summer donated a High-solids Organic-waste Recycling System with Electrical Output (HORSE). Khadija Ghanizada ’23 spent last summer researching the biodigester and its potential contribution to Bard’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. “Based on our calculations, from 960 pounds of food waste per week we can produce 139 kilowatts of electricity,” she wrote. Ghanizada, who is on the women’s lacrosse team, noted that the digester would be able to supply enough electricity to power the lights on the Lorenzo Ferrari Soccer and Lacrosse Field for 10 hours a week. “Furthermore,” she added, “the fertilizer can be used on the Bard Farm and sequester an additional portion for the emitted CO2 through improved plant growth.”

Since 2013, Bard College Farm has sold more than 136,000 pounds of fresh produce to Bard’s dining services, and many more at the seasonal Thursday farmstand, where sales have more than trebled since 2019. Every growing season is a challenging one, but in 2022 the dedicated students who work on the 1.25-acre farm, not to mention Bard Farm Manager Rebecca Yoshino, endured drought, searing heat, torrential downpours, and bonechilling harvests in the mud to provide the community with access to fresh, local, seasonal, and therefore sustainable produce.

Another food-waste reduction effort took place during Bard’s Family and Alumni/ae Weekend last October, with members of the Bard Sustainability team and Center for Civic Engagement leading students and parents in apple gleaning—the harvesting of leftover apples—at Greig Farm. The fruit was later distributed to the local community through Red Hook Responds.

In happy news for insects, a Bard-owned field that has previously been used to grow corn will soon be transformed into a pollinator meadow. The project came out of a spring 2022 Open Society University Network class, Leading Change in Organizations Practicum, which was “a collaborative, cross-institution course in leading change in organizations where student teams develop and advance proposals for organizational innovation within the university.” With a little cooperation from mother nature—and a bit more funding— Route 9G just north of the Montgomery Place Orchards farm stand will soon be just a bit more flower-filled.

These are some of the remarkable recent alumni/ae of Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability who are working in the sustainability field.

Michelle Aboodi MBA ’21, global sustainability analytics product manager, Converse

Sam Brundrett MBA ’18, impact and sustainability manager, Etsy

Aly Criscuolo MBA ’19, sustainability and corporate social responsibility director, New York Road Runners

Rob Kimmich MBA ’21, strategic projects and sustainability manager, Siemens

Kat Malek-Hood MBA ’22, responsible sourcing manager, Estée Lauder Companies

Kendra Martz MBA ’19, manager of sustainable new project development, Construction Specialties

Jill Metzger MBA ’22, senior director, sustainability and organizational development, RF|Binder

Zoe Mitchell MBA ’22, sustainability manager, Clark Construction

Sam Monkarsh MBA ’19, COO and sustainability manager, Corsa Co.

Chelsea Mozen MBA ’15 (see Bardian, Winter 2019), director of sustainability, Etsy

Tessa Rainbolt MBA ’22, sustainability analyst – sports and entertainment, WM

Whitney Smith MBA ’21, director of sustainability, Cosentini Associates

Liam Vita MBA ’22, procurement and sustainability development program, Anheuser-Busch

Jason West MS CSP ’19, director of sustainability, City of Albany

Dan Wojciechowski MBA ’20, environmental sustainability specialist, IDEXX

Katie Yoder MBA ’22, environmental sustainability analyst, Hershey Company

Bard undergraduates who are motivated to jumpstart a high-impact environmental career have the unique opportunity to enroll in an accelerated master’s program. Students can combine their pursuit of undergraduate and graduate degrees and gain value professional internship experience—all in 5 years.