Taking Root at Cornell

Hello from Ithaca!

Our team of sustainability innovators arrived on Sunday, ready to jump head first into programming! Days have been filled with fast forming friendships, workshops, exploring Cornell’s campus, and the completion of our social venture projects.

One of our favorite parts of the past week has been getting to hear from accomplished and inspiring guest speakers. Meredith Rutherford, Sustainability Manager for Cornell’s Sustainability Office, shared her expertise about sustainability on campus, including deep geothermal research and lake source cooling systems. Summer Rayne Oakes, an environmental activist and entrepreneur (and Cornell alum!) talked to us about her non-traditional career journey and her current project of regenerative landscape design and management, right here in the Finger Lakes. Today, we heard from a natural resources PhD student at Cornell, Marley Bonacquist-Currin, who discussed her work and research in natural resource management and environmental economics, providing us an inside look into the world of academic research. She even followed up her talk with a relaxing yoga session – our bodies and minds got a good stretch! Our guest speakers offered us invaluable knowledge and opened our eyes to the plethora of career possibilities within the world of sustainability. 

In between guest speakers and hard work on social venture projects, we have found time to take advantage of all Cornell has to offer! What does that look like? Rock climbing, strolling the art museum, enjoying live jazz on the quad, looking up at the stars in the observatory, and cooling down with Cornell’s homemade ice cream -we even had a special birthday to celebrate with extra sweet treats this week!

Our weekend will bring even more exploring and the beginning of original social venture projects – updates to come!

Sending our best from Cornell!