On Tuesday, March 1, over 80 students came together for the Student Sustainability Summit Voting Day to vote on four student-led sustainability projects proposed in February. Grants to support these projects were awarded courtesy of the President’s Innovation Fund. The Summit was led by a team of Skyline College and San Mateo Community College District employees, dedicated to making Skyline College a more sustainable campus.
Four students, including Yanni Guo, Kendra McIntyre, Angelique Fuentes, and Jose Iniguez, presented diverse sustainability projects for the spring semester. The winners were chosen by student vote using iClickers during the Summit.
In first place, Yanni Guo will lead an awareness campaign about water bottles and promoting on-campus hydration stations.
In second place, Kendra McIntyre will be working alongside Pacific Dining and the Garden Project, a local nonprofit farm located near campus, to conduct a pilot project, sourcing local, sustainable, organic food in the cafeteria. The project hopes to offer new vegetarian and vegan recipes.
The third place winner, Angelique Fuentes, will expand on her innovative Carpooling Pilot Project from last year. She will be expanding carpool options beyond Parking Lot M and exploring incentives to encourage carpooling among students.
Jose Iniguez, fourth place, proposed a solar aquaponics project to be located near the Pacific Heights Buildings to educate and bring students into the world of solar aquaponics.
We look forward to supporting the students to ensure they lead successful projects this spring.
Thank you to the faculty advisors who assisted the students in their proposals: Lucia Lachmayr, Carla Grandy, Ronda Wimmer, and Carina Anttila-Suarez. Thank you to the District Sustainability Team, Joe Fullerton, Hilary Ego, and Gwen Alldredge, for their support, especially Joe Fullerton for facilitating the event. Finally, thank you to Jennifer Mair for four years of help organizing this event and to Ray Hernandez for his continued sponsorship.
If you are interested in joining a project, please email Allison Callow, Sustainability Coordinator, at callowa@smccd.edu or join us at an upcoming Student Ambassadors Network meeting held on the first Tuesdays of each month in Building 6, Room 6203.
Article by Allison Callow and Carina Anttila-Suarez | Photo by Hilary Ego
