Academic Opportunity | Page 2 | Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment | Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation

A Winding Path to a Writing Career

Packages of pens in rows hang in a store display

Colorful packages of pens in rows hang in a store display

Anyone who’s thrown a baseball is familiar with Newton’s First Law: Objects in motion will continue in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. No one understands this concept better than Zack Fishman.

A 2019 graduate of the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering’s Physics program, Fishman now works as a reporter for NewsGuard Technologies, which rates the trustworthiness of news sites. How did he get from there to here? Like an errant particle, such a radical career shift involved a multitude of outside, and unplanned, forces — many of which hold lessons for future writers.

From the outset, Fishman seemed destined for a long and illustrious career in STEM. Along with his Physics degree, Fishman also holds a concentration in Science Journalism, a minor in Mathematics, and a Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) from iSEE and the Department of English.

“It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do career-wise,” Fishman said. “I had no interest in physics research.”

Throughout his college career at the U of I, Fishman found himself more and more attracted to exploring science in a different way.

“After a couple dead-ends, I found journalism and writing,” he said.

He wrote for The Daily Illini, took some writing classes, enrolled in the CEW, and eventually became copy editor of the student-run environmental magazine The Green Observer. Fishman also wrote several articles for Q Magazine, which features the best student writing from the CEW program.

“My CEW classes taught me about examining environmental issues from many perspectives and compellingly communicating my ideas through writing,” Fishman said. After those experiences, “I knew I wanted a more formal education.”

Fishman completed a one-year master’s program in journalism at Northwestern University’s nationally renowned Medill School. After graduation, though, another outside force was in store: Fishman finished the program in Spring 2020, during the first lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thankfully, like every good writer, Fishman seized an opportunity before him, allowing him to weather the worst of the pandemic. Earlier, during his master’s degree studies, Fishman had accepted a position as a finance reporter at a startup called Fastinform.

While not thrilled about finance as a subject matter, Fishman still found the work interesting. His task: write three, 400-word stories daily. Despite a relatively streamlined process involving a research team and several editors, “it was definitely a little too much,” Fishman recalled with a smile.

Then, in a move familiar to many writers, the career he set in motion was cut short. Fastinform folded after six months and rebranded itself as The Academic Times. Along with the name change, Fishman’s workload shifted significantly — he finally got to write about what truly interested him. It was a much more palatable, if slightly increased, workload. Five stories a week, all about new scientific research.

“Scientific issues are definitely the most interesting to me,” Fishman said. “I really enjoy being able to write about the intersection between scientific research and societal issues.”

“One of my favorite stories I wrote,” Fishman recalled on his stint at The Academic Times, “was about an interesting theoretical physics paper which showed the math that, by using a large quantity of mass to warp space-time, you could technically make something move faster than the speed of light.”

This theory set off alarm bells; it seemed a little too good to be true. Fishman’s STEM education affords him a marked advantage: He brings an open-minded skepticism to suss out the truly scientific from bold, headline-friendly claims.

So, Fishman did what every good journalist should. He interviewed the researcher, while also getting input from other theoretical physicists for corroboration. After a lengthy verification process, “I couldn’t find anyone making conclusive arguments saying he was wrong.”

Therein lies an important message for budding writers. “For journalism you don’t need to be a subject matter expert in everything you’re writing about,” Fishman said. “But being comfortable with complicated issues and asking others the right questions is a really good way to do journalism.”

Unfortunately, The Academic Times followed the fate of Fastinform and went under. Fishman was once again a writer looking for work.

After a few months of job searching, Fishman landed where he is today. As a Senior Analyst at NewsGuard, an anti-misinformation platform, Fishman analyzes, reviews, and rates the trustworthiness of different websites. Even though his job at NewsGuard isn’t always science-focused, Fishman seems content.

“A lot of my work is very research-heavy,” he said. “I enjoy it and find it really interesting.”

Just like his time at Fastinform and The Academic Times, Fishman’s scientific expertise consistently resurfaces. One topic of misinformation that he sees often is climate denial. That Certificate in Environmental Writing he earned several years ago is coming in handy.

Looking at Fishman’s relatively young career from a bird’s-eye view can yield a bounty of lessons for aspiring writers. His work changed frequently and suddenly; sometimes he had to do work that he’d rather not but found a way to make it interesting. By approaching subjects with an impressionable mind, and after putting himself out there, Fishman gained some recognition.

It takes all of this and more to make writing your job. It’s possible but, like any object in motion, not without its share of outside forces. Still, writing as a career can work out in the end. As Fishman notes, “I took a bit of a winding path through college and my career to end up where I am today.”

Read Fishman’s Q Magazine features: “Getting to the Point,” “Crawling With Ants,” and “Scrubbing the Skies.”

— Article by iSEE Communications Intern Gabe Lareau

Students Earn 2022 Janelle Joseph Environmental Writing Contest Awards

A poignant reflection on birds and the dangers they face from urban buildings, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign undergraduate Eva Bein’s article was the grand prize winner in the third annual Janelle Joseph Prize for Environmental Writing, curated by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

In total, three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students won awards in the contest this year. In addition to receiving cash prizes, their work will be published in upcoming issues of Q Magazine.

Since the summer of 2020, Q Magazine’s generous benefactor, Janelle Joseph, has sponsored the Environmental Writing Contest.

“I am proud to donate and beyond proud to see talented environmentalists put their research and experiences on the page,” Joseph said.

The contest received a record-breaking 14 entries this year. Entrants competed for cash prizes and the chance to have their work published in Q, a student-written, professionally curated publication of the undergraduate Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) program. The magazine tackles big environmental questions, such as the complicated relationships between humans and the species we share our planet with, battles for environmental justice, and the everyday items that clog our waste stream.

“Small Birds, Big Impacts,” by Bein, a senior in Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability (ESES), took the $1,000 grand prize. Bein writes of a day spent helping collect data — and dead birds — for the U of I’s Bird Strike Survey. An excerpt:

“As I ventured into the engineering quad toward our 7 a.m. meeting spot, the morning sun was bright against buildings lined with clean, long, reflective windows. The University of Illinois campus proved a perfect example of why cities are major death zones for birds in migration. They get confused by the reflective glass and light from windows and accidentally strike them mid-flight, causing over 1 billion bird deaths a year in the U.S. and contributing to declining bird populations. The sheer weight of that number of dead birds is comparable to 550 loaded coach buses.”

Q veteran and senior in ACE Tyler Swanson was the feature category winner with his piece, “Farming the Sun in More Ways Than One.” He explores the potential of agrivoltaics — the co-location of agricultural production and solar energy generation.

Finally, Momo Wang’s piece, simply titled, “A Ladybug,” won the memoir category. In a thoughtful meditation on the fragility of life all around us, Wang reflects on our everyday interactions with the living world, from the humble ladybug to the catfish that will soon be cooked for dinner. Wang graduated in May 2022 with a degree in ESES.

In addition to the three prize winners, three honorable mentions were selected. These authors will also have the opportunity to be published in an upcoming Q Magazine: Gabe Lareau, a junior in English; Jorge Corral, a senior in ESES; and Elaine Guel, a junior in ACE.

“The awards committee was hugely impressed by the range of environmental topics taken up by students in this year’s writing competition, and the standard continues to rise,” said Professor and CEW Director Gillen Wood. “The winners this year showcase the very best writing in our program — urgent, well researched, and with a flair for the poetic.”

The writing contest, which will be offered again next spring and summer, is open to Illinois undergraduates from any major and geared toward those with an interest in writing and the environment.

Check out Q Magazine online at q.sustainability.illinois.edu.

— Article by iSEE Communications Specialist April Wendling

Tyler Swanson: Author, Podcaster, Policy Advocate, Sustainability Champion

Tyler Swanson, a University of Illinois senior in Environmental Economics and Policy, is the image of a student who can never have their hands in enough work.

As an iCAP Team clerk, a member of the first Environmental Leadership Program student cohort, Q Magazine author, and writer/host of his own blog and podcast, he maintains a tight schedule of academic and personal activities. Driven by passion and supported by his talent, research, and connections to numerous campus and local organizations, he is paving the way for concrete steps to be taken on environmental initiatives.

Originally from the small north-central Illinois town of Pecatonica, Swanson enrolled at Illinois in Fall 2019 in Agricultural and Consumer Economics, with a concentration in Public Policy and Law. He intended to pursue a path to law school — but in a change of heart familiar to many first-year students, he altered that plan.

His decision followed the worldwide climate strike that took place his first semester, organized by climate activist Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future organization. He had not planned to attend but stumbled across the strike on the U of I campus, and immediately felt empowered. He switched his concentration from Public Policy and Law to Environmental Economics and Policy.

“I’d always been interested in policy, but now I have an avenue to direct it,” he said.

Top Tyler Swanson. Credit: Quinn Wolski, iSEE Communications Intern. Above: Swanson, right, and classmates Jenna Schaefer, Jamie Abbot, and Christina Garcia (left to right) visit the State Capitol in Springfield to meet with legislators and policy makers as part of iSEE’s 2022 Environmental Leadership Program. Credit: Provided

“I also really loved to write,” he said. So, with a newfound passion for environmental policy, he launched a website called The Bipartisan Post where he and some peers could have an outlet for writing and sharing major news stories from an unbiased, policy-based perspective. The mission of this news outlet is to provide information in a way that does not feed the growing political divides in America. The focus slowly narrowed from broad political issues to environmental policy specifically, such as carbon taxation.

The blog eventually led Swanson to start a related podcast called “The Bright Green Light” with influential guest speakers. His first interview was with Lynn Englum, an Instagram blogger whose goal was to “travel to a lot of Island Nations or communities that were essentially drowning because of climate change.” He has continued using the podcast to promote other voices he believes need to be heard, including a climate activist in D.C. who works with congressional committees. He recently interviewed two U of I alumni who work in the circular economy: Alexa Smith, who focuses on the circular economy and food waste; and Mona Fang, creator of Karma Trade, a recycled clothing organization in Urbana.

As Swanson continued working through his freshman year while managing the website and podcast, a friend introduced him to the sustainability honors minor at Illinois — the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Fellows Program offered through iSEE. The minor complemented his workload and career goals perfectly, so he added it to his schedule.

During the 2020-21 academic year, Swanson served as a student senator and a member of the Illinois Student Government’s Sustainability Committee, but he wanted to work on sustainable initiatives in a position with more individual responsibility. After completing his senate term in Spring 2021, he learned about clerk positions available on the Energy and Transportation iCAP teams, part of a network of student/faculty/staff committees that work to advance goals in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP).

“Sustainability was at the core of my education and what I wanted to do,” he said. “What better way to do that than to help that occur on campus?”

Swanson believes that energy and transportation are the two most crucial aspects of sustainable societies. “Everything that we do requires energy. And if a majority of our energy is powered by fossil fuels, we’re not really going to get anywhere, no matter how much plastic we eliminate,” he said. He was ecstatic to be hired to work with both teams in Spring 2021 and to begin making concrete progress on issues in the community.

In addition to the primary goal of constructing an all-encompassing campus plan for sustainable and resilient energy by 2050, the Energy iCAP team is working to improve energy efficiency in campus buildings. The vast majority of buildings are more than 50 years old and highly inefficient. The challenge to Swanson and his team is to make them more energy-efficient in a cost-effective way. Meanwhile, the Transportation iCAP team is working on an active commuter program to encourage faculty and staff to forgo parking passes and instead use buses, bike shares, or carpool programs to reduce commuter emissions and avoid clogging streets.

His experience with the iCAP teams led him to look for other ways to get involved in iSEE initiatives. During his summer internship with U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, another intern mentioned how cryptocurrency has harmful consequences for the environment. Swanson decided to research this issue and wrote an article called “Crypto’s Dark Secret” that won the grand prize in the 2021 Janelle Joseph Environmental Writing Contest and was published in iSEE’s Q Magazine.

Swanson and his ELP classmates presented their proposal for a plastic bag tax to the Champaign City Council in March 2022. Credit: Mark Herman, iSEE Communications

In the Spring 2022 semester, Swanson was accepted to iSEE’s new Environmental Leadership Program (ELP). The program is designed to help students develop the skills necessary for environmental communication, mobilizing social resources, and implementing sustainability plans, all while fostering networking opportunities in the field. The week before classes started, he and other ELP participants attended a two-day intensive training where they spoke with officials from State Rep. Carol Ammons’ office and the Urbana and Champaign city councils about environmental policy. The students then formed groups based on which the policies they wanted to pursue.

With his focus on economics, he was excited about a “green tax” proposal suggested by Council Member Grace Wilkin of Urbana. Swanson and four other students spent the first eight weeks of the semester developing a green tax plan for Urbana. They invited different representatives from the environmental movement to speak to them each week about ideas and advice for achieving their goals. After extensive research and consultation with politicians, the students decided a green tax would be most effective as a plastic bag tax.

“Not only do you reduce people’s likelihood of using plastic bags,” he said, “but it also generates a lot of revenue for the city — for community solar, community composting, EV charging stations, and infrastructure.”

The five students then prepared a fact sheet with the costs and benefits of a plastic bag tax and presented it directly to the Urbana and Champaign city councils during public comment sessions.

“It was very exciting to be up there in front of these people and show them what you’ve been working on and really advocate for the environment,” he said. “That was a great experience.”

The pinnacle of the ELP was a spring break trip to Springfield, where the students met with state legislators and policymakers on a range of sustainability issues. Swanson described it as “a phenomenal couple of days to be able to not just have the experience of lobbying and advocating for environmental issues, but for connecting with people who also have interests in those issues. I think it was a very good program not just for education, but also great fellowship.”

Although his work in the ELP is technically complete, Swanson is committed to following through on the issues and is diligently keeping in touch with council members about the plastic bag tax: “It’s kind of like we had achieved our part of the program, but we still hadn’t achieved the goal.”

He recently received an update from Urbana council members that a plastic bag tax can, and will, be implemented in the city, but it could take time. “It’s already a policy in Chicago and Edwardsville, so we kind of used that to get Urbana on board. And maybe if we get enough cities on board, we can go to the state and say all these cities have it, make it a statewide thing because it’s a good policy,” Swanson said.

The 2022 ELP cohort met with State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Champaign, and other legislators as part of their visit to Springfield in March 2022. Credit: Mark Herman, iSEE Communications

Outside of his rigorous academic and professional schedule, his leisure time is precious. He finds refuge in the many beautiful green spaces around campus. Athletics are important to him as well, so he tries to go to as many football, basketball, and volleyball games as possible. As a lifelong baseball fanatic, Swanson also loves seeing the White Sox play in Chicago.

Still, he has big plans for his senior year, including research with the Bock Agricultural Law and Policy Program on agricultural sustainability — specifically, the idea of “solar grazing.” As he described it, farmers sign a contract with a solar farm saying, “Instead of you hiring a lawn care service, hire me. I’ll bring my sheep. My sheep will graze and eat all the long grass, and then you’ll pay me instead of them, and I’ll be able to feed my sheep.”

He is also preparing for a graduate program in Economics related to energy and the environment, the next step toward his long-term career goals in academia, research, and environmental policy. Judging by his undergraduate career, he clearly has the skills and passion necessary to make long-term strides toward a sustainable future — locally and beyond.

— Article by iSEE Communications Intern Quinn Wolski

Environmental Leadership: A Q&A with Paul Gharzouzi

Paul Gharzouzi, iSEE’s Graduate Educational Research Intern, played a pivotal role in developing the institute’s new Environmental Leadership Program (ELP).

Originally from Lebanon, Gharzouzi attended the American University in Beirut to study civil engineering with a minor in applied energy. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Gharzouzi chose to pursue his interest in sustainability and continue his education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, receiving a master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on energy, water, and environmental sustainability.

In this Q&A with iSEE Communications Intern Grace Izzo, Gharzouzi discusses the mission behind the Environmental Leadership Program, his hopes for its future, and his own plans for a career in sustainability.

I understand you are currently a Ph.D. student here at Illinois. What program are you in, and what motivated you to further your education?

I am currently working toward a Ph.D.in civil engineering with Professor Paolo Gardoni, focusing on sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems. I was mainly motivated to continue my studies to further understand the science and concepts behind sustainability and sustainable solutions. In my Ph.D. program, I had the opportunity to explore how sustainability is linked to concepts such as resilience, risk, reliability, and natural and manmade hazards. I was very excited to dive deeper into this field and learn more about all the entities that make up sustainability.

As the Graduate Educational Research Intern for iSEE, what have been a few of your favorite research projects to work on and why?

I’ve been fortunate to work on many interesting projects, but in terms of my favorite, I think it’s the Environmental Leadership Program. It’s a project that I’ve been involved in since I joined iSEE, and the project has been a great experience since I was a part of starting it from the ground up. I’m excited to see where it will go in the coming years.

You were a crucial part of creating the ELP. Why was this important for you and what do you hope for the future of the program?

Gharzouzi, at right, joins ELP students and iSEE staff during their trip to Springfield in March 2022. Credit: Mark Herman/iSEE Communications

Throughout my studies, I came to realize that sustainability is an interdisciplinary challenge. Finding the solution to such a challenge requires getting the perspective and input of multiple disciplines, which is why the Environmental Leadership Program is important. The program aims to prepare undergraduate students from all backgrounds and academic disciplines for sustainable leadership roles in both the private and public sectors. The current version of the Environmental Leadership Program focuses on environmental policy and advocacy at the local and state level. For future versions of the program, we hope to incorporate additional aspects of environmental leadership by providing exposure to corporate sustainability, sustainability efforts in the private sector, and environmental non-profits. We want to give a bigger picture of what environmental leadership really is.

Starting a program from the ground up is difficult and dedicated work. What advice would you give to someone interested in starting their own program?

First off, developing the Environmental Leadership Program would not have been possible without the support of iSEE Associate Director for Education Luis Rodriguez, former Associate Director Gillen Wood, Academic Program Instructor Eric Green, and all of iSEE Management. Starting this program has definitely been a unique and very enriching experience. Besides the actual content development, I got to learn about the details and logistics involved in running such an endeavor. My advice is to ask for regular feedback and be willing to tweak and edit pieces of the program as needed. Since this was a new program, continuous feedback throughout the development process was essential to steer it in the right direction. It is also important to keep in mind that it’s a work in progress. So as the ELP or any new program continues to grow, there will always be new additions to incorporate and more to expand upon.

An integral part of the ELP is the “four days of intensive experiential learning.” Could you explain more about this and how it benefits students long term?

The four days of intensive experiential learning during spring break were the culmination of the current version of the program, with trips to the city councils of Urbana and Champaign, as well as the state Capitol in Springfield. During these trips, students got the chance to present the environmental policy they had been developing throughout the semester and make their voices heard. More importantly, students were able to interact and network with lawmakers at the local and state level, which gave them the opportunity to experience policy-building firsthand and explore potential career pathways. I was very pleased with the policies that our current cohort developed and how they advocated for their environmental issues of interest. In fact, after listening to our students’ presentations, a few lawmakers reached out to a couple of groups to ask for more details and support their bills!

Reflecting on your educational and personal experiences, was there a defining moment that led you to where you are now? Who or what inspires you toward sustainable action?

There really was no specific defining moment for me, as I’ve always been interested in sustainability and sustainable action. I will say that while working toward my bachelor’s degree, there were a few professors who inspired me to pursue graduate studies in the sustainability field. At UIUC, I met so many people both at iSEE and in the Champaign-Urbana community who are working toward sustainable action, which has been a great inspiration for me.

Gharzouzi, right, talks with students during a session of the Environmental Leadership Program. Credit: Julie Wurth/iSEE Communications

Why do you think preserving the environment is important? How did you get involved in this field in the first place?

From taking environmentally focused courses in college, preserving the environment was a topic I encountered a lot. These courses made me realize I am interested in this field of study and want to be more involved. It’s more important now than it ever has been to find solutions to preserve the environment. With the rising global population, I think it’s essential that we plan future economic growth in a sustainable and equitable manner. This is a global issue with very particular local implications, which makes it so challenging, but interesting at the same time. I think preserving the environment and our resources is also tied to many other critical issues like food security and population displacement, which further highlights the need for urgent action on that front.

Tell me a little about yourself outside of Illinois. What’s something most people don’t know about you?

My family is from Lebanon, which is where I spent most of my childhood. It is also where I completed my undergraduate studies. My family is my biggest support system. They supported me in pursuing my education outside of my home country and helped me get where I am today. As for my hobbies, I enjoy sports, mainly soccer and basketball. I also enjoy watching movies and traveling. As for something most people don’t know about me, I’m known as the food critic amongst my friends. For example, whenever my friends and I go out to eat, my friends have me choose a place (my favorites in town are Sakanaya and Pizzeria Antica), and they ask me for recommendations on what to order. That is a trait I got from my grandfather. My grandfather, Adel, was a poet and an avid reader from Amsheet, a small town in Lebanon. I remember when I was a kid, my grandfather would always introduce me to new Lebanese food, and he would always ask for my opinion on the dishes.

As you look toward your future, after receiving your Ph.D., what are some goals you hope to accomplish in the next five to 10 years?

Firstly, working at iSEE has been essential in shaping my Ph.D. experience. I have a greater understanding of sustainability, and I was able to work on sustainability from an educational standpoint. As for my future, I would like to continue working and contributing to this field through research, education, and potentially a new endeavor!

— Article by iSEE Communications Intern Grace Izzo

Inside the ELP: An Immersive Experience

iSEE Communications Intern Erin Minor is a member of the 2024 Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) cohort.

Here, she chronicles her environmental leadership journey through a series of posts highlighting the ELP immersive experience.

She offers highlights from ELP class sessions, insights from various visiting experts, the team projects the students have taken on, the travel experience to local and state government sites, and other events and lessons she and her cohort encountered throughout the first half of the Spring 2024 semester.

Jan. 23, 2024

Champaign City Council member Alicia Beck presents to Environmental Leadership Program students during intensive training Jan. 12

While many groups in this year’s ELP cohort will be lobbying for pieces of environmental legislation at the Illinois State Legislature like in years past, those working on local issues will have a new opportunity to take a more hands-on approach to the policy creation process.

Urbana City Council Ward 6 Representative Grace Wilkin visited on the first day the ELP met to discuss the legislative process on a local level, and she came with ideas for environmental policy she would like to see enacted in Urbana. Usually, city staffers employed by the mayor drive policy-making, and the policies that are brought to the council for approval are limited by the time those employees have to create and flesh them out. So, while council members have the final say on which policies are enacted, they generally are not the ones proposing policies themselves.

This year, instead of working on their own to advocate a legislative issue to the city councils, ELP students who are taking on local environmental policy issues will connect with staff in the city government to help create a policy that will be brought to the council for approval.

ELP groups will work on two local projects proposed by Wilkin: revamping the City of Urbana’s Climate Action Plan (and possibly helping the City of Champaign enact its own); and helping with the creation of a plastic bag tax in Urbana.

Urbana’s Climate Action Plan was last updated for 2015-20, and new goals and plans have not been set since then. This group working on that plan will assess how the city is doing on reaching the goals previously set and updating them to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts.

Students working on a plastic bag tax proposal will talk to stakeholders in the community, such as grocery store managers, to receive feedback on concerns that this policy may bring up. The group will also consider how this tax may impact low-income individuals in the community. A large part of the work will include researching plastic bag taxes already enacted in other places, like Washington, D.C., to assess what works and doesn’t work.

Wilkin came to speak to us as a part of the two-day intensive that kicked off the program on Jan. 12-13. Other guests speakers included: Alicia Beck, Champaign City Council District 2; Jeff Hamilton, Communications Manager for the Champaign City Manager’s Office; and Jennifer Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council.

Feb. 6, 2024

WALLING

One of the groups in the ELP this year will work on a bill that was in part created by cohort member Rudy LaFave. Working in coordination with the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), the bill he helped create would divest University of Illinois System funds from fossil fuel companies, one of the goals outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP).

LaFave had the idea to create a piece of legislation to accomplish this goal in 2022 but decided to act on it this past summer. So he got in contact with University of Illinois alumna Jen Walling, Executive Director of the IEC. Using that connection, she was happy to help implement his ideas, and after a few Zoom meetings over the summer, the IEC drafted a piece of legislation. It was inspired by HB 3037, which would divest the Illinois pension system from fossil fuels and is co-sponsored by state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana.

Walling also visited the ELP during the January intensive to walk students through the Illinois legislative process. LaFave says being in the program has given him a better view of all the parts of submitting a piece of legislation, which the IEC handled behind the scenes last summer.

“The IEC was integral to getting it to the LRB (Legislative Review Board) and sending the paperwork to cosponsors,” LaFave said.

However, he and a few fellow students were the ones contacting Illinois representatives to garner support and cosponsors for the bill. This is where he sees the strength in the ELP.

“One thing the ELP can be very good at is reaching out to legislators,” he said. “Being able to identify, contact, and get a meeting with legislators, I think is the goal of the ELP team.”

Feb. 20, 2024

Meet Sophie Meade, a freshman majoring in Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability. She and I are partnering on an ELP project to promote HB 4319, which amends the Illinois school code to require public schools to include curriculum about climate change.

For Meade, the main draw to the ELP was the opportunity to work directly with legislators about environmental issues.

“I loved the idea of speaking to representatives; I think that’s really exciting,” she said. “I had the opportunity to do that in high school and really enjoyed the feeling of interacting with reps and trying to create change.”

So far, Meade has enjoyed learning from our weekly guest speakers as well as researching a bill that she feels passionate about. One speaker who really made an impression was Jasmine Crowe-Houston, who visited Feb. 9. Crowe founded Goodr, a company that reduces food waste by collecting extra food from businesses and taking them to local food banks.

“I think it was cool because even if it wasn’t directly related to environmental policy, her story of finding an important issue and tackling it is applicable to anyone in the environmental field,” Meade said.

She said her work on HB 4319 stems from a personal experience.

“I specifically remember being in middle school and feeling confused why they weren’t talking about climate change,” Meade said. “I think it’s really important that it is highlighted in state curriculum.

“I had a lot of climate anxiety about the future when I was young, and I think learning about it early on in a way geared toward solutions and hope — rather than the fear that’s really prevalent in the media — would help young people.”

Mar. 5, 2024

Harriet Hentges talks about career paths with the ELP students.

This week, ELP students are preparing for their visit to Springfield next week during spring break! Preparations include setting up appointments to meet with representatives at the State Capitol, putting final touches on policy research, and developing presentations to pitch legislative issues to representatives. My team has a few meetings set up, including one with Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, to discuss climate education. The groups working on local issues will present to the Urbana and Champaign City Councils when they meet after spring break on March 25-26.

In the past two weeks, the ELP has continued hosting guests to speak to students about sustainability careers, something of particular interest to several of us.

On Feb. 23, we were grateful for an in-person visit with Harriet Hentges, who is CEO of Hentges Associates, an advising firm working to promote sustainability in retail. Hentges spoke to the cohort about corporate responsibility, her experience working on Walmart’s first sustainability team, and careers in sustainability.

Students with an interest in sustainability in the private sector were also invited to a breakfast with Hentges as well one-on-one meetings to learn more.

Last week, on March 1, the ELP welcomed Sustainability Manager Madison Rudolph from Motorola Solutions. Students will visit Motorola Solutions and other companies with sustainability projects while in Chicago at the end of next week.

Mar. 19, 2024

Spring Break brought the tail end of this year’s ELP and a very busy week for the cohort! Monday was our prep day: putting final touches on fact sheets; preparing our elevator pitches about our bills; confirming scheduled meetings with representatives; and meeting with Jen Walling from the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) to get feedback on our pitches and advice about the best way to communicate with legislators.

From left, University of Illinois President Tim Killeen, state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, Sophie Meade, Erin Minor, and Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in Springfield at the Capitol talking to representatives, sitting in on committee hearings, and visiting agencies. It was thrilling to be at the Capitol when the general assembly was in session — there were so many people there and it felt special to be see how the sausage gets made, so to speak.

My personal highlight was the very first meeting my partner and I had with state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, on Tuesday afternoon. It was a great first meeting because he was so friendly and excited to talk to us. The first few minutes of our conversation were spent with him asking questions about ourselves before we even got to a discussion of the climate education bill we are advocating for. After pitching our bill to him, not only did he agree to support it when it came to the floor, but he even asked to be a chief co-sponsor of the bill. And realizing we were students from the University of Illinois, he graciously invite us to a reception he was attending that night with the University of Illinois System, where he introduced us to many administrators for the University, including President Tim Killeen.

Site visits in Springfield included: the IEC offices, where Walling guided us around the Capitol and introduced us to legislators who might be interested in supporting our bills; the Illinois EPA, where Director John Kim spoke to us about the all-encompassing work there; and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which was one of my favorite visits of the trip. It was our last stop in Springfield before heading to Chicago, and we met many of IDNR department directors. As a senior thinking about career paths after graduation, I was really interested in learning about what they all do for IDNR and to realize what a wide scope the department encompasses.

We spent about 24 hours in Chicago, and every moment was packed, with four different site visits during that time. Our first stop was the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC), where a few attorneys spoke about their areas of environmental law and what they did for the ELPC. Many ELP students are either planning to or thinking about going to law school or pursuing environmental law in some capacity, and this was an exciting opportunity to ask questions and learn about careers they might pursue with a law degree.

The 2024 ELP cohort was the first to visit Chicago, learning firsthand about corporate sustainability in the big city.

On Friday morning, we visited a few companies including Motorola Solutions, inc., to discuss corporate sustainability. This was something I had very little background information about before my ELP experience, and these visits offered a great real-world application of the things we learned from earlier classroom visitors about their work in corporate sustainability. Our last stop in Chicago was Resource Environmental Solutions (RES), an ecological restoration company that focuses in the Midwest on wetlands. I was familiar with the company as I spoke to representatives at the Green Career Fair on campus a few weeks back, but enjoyed hearing from a wider variety of employees in more detail about their work. Some of these topics included environmental engineering, the work that goes into project management, and how environmental policy impacts their work (many of their clients are land developers who are required by federal or state policy to restore other ecosystems when projects damage existing natural ecosystems).

Overall, I am so thrilled to have had this experience. It gave me some insight into career paths that I was unsure whether I wanted to pursue (like policy work) as well as opening my eyes to new careers in environmental sustainability. The most important thing I gained from the ELP was the experience talking to representatives and the opportunity to network and build a foundation of relationships in environmental issues that I may very well be able to use in the future.

Now that I have had this hands-on experience, I feel more confident in my ability to apply my skills and knowledge once I leave the university.

Apr. 30, 2024

Erin Minor, left, and Sophie Meade advocate for a House bill on climate education with Rep. Matt Hanson, D-Batavia, during a spring break visit to Illinois legislative offices in Springfield. Hanson voted for the bill, which passed the House in April.

The Environmental Leadership Program may have ended the week after spring break, but the pieces of legislation that students worked on are still working their way through the Illinois General Assembly.

On April 18, the Illinois House of Representatives passed HB 4895, the bill my partner and I worked on for all of the ELP! It was passed 70-37, and many of its co-sponsors were legislators that Sophie Meade and I spoke to in Springfield, including Reps. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, and Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago.

The bill was amended in the month and a half since our work on it through the ELP. As it stands now, starting with the 2026-27 school year, the bill will require all Illinois public high schools to provide instruction on climate change. This instruction includes the impacts of climate change on individuals and communities as well as evaluating solutions and mitigations for those impacts. The State Board of Education will provide instructional resources and professional development opportunities for teachers to meet these requirements.

The bill now has to be passed by the Senate, where it is being sponsored by Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville. It is currently in committee, which must pass it to bring it to vote in front of the entire Senate. If any amendments are made in the Senate, it will return to the House to repeat the whole process with the new amendments.

Sophie and I were excited to see this pass the first hurdle, and we hope to someday soon report that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed it into law!

A look back at 2023 …

iSEE Communications Intern Lucy Nifong was a member of the 2023 ELP cohort.

Here, she offers highlights from ELP class sessions, insights from various visiting experts, the team projects the students have taken on, the travel experience to local and state government sites, and other events and lessons she and her cohort encountered throughout the first half of the Spring 2023 semester.

Jan. 17, 2023

A year after the launch of iSEE’s Environmental Leadership Program, a new cohort kicked off the second year of the program on campus. Students from a variety of majors and backgrounds met for two full days Jan. 12-13 to learn about the policy-making process from local and state leaders. And this year, students were able to gather in person rather than online.

During the two-day intensive, we explored the specific legislative process each bill must go through in the Illinois General Assembly before it becomes law. The intensive focused on strengthening our advocacy and negotiation skills and preparing the cohort to read and track bills during the spring legislative session.

Guest speakers discussed their unique responsibilities as political staffers, lobbyists, legal advisors, and city council members. They highlighted the educational backgrounds and work experience that led them to those positions, giving us insight into different public policy career paths. Hearing their stories was eye-opening and inspiring, and ELP students were eager to ask questions and learn more.

In the coming weeks, the cohort will split into teams to advocate for a specific local or state policy. The policy may be an existing bill or a bill the students design themselves.

Speakers during the two-day intensive included Harriet Hentges, President and CEO, Hentges Associates; Grace Wilkin, Ward 6 representative on the Urbana City Council and member of the Urbana Sustainability Advisory Committee; Andrea Porter, Chief of Staff for state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, and Madam Secretary of AALSCC; Jennifer Walling, Executive Director, Illinois Environmental Council; Mary Hanahan, Deputy Chief Legal Counsel, Office of Illinois Senate President Don Harmon; and Alicia Beck, a member of the Champaign City Council.

Jan. 31, 2023

The Environmental Leadership Program is in full swing! On Friday, Jan. 20, the cohort met at the National Soybean Research Lab for our first of eight weekly meetings. This initial session was perhaps our most important of the semester: We determined the policies we will advocate for over spring break.

The process took longer than anticipated because almost every student was attached to multiple policies, even though we can only join one policy team. We really struggled to let some of them go. In fact, a few pity votes were strategically given to keep policies from getting cut from the final list. I guess environmentalists are sentimental.

If anything, the difficulty of choosing a single policy focus speaks to the vast room for improvement in our state and local environmental regulations. There’s always more work to be done! After multiple rounds of re-reading the policies, debating, and voting, the list of policies we plan to tackle was finalized. From now until spring break, teams of two to four students will research their policy in-depth and develop a fact sheet in support of or against the proposed action.

My group will be advocating for “Right to Recreate” legislation, a bill that would ensure public access to all navigable waterways in Illinois. This legislation would prevent private landowners from restricting access to bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams) that are capable of supporting commercial or recreational watercraft. I’m excited to support the Right to Recreate bill because it advances both human rights and environmental justice.

Last Friday, Jan. 27, guest speaker Eban Goodstein, Director of the Center for Environmental Policy at Bard College, discussed the skills and techniques for successful environmental communication. He emphasized the power of storytelling and the importance of practice, practice, practice. These communication tips will be especially handy when we meet legislators and city council members in March.

Feb. 15, 2023

On Feb. 3, the ELP cohort welcomed Madison Rudolph, the Sustainability Manager at Motorola Solutions in Chicago. She outlined the complicated environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) frameworks that companies use to monitor internal progress toward ethical, transparency, and sustainability goals and report their performance to the public.

Rudolph is responsible for Motorola Solution’s annual ESG reporting. Public companies like Motorola Solutions voluntarily select and rank their most important goals (ex. reducing emissions, creating diversity in the company board, regulatory compliance, and countless others) and publish metrics that reveal their progress toward the prioritized goals. Although many ESG reporting frameworks exist, Rudolph focused on the popular Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), which specifically accounts for materiality: how does ESG information affect investors’ judgement of the company? Companies’ environmental and social behaviors may harm or bolster their reputation, which has tangible financial impacts, so SASB accounts for material information that is not incorporated into normal financial accounting.

Public demand for comprehensive ESG reporting is growing, and most public companies participate in this voluntary practice. Investors, policy makers, agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other firms consider ESG data when interacting with a company. Individuals rely on ESG data to act as informed and conscientious consumers, or in other words, to vote with their dollar.

The following Friday, ELP teams began to research their selected local or state policies and determine who to contact to begin the advocacy process. My group, “Right to Recreate,” will contact our bill’s sponsor to voice our support, discuss the potential impacts of the bill, and learn why some groups may be opposed to it. Next, each group member will individually reach out to the state representative from our own district to advocate for the Right to Recreate legislation. After all, politics is all about making personal connections.

Feb. 28, 2023

On Friday, Feb. 17, the ELP cohort met Jeff Hamilton, the Communications Manager of the City of Champaign Mayor’s Office, who revealed the surprising complexity and diversity of local governments. He compared the two primary forms of local government found in the United States: council-manager form and mayor-council form.

Champaign follows the council-manager form, meaning the day-to-day operations of city government are run by the city manager, an individual professionally trained in government administration. The city council elects the city manager, while the mayor of Champaign serves as one of the nine council members.

Urbana follows the mayor-council form of government, sometimes referred to as strong-mayor form. In this structure, the mayor effectively serves as the city manager and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city. This style closely resembles the three-branch structure of government: the mayor is the executive branch, and the city council is the legislative branch.

On Feb. 24, the ELP cohort met Marissa Brewer, the Director of Advocacy for the University of Illinois Office of External Relations and Communications. She provided us with excellent tips for political advocacy, echoing the messages of previous ELP guests like Jennifer Walling and Alicia Beck. Brewer says the most effective part of advocacy is your personal story: How are you connected to this legislation?

Brewer also highlighted the Student Advocacy Coalition, which like ELP, allows students to learn about the legislative process in-depth and advocate at all levels of government. This organization extends across the University of Illinois system and promotes policies that positively impact university students.

With the advice of our expert speakers in mind, the ELP cohort is revving up to visit the city council and the state capitol. My team met with a staffer for Democratic Rep. Janet Yang Rohr of the 41st District (and our bill’s sponsor) and a lobbyist from the Illinois Environmental Council to examine the nitty gritty details of the bill. We hope to finalize our fact sheet this week and schedule meetings with our local representatives and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Mar. 20, 2023

Stefan Iliev and Claire Sullivan discuss food insecurity at the March 13, 2023, Urbana City Council meeting.

Visiting Urbana City Council

On Monday, March 13, the ELP students spent the day with our respective teams finalizing our advocacy message to Illinois representatives. To summarize the background, benefits, and potential challenges of each bill, we created one-page fact sheets to hand out. Check out my group’s fact sheet — we emphasized a 2022 Illinois Supreme Court case in which a Justice called for the modernization of Illinois’ water law.

Later that evening, we headed to Urbana City Council to support our cohort members Claire Sullivan and Stefan Iliev, who focused on policies to reduce local food insecurity. They proposed numerous solutions, including changing local bus routes to increase accessibility to grocery stores, and were met with many questions and comments from the council members.

On Tuesday, each team met with Jennifer Walling, Director of the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), to create a game plan for meeting with representatives at the Capitol. We discussed the most crucial part of our advocacy message and tips for effective communication. My group also met with legislative liaisons for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to discuss why they oppose our chosen bill, HB 1568. I found that understanding why people oppose a policy is just as important as understanding why people support a policy.

Visiting the Capitol

Shortly after arriving in Springfield on Wednesday morning, we walked to the IEC office to eat lunch with Jennifer Walling and her team. They escorted us to the capitol and explained that representatives would be in session until 2 p.m. and committee meetings begin immediately afterward, so our scheduled meetings with representatives would likely be moved or canceled. This turned out to be the case, but luckily the IEC team managed to call representatives from session to briefly meet with our teams.

IEC’s State Programs Director, Eliot Clay, who previously advised our group on legal challenges to HB 1568, called the bill sponsor, Rep. Janet Yang-Rohr, from the House floor to meet with us. Although HB 1568 is unlikely to succeed this year, she was excited that we were spreading awareness of the policy for future sessions. For the next hour, we caught representatives walking through the hall and gave quick pitches on our bill.

After the legislative session ended, we took a tunnel from the Capitol to the Stratton Building to deliver our fact sheet to various representatives’ offices. Our group had an impromptu meeting with the Chief of Staff for Rep. Mike Coffey to discuss why increasing the accessibility of outdoor recreation and supporting the local recreation industry is vital. Over the course of the day, we spoke to a roughly equal number of Republicans and Democrats, which ultimately made us better advocates for our policy.

Visiting Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)

After our whirlwind of meetings at the Capitol, we had the chance to relax and learn about policy implementation throughout Illinois. On Thursday, we met with IDNR in the morning and learned about each division within the agency. IDNR offices include Water Resources, Mines and Minerals, Law Enforcement, Land Management, and many more. Agency leaders highlighted their unique backgrounds and the opposing goals of rural economic development and environmental protection.

At IEPA, we spoke with Director John Kim and the Bureau of Land Sustainable Materials Management and Compliance Manger James Jennings about the scope and authority of the agency. We learned about IEPA’s relationship to advocacy groups like the Illinois Environmental Council and the Illinois Manufactures Association, and discussed how the agency considers policy feasibility more directly than other groups.

Kim invited the ELP teams to shout out our bill numbers so he could briefly describe IEPA’s stance on each piece of legislation. This exercise was super insightful because we learned about the agency’s day-to-day legislative work through specific scenarios that we had spent weeks researching. He emphasized how IEPA and other state agencies are great places to enter the workforce after graduating because you receive meaningful work right away. Students interested in working at state agencies should consider the Graduate Public Service Internship at U of I Springfield!

I highly recommend the Environmental Leadership Program to any student interested in environmental sustainability and protection, even if you dislike public policy, politics, or law. Policy impacts everyone — whether you work as an engineer or an artist — so people should strive to learn as much as they can, good and bad, about the legislative process.

A look back at 2022 …

iSEE Communications Intern Kratika Tandon was a member of the 2022 ELP cohort.

Jan. 28, 2022

The Environmental Leadership Program has just begun, and it’s off to a great start! At the end of winter break, our class met over Zoom to get to know each other and discuss potential policy proposal ideas.

During these first two days of intensive training, we received a crash-course on the basics of environmental advocacy and a comprehensive explanation of what is expected from this program.

We also had the opportunity to hear from guest speakers from a variety of legal, political, and advocacy-based backgrounds at local, state, and even international levels.

The presentation by Illinois Environmental Council Executive Director Jennifer Walling was especially insightful. She explained her duties of administering the strategic direction and management of the council. The organization works to draft, lobby, and pass bills that focus on implementing environmentally responsible legislation within the state. Her real-life experience was particularly interesting because Walling is involved in policy advocacy in Springfield, which is exactly what we will be working on this semester.

Other speakers during our two-day intensive: Grace Wilkin, Ward 6 Representative on the Urbana City Council; Andrea Porter, Legislative Assistant for state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana; Clara Feng, Senior Fellow at Citizens’ Climate International; and Ashley Stead and Mary Hanahan, Senior Legal Counsels at the Office of Illinois Senate President Don Harmon.

Stay tuned for more posts documenting the ELP experience first-hand!

Feb. 11, 2022

We are now in Week 3 of our meetings for the Environmental Leadership Program. So far, the students have been meeting in smaller groups to organize ideas for our policy proposals. We have also had the opportunity to hear from more guest speakers from different professional backgrounds.

During our first weekly meeting, we heard from the University of Illinois at Springfield’s Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Brandon Derman, who discussed the struggles for climate justice and how uneven geographies and the politics of connection play a big role. Last week, we heard from Eban Goodstein, Director of the Center of Environmental Policy and the MBA in Sustainability at Bard College. He gave us insights on solutions to environmental issues from communications and economic standpoints. Both of these presentations were incredibly insightful and beneficial to us as we continue with our policy work.

The general objective of this program is for students to select a piece of legislation on the local or state level that we wish to pursue. After our bill is determined, we spend the rest of our time conducting extensive research and formulating a short presentation. Once we head to the government buildings in Urbana-Champaign and Springfield, we will be able to present our proposals to local and state government decision-makers.

The group I’m in is working on a state-level EPA Environmental Justice bill that focuses on defining environmental justice communities and providing these groups with the ability to access resources. That’s all I can disclose so far — to hear more about what we’ve been working on, don’t forget to check back in for my next posts on this blog!

Feb. 25, 2022

City of Urbana Sustainability Manager & Resilience Officer Scott Tess, right, visits with ELP students in the iSEE Collaboratory. Credit: Mark Herman, iSEE

We’ve just completed Week 5 of the Environmental Leadership Program! Groups have been working diligently to formulate their policy proposals. As previously mentioned, my group is working on an EPA Environmental Justice bill and the main thing on our agenda is completing our research. We also plan to reach out to political leaders at Springfield ahead of our visit to the Capitol in hopes of getting more professional advice as we continue with our progress.

These past couple weeks, students also had the opportunity to meet with two individuals from local governments who have taught us a lot about how the policymaking process works at this level. Last week, Scott Tess, the Sustainability Manager & Resilience Officer for the City of Urbana and also a member of the Resilience SWATeam made up of campus and community members, came in to work with the groups that are working on local policy proposals. Tess helped them gain a basic understanding of what goes on behind the scenes and answered any questions that they may have had.

The following week, we heard from Jeff Hamilton, the Communications Manager in the Champaign City Manager’s office. Hamilton discussed mayor-council dynamics at local government levels and provided us real-time examples from the city of Champaign. Needless to say, we’ve had a busy couple of weeks!

Mar. 11, 2022

It’s the last week of the Environmental Leadership Program, and our trip to the Urbana and Champaign City Councils and the State Capitol in Springfield will kick off in a few days. The past couple of weeks kept us very busy: Our groups have put the final touches on our policy proposals. The bill that my group is working on is known as HB4093, or the EPA-Environmental Justice Bill. This legislation was passed by the Illinois House of Representatives after a series of readings and is now making its way through the Senate. In Springfield, we will meet with legislators to discuss supporting the bill.

We’ve also been busy meeting new speakers as well. This past Friday, we heard from Marissa Brewer, Director of Advocacy at the University of Illinois’ Office of Governmental Relations. Her presentation was especially insightful because she gave advice on what to expect when we have our short meetings with our legislators. Brewer gave us basic tips on how to speak with them and what we need to have prepared.

Overall, it’s been a great few weeks — and we look forward to wrapping up this experience. Thursday, March 17, will be our final day of presentations, and we plan to conclude the program with a banquet for students and staff to celebrate the launch of the very first version of the ELP.

Stay tuned for a final post within the next week or so!

Mar. 30, 2022

Our cohort of 21 students spent Spring Break at the ever-popular vacation destination of Springfield, Ill., for what was easily the most gratifying professional experience I’ve ever had. Allow me to start at the beginning of the week.

As I had mentioned in previous posts, my group was working on HB4093, which is known as the EPA Environmental Justice Bill. However, the bill actually got passed by the House of Representatives just a few days before our trip to Springfield. This meant it would move on to the Senate. But unfortunately for us, the Senate would not be in session while we were in Springfield. We realized that the only thing we could do was find a new bill and somehow manage to get three months’ worth of work completed in less than 48 hours — so that’s exactly what we did.

My group adopted SB3073, referred to as the EPA Great Lakes CCR Protection Bill, which has been a contentious piece of legislation. This bill amends the state Environmental Protection Act such that all coal combustion residuals (CCRs) generated by the electric industry bordering Lake Michigan shall be removed from the site. This bill is referring to the NRG coal plant located in Waukegan, which has been polluting the area since the 1920s. We did extensive research about this bill so we could develop a solid elevator pitch and ensure that we were well-informed. My group also reached out to more than 30 House members from both parties to schedule conversations about this piece of legislation.

Two of the groups in our cohort had local bills, so they delivered their presentations to the Urbana and Champaign city councils on Monday and Tuesday evenings. It was interesting to observe what the legislative decision-making process looks like close to home.

For me, however, the excitement came once we reached Springfield. Being at the Capitol and getting to speak with the people in power, knowing we could make an actual difference, was a crazy feeling. We got to meet with four Republican representatives and four Democratic representatives, including our bill’s chief sponsor: Rep. Rita Mayfield. We had different experiences and conversations with each one of these legislators, but they were all incredibly receptive to everything we had to say. Please view the accompanying video to see how things went with Rep. Marcus Evans.

In addition to being at the Capitol, our cohort also was able to meet with the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), the Department of Natural Resources, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. I personally found it so cool that we got to speak directly with IEPA Director John Kim.

Something else that I am so grateful for is how close the cohort was able to become after our time together this week. After our first day of lobbying, we went out for dinner and did a couple of bonding exercises, and everyone’s energy and excitement was just infectious. I really enjoyed spending time with my group as well, and I think that we worked very seamlessly together as a team.

Of course, this program would be nowhere without our instructors Eric Green and Paul Gharzouzi, and our resident media specialist Mark Herman, who always did their absolute best to ensure that everything ran smoothly. And all of us students are all grateful to the Alvin H. Baum Family Fund for sponsoring the ELP trip to Springfield.

I would also like to shout out IEC Executive Director Jen Walling, who helped organize all of the meetings and guided us around the Capitol. This was truly an unforgettable experience, and I am beyond grateful that I got to be a part of the very first program.

2021 Q Mag Writing Prizes Awarded

An exploration of the Bitcoin gold rush — and its impact on the fossil fuel industry — is the top winner in the second annual Janelle Joseph Prize for Environmental Writing, curated by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

In all, five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign undergraduates were honored in the contest, created through the generosity of iSEE supporter Janelle Joseph.

Entrants competed for cash prizes and the chance to have their work published in Q Magazine, the flagship student environmental writing publication at Illinois and a product of the undergraduate Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) program. Q tackles big environmental questions, such as human-caused climate change and threats to the environment, wildlife, and health.

The Joseph Prize winners used their talent to highlight key environmental concerns, from bioenergy research to climate activism to waterway ecosystems.

“We continue to be impressed by the caliber of our student writers, who bring fresh perspectives to these important issues,” said Professor Gillen Wood, CEW Director for iSEE and Q Editor. “Thanks to the generous support from Janelle Joseph, we are able to share their research and insight.”

The Grand Prize Winner was Tyler Swanson, who will receive a $1,000 award for his piece, “Fossil-Fueled Revenants: How Bitcoin is Revitalizing America’s Defunct Fossil Fuel Operations.” Swanson highlights the case of Dresden, N.Y., a village near Seneca Lake where Bitcoin “revived a once dead fossil-fueled power plant into a veritable goldmine, destroying the local ecosystem along the way.

“As demand for Bitcoin grows, more companies emerge to mine for this digital gold, resulting in the resurrection of long-dormant power plants, creating revenants from the fossil-fueled past America is trying to leave behind for a clean energy future,” writes Swanson, a junior majoring in Agricultural and Consumer Economics with a concentration in Environmental Economics and Policy. His article will highlight next spring’s issue of Q.

The category winners:

Memoir: Michelle Verlinsky for “Your Life in America,” about her personal struggle with the effects of industrial agriculture on our air and water. Verlinsky is a senior majoring in Social Psychology and Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability (ESES).

Feature: Erinn Dady for her article on riparian zones, the lush and incredibly biodiverse areas along waterways, with a focus on the Vermilion and Wabash rivers. Dady is a senior majoring in ESES.

Op-Ed: Kayla Vittore for “Biofuels: Maybe not a Silver Bullet but Silver Stepping-Stones,” outlining the promise and pitfalls of bioenergy research. Vittore is a senior majoring in Plant Biotechnology.

Illinois-Themed Article: Julia Marsaglia for “The Ripple Effect of Activism,” which examines climate activism through the eyes of Illinois scholars and sustainability advocates. Marsaglia is a senior majoring in ESES.

All four category winners will receive $500 prizes and have their work published in upcoming issues of Q.

The writing contest, which is offered annually, is open to Illinois undergraduates from any major, geared toward those with an interest in writing and the environment. Stay tuned to the iSEE website for details on the 2022 contest!

Check out Q Magazine online >>>

— Julie Wurth, iSEE Communications Specialist

iSEE Plans 2 Environmental Leadership Workshops for Undergrads This Spring

The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) is a new initiative launched this spring by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE). Targeted at undergraduate students, the Program will include pre-professional workshops, field trips, and networking opportunities. Developing an undergraduate leadership program was a key educational objective in the Illinois Climate Action Plan.

“iSEE’s previous efforts have increased the amount of sustainability and environmental content in the U of I curriculum as we partnered with academic units from across campus on a sustainability minor, environmental writing instruction, individual classes, and course development opportunities,” said Gillen Wood, the institute’s Associate Director for Education & Outreach. “The ELP takes a slightly different approach: We are creating a ‘value-add’ — beyond coursework — for students interested in more practical experience on how to effectively advocate for the environment.”

iSEE is piloting two ELP workshops in Spring 2021: March 24 on environmental policy; and April 13 on corporate sustainability. Up to 25 students may register for each event, which are scheduled on campus non-instructional break days.

These workshops will allow students to develop their sustainability leadership and communication skills, to learn about relevant career paths in sustainability, and to establish valuable networking connections. Successful professionals in the environmental policy and corporate sustainability fields will lead the sessions.

More details will be forthcoming on the workshops, but registration is now open. Visit the Program page for more information and for links to register! >>>

Q Mag Contest Winners Announced

A haunting reflection on a New Mexico landscape ravaged by wildfires was the top winner in the inaugural Janelle Joseph Prize for Environmental Writing, sponsored by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

Janelle Joseph has boosted iSEE programs with annual donations — the last three of which have gone to help students author articles for *Q Magazine*.

In all, six University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students were honored in the contest, created through the generosity of iSEE supporter Janelle Joseph.

“I am proud to donate and beyond proud to see talented environmentalists put their research and experiences on the page,” Joseph said.

Entrants competed for cash prizes and the chance to have their work published in Q Magazine, a student-written, professionally curated publication of the undergraduate Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) program. Q tackles big environmental questions, such as the threat of black carbon, battles over water resources, and the everyday items that clog our waste stream.

The Joseph Prize winners used their talent to highlight pressing environmental issues, from the degradation of the coal industry to sustainable fashion to the future of lawns.

“Burn Zone,” by Illinois senior Andy Sima, was the Grand Prize winner, carrying a $1,000 award. Sima writes of working in a camp near Philmont, N.M., in the summer of 2019, just over a mountain ridge from a “shell-shocked” landscape left behind by a wildfire the previous year.

“It was eerie. Thousands of acres of land hung just north of us like a specter, out of sight behind a ridge. A looming corpse of the earth over the cliff. That cliff stopped the fire from reaching out camp; the stone was too steep for the tongues of heat to consume their way down. But that thin strip of projected stone marked a stark contrast; one side was a standard southwestern alpine forest, tall trees and stubby grasses. The other was seemingly death incarnate.”

Other award-winning pieces included:

Op-ed: “The Façade of Corporate Sustainability,” by Jennifer Coronel, who decries the practice of “greenwashing” by corporations that create a false image of sustainability.
Q&A: “Tackling the Fashion Industry,” by Jane Halloran, a conversation with a U of I sophomore who founded a sustainable fashion swapping service.
Memoir: “Paradises in Peril,” by Maria Maring, a reflection on “solastalgia” — the distress caused by environmental degradation — pegged to John Prine’s song about his hometown in Kentucky’s coal country.
Feature: “The Grass Isn’t Always Greener,” by Nicolas Ramkumar, an exploration of the environmental and health costs of the ideal American lawn.
Graduate student: “Children of the Future: Challenging Climate Change Through TEK,” by Kutasha Silva. She argues that holistic Traditional Ecological Knowledge transferred down through generations should be infused into 21^st century environmental education to help children fight climate change and develop a sustainable future.

All five category winners received $500 prizes, and the four undergraduates will have their work published in Q.

“We were thrilled with the response to the contest. We had so many thoughtful and inspired entries that we hope to publish some of the other pieces on our websites,” said Professor Gillen Wood, Director of the CEW Program and iSEE Associate Director for Education and Outreach. “Congratulations to all the winners!”

The writing contest, which will be offered again next year, is open to Illinois students from any major, geared toward those with an interest in writing and the environment. Stay tuned to the iSEE website for details on the 2021 contest!

Check out Q Magazine online at q.sustainability.illinois.edu.

— Article by iSEE Communications Specialist Julie Wurth

Bioethicist First Levenick Resident Scholar in Sustainability Leadership

AUG. 30, 2019 — Founder and Director of Editing Nature Natalie Kofler is joining the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) as its first Stuart L. and Nancy J. Levenick Resident Scholar in Sustainability Leadership.

Kofler, a molecular biologist and bioethicist, has authored numerous scientific research articles, reviews, and commentary pieces, and chaired international seminars and summits.

Kofler is passionate about ensuring diverse voices and viewpoints steer science and technology.

“At Editing Nature, we think a lot about how to tap into collective wisdom to steer responsible technological development,” Kofler said. “I am so excited to learn from and collaborate with the faculty and students at U of I. Together, I think we can come up with some really innovative ways to integrate cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives and address some of our most pressing environmental challenges.”

The Levenick Resident Scholars in Sustainability Leadership Program was funded by a generous endowment in early 2019 from U of I Alumnus Stuart Levenick and wife Nancy Levenick of Naples, Fla., to iSEE and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES). It was created to bring in experts from other universities, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations to share fresh perspectives and innovations with the Illinois community.

Kofler’s work with Editing Nature advances and supports the responsible and ethical decisions guiding the development of genetic technologies released into the environment.

“We are excited to have Natalie on board as our first Resident Scholar,” iSEE Baum Family Director Evan H. DeLucia said. “She is known for engaging experts from different backgrounds worldwide to examine wicked sustainability and environmental issues — those that don’t have a simple answer and affect multiple stakeholders. She was a vital, vibrant voice during our Critical Conversation on genetically modified mosquitoes this past spring, and we feel there is much more we at Illinois can learn from her expertise.

“Scientists, educators, and students on campus will have access this year to a unique thought leader who takes a very holistic approach to her work.”

During her time at iSEE, Kofler will also serve on the Editorial Board for Q Magazine, a publication of the Undergraduate Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) at Illinois. Also among her academic duties, she is delivering a MillerComm Lecture on Nov. 7 in the Spurlock Museum Auditorium. And she is teaching a graduate-level seminar in NRES in Spring 2020.

In early Spring 2020, NRES expects to name a Levenick Sustainability Chair, the Department’s first endowed chair, who will oversee the Resident Scholars Program.

With backgrounds from a variety of disciplines, Resident Scholars will enhance and accelerate the broader impact of sustainability research and innovation, DeLucia said. As the Levenick Chair leads the program, it will help “close the circle” on sustainability efforts already established among the College of ACES, iSEE, and NRES.

“This campus will become a destination for worldwide sustainability experts — offering them creative opportunities and exposing faculty, students, and staff on our campus to real-time sustainability solutions from across the globe,” DeLucia said.