Peter Raven - MU Environmental Leadership Award by Jan Weaver
Each year for the last five years the MU Environmental Affairs Council and MU Environmental Studies have recognized a student or student for their contribution to environmental leadership on the MU campus. Starting with the most recent award winner, Jamie Lee Salvo, this issue of the news recognizes those recipients.
2001 Winner: Jamie Lee Salvo. Jamie Salvo has been the assistant editor of the MU Environmental Network News for the last two years, collecting information on the activities of local groups, preparing the regular features ( bio-regional quiz and job of the month), formatting the newsletter, and putting it on line every month. She also organized environmental displays in Ellis Library during April for the last two years. She has served on the steering committee for the Missouri Environmental Education Association’s annual conference, where she coordinated the involvement of college students. As a member of the MU Wildlife Society she developed a Mammal Education Outreach Program. Last but not least, Jamie is working with the Student Sierra Club and the Missouri Students’ Association to hold the first annual Drop and Run at MU.
2000 Winners: Jordan Pusateri & Shannon Staloch. Jordan Pusateri helped coordinate the annual Prairie Forks Field Day event, bringing together faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students in an introduction to the research projects undertaken by the School of Natural Resources at Prairie Forks. When Natural Resources moved into its new building, Jordan organized the recycling program. She volunteered at the Missouri Rescue Center, where disabled wildlife are rescued and rehabilitated, and she served as a campus spokesperson for this organization, recruiting volunteers and publicizing its activities. She also headed the "Tiger Team", a group of student ambassadors that educates the public about endangered species issues.
Shannon Staloch's focus was the development of a food waste collection system for a private business. The "Main Squeeze" restaurant saved its food waste in 55 gallon barrels in their back alley where Civic Recycling collected them weekly. She also worked on developing a network of local farmers willing to use the food waste, once it had been composted, as an organic fertilizer for their food crops. Shannon had to coordinate the involvement of a number of different parties, the restaurant, health inspectors, Civic Recycling, compost experts, and experts in EM Bokashi, a microbial agent used to speed decomposition.
1999 Winner: Megan Kean. Megan Kean was the coordinator for Campus Peaceworks and spearheaded the MU campus "No Sweat" campaign. This was part of a national campaign to encourage universities not to license signature sportswear to companies that use sweat shop labor. Sweat shops employ children, depriving them of education and indirectly contributing to population growth, and they typically ignore worker safety and environmental laws. Megan was also instrumental in surveying students about their knowledge of and attitudes towards recycling. This information was important in identifying where the Campus Recycling committee should direct its efforts to increase campus recycling.
1998 Winner: Aaron Johnson. When Aaron Johnson came to MU, he initiated recycling on his floor - making sure that the recyclables collected by students on the floor actually got recycled. Over that first year he worked tirelessly to increase student participation in recycling and improve the efficiency of the operation. Since he was doing this on his own without any compensation, he was the obvious candidate for a new Recycling Coordinator position in Residential Life. He worked as the first director of the residence hall recycling program for over a year, recruiting , training ,and supervising other students, working with campus facilities to improve the operation, and trying new ways to increase student participation.
1997 Winner: Bryce Oates. Bryce Oates was selected for his wide ranging approach to addressing environmental concerns and for his role in strengthening the Student Sierra Club on the MU Campus. In addition to expanding the club's membership to 20 active participants, Bryce involved the club in a number of environmental service activities. These included: assisting an Oakland Middle School teacher with an organic gardening project for middle school students, a stream clean up and prairie restoration projects at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, assisting the MU Energy Management Program with its annual 'Energy Extravaganza", and creating displays for an Ellis Library case for Earth Day.
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BioRegional Quiz: What are the differences between toads and frogs?
Job of the Month: LAND RECLAMATION SPECIALIST I, Twice-a-Month Salary Range $1,143.50 - $1,661.50; Entry level professional & technical work in administering Land Reclamation Program of the MO Department of Natural Resources. Min. Qual.: 1 yr. professional experience in land reclamation, agronomy, geology, soil science, forestry & a bachelor's degree with major in agronomy, forestry, geology, soil science, fisheries biology, ecology, wildlife management or closely related environmental or natural sciences area. Job Opportunity Announcement # 5421 Email: persmail@mail.state.mo.us for more information
Information on other Environmental Positions is available from the MU Environmental Studies Program, 211 Lowry (inside the Honors College), 882-7116, envstudy@showme.missouri.edu or at www.ejobs.org
Special Events/Information:
Answer to BioRegional Quiz: There are some are some basic distinctions. Toads have dry, warty skin, while frogs have smooth, wet skin. Toads do not have teeth; frogs have tiny teeth on both upper and lower jaws. Toads have shorter hind legs than most frogs. Toads hop, frogs jump. Female toads lay their eggs in long, parallel strings; female frogs-depending on the species-lay their eggs singly, in small clumps, in large clumps, or as a film of eggs on the water surface.
Feedback - Got an opinion about something we’ve written, or about a current environmental issue? If we have space, we will consider publishing it; submit it by email (envstudy@showme.missouri.edu), snail mail (Environmental Studies, 211 Lowry Memorial Union, MU, Columbia MO 65211), or call Jan Weaver to talk about it (882-7116). MU Environmental Network News is published by MU’s Environmental Studies Initiative. All opinions expressed are the responsibility of the editor. Any part of this newsletter may be copied for distribution but please give us credit.