Experience at UMD Office of Sustainability

Mission Statement:

The Office of Sustainability and the UMD Campus are committed to communicating, educating, and inspiring action to integrate sustainability into all aspects of campus life.

Sustainability is often defined as “development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Put simply, sustainability is about being responsible with our resources. It is about not using more than our share. It is making sure there is enough, for all, forever.

At UMD, we aim to lower our greenhouse gas emissions through improving operations and empowering individuals to lower their share of the campus carbon footprint. Working together we can Add Up To Zero!

(Mission taken from http://www.d.umn.edu/sustain/)



Internship Objectives:

• Educate UMD community about campus gardens through at least two forms of media (Objective not met: I wrote a blog post, only using one form of media.)
  
• Write at least two blog posts for the "Adding Up to Zero" blog (Objective met: I wrote blog posts about sustainable energy practices of UMD faculty, the UMD energy pledge, recycling batteries on the UMD campus, the campus edible gardens.)
• Develop educational materials regarding energy-saving practices in campus laboratories (Objective met: I conducted research on strategies that universities have taken to reduce energy consumption in their labs. Then I created PowerPoint slides about sustainable labs, mainly focusing on reducing energy consumption. These slides were incorporated into an existing "Green Your Office" presentation.)
  
• Develop promotional and/or educational materials to market the energy pledge campaign to UMD students (Objective met: Wrote a blog post about the UMD energy pledge; assembled data and used PowerPoint to create a display panel with information regarding the UMD Energy Pledge.)
  
• Collect 1,000 online energy pledges from UMD students (Objective not met: As of the end of April, less than 1,000 pledges were collected.)
  

My Biggest Challenge:

The first half of the internship was definitely the hardest part for me. I felt intimidated because it is a small office and I was the newcomer - everyone seemed to know each other well and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to fit up to their high standards. Having a low level of supervision was a challenge for me. I wasn't really sure what to do, it was hard to bounce ideas off of others, and I just felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything and I was frustrated with myself. Also, not having a set schedule and knowing what to expect was an adjustment I had to make. This was a good experience for me because it helped me be more flexible and deal with ambiguity in a more positive manner.



If I Could Have Changed One Thing:

The one thing I probably would go back and change if I could is my attitude! I was really lacking in self-confidence for the first half of this semester and I think that if I had had more confidence in my abilities I could have dealt better with the ambiguity and been more proactive. Perhaps I could have created a project that I wanted to work on or been able to jump into other projects more easily. Also, I wish that I would have gotten to know the student worker in the office sooner because she is great and I know I could have learned a lot more from her.



How This Experience Has Impacted My Career:

Overall, this experience has made me more confident that I can survive in the work world. Although I do not know exactly what I want to do for a career, I learned more about the type of environment I like to work in. For example, I loved the people I worked with during my internship and I know having good relationships with co-workers is important to me. I want to work with people who are able to work well in teams, but also pull their own weight. As much as I like to have a set schedule and be able to plan, I now know that I can be flexible, and a variety of duties makes any job more interesting and enjoyable. Also, I increased my communication skills and lowered my level of nervousness that goes along with having to call or email people I have not yet met. Hopefully I will be able to incorporate aspects of environmental health and sustainability into my daily life no matter what sort of career I end up in!