September 17, 2020

After receiving the scholarship I worked for UNM Food as their sustainability intern and found ways to make the dining hall a more sustainable place. Over the summer I worked for my local government on a landfill project and the associated composting operation. My town in Alaska can learn from New Mexico in a few ways concerning their food waste. Their compost operation is not very prolific in the community. Last semester I went to a Solid Waste of North America local conference and got to learn from other operations in Sante Fe. Currently, I am working with the head of the Recycling Department to get a compost bin installed in the SUB. I am also working with Alan Billau, the Arboriculture Supervisor, to get fruit trees planted in front of the dining hall this spring. We hope the trees will remind students of the connection between food and the earth. In the fall semester I plan to study Concordia University's dining hall and their operations as they are proclaiming "zero-waste". They will make a good study in college food systems.