Hi everyone, my name is Ashley German Soto and I am from Boston MA. I come from a loud, funny, crazy Dominican family who constantly push me to be my best self. I recently declared my major to political science. My understanding of sustainability to me has many layers especially as a person of color. One of the things that I want to gain a better understanding of with the help of this class is,  how and why are POC’s more effected by environmental degradations? I also want to know if there is a solution to this? It’s disheartening to know that someone may not have the same amount of resources as the next person because of where they live or what color their skin is. I really look forward to understanding more of the data that goes into measuring sustainability.

Hi! My name is Hallie Katzman. I am a Junior psychology and sociology major. I play on the women’s tennis team at Union and went to South Carolina with my team to compete over spring break! In my free time I love hiking and spending time with my family and friends. I am much more familiar with the environmental and social aspects of sustainability than the economic side. I feel like I often associate the subject of sustainability with prevalent issues like climate change. To me, sustainability means doing everything we can (even small actions like recycling or composting) to maintain the state of the planet for future generations. I am looking forward to expand on my previous knowledge about sustainability and learn a lot more about all of the pillars in this class! 

My name is Matthew Pascazio and Matteo is just a cool nickname. I’m an excellent musician and a great student. I graduated from Suny Schenectady County Community College with an Associate’s Degree in Performing Arts: Music and a Music Certificate. I graduated with a 3.4 (Pie) grade point average. I play the pipe organ, harpsichord, piano, and I compose music. I’m a big fan of college hockey (Go Union!) and rock & roll music. My favorite band is The Scorpions. Everyone buy and enjoy their new album “Rock Believer”, it’s absolutely awesome!

I love cooking and baking that’s why you see me in the kitchen.

So I’m all about music. I have 0 experience with or knowledge of Math of Sustainability. I will work smart and hard to get at least a C.

The Pipe Organ is powered by wind which is a sustainable form of energy.

Hello,

My name is Elena Montoya and I am a senior from Los Angeles, California. I am a sociology major and an art history minor, and in my free time I love to go to concerts and museums, and I also love spending time outdoors. My understanding of sustainability comes from an intro to environmental studies class that I took in the spring of my junior year. Something that really stuck out to me in this class was how connected environmental sustainability and issues of race, social class, and accessibility really are; as people of color are most burdened by the effects of climate change, pollution, and other acts of environmental degradation. I am excited to expand my knowledge of sustainability beyond what I know, especially as we will be applying the concept mathematically. I haven’t taken a math course at Union yet, so I think this will be a great opportunity to explore a somewhat familiar topic in a new way!

Hi, my name is Emily, and I am a sophomore psychology major and Spanish minor. Sustainability to me means making sure to take care of the Earth, and to reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible. I want to help sustain and maintain the presence of natural resources without taking more than I give. I think minimizing human impact on the environment is critical, and that we should all try to do our part to leave the world  better than how we found it. I am taking this class because I want to learn more about sustainability, and the class looks really interesting. 

Hi, my name is Adriana Lawton and I’m a sophomore from Niskayuna NY, and I’m a psychology major and Spanish and dance minor.  I’m a big movie fan and like to hang out with my friends.  I have a little understanding of sustainability since in high school they would once in a while try to broaden the students horizons of the topic, but other than that my information on it is limited.  I first became interested when a couple of my friends decided that they wanted to be really involved in U-sustain at Union and enlightened me more on the subject.  I always try my best to be environmentally friendly, so I want to take this course in order for me to learn ways to avoid depletion of natural resources as well as learn how to be more environmentally friendly, hopefully through mathematical concepts of this course!

Hello, I’m Adam Albren and I’m a sophomore and working to be a sociology major. I am from Boston, MA. In my free time I play and study the game of poker and play in several casinos and home games with my friends. When I’m not playing poker, I enjoy playing pickup basketball or soccer and working out. I love being outdoors by the beach or the fields, so sustainability and preserving nature is important to learn about. I am looking forward to learning about how sustainability applies to mathematics and how to effectively solve out problems through equations to come to sustainability conclusions. Sustainability is crucial to protecting the earth for our generation and future generations to come.

Hello, My name is Stella I am a sophomore. I am currently a Geoscience and Anthropology ID major and minoring in Environmental policy. I am from Salem Ma and work as a lifeguard on Cape Cod. I have always been a person who loved the outdoors, I’ve camped my whole life and in recent years I’ve started to backpack sections of the AT. By being outdoors and exposed to nature I’ve been drawn to environmental issues that force me to think about sustainability. In the next decade, the effects of climate change will be so drastic, the areas where I live now will become underwater along with many places around the equator becoming unlivable due to a global increase in temperature. I feel like an important aspect of sustainability is education. Educating yourself about the situation that the world is in and how it’s going to affect you and the people around you, it can help push people to become more aware of their actions. Individual actions can go a long way, if everyone makes small sustainable changes to their daily routine then the community will become a lot greener as a whole.

My name is John Brockway, but I like to go by Jack.  I am a junior Political Science major here at Union.  I am from West Hartford, Connecticut.  In my free time I enjoy watching both soccer and baseball, hanging out with my friends, as well as going fishing in lakes and rivers.  My understanding of sustainability is that the world is facing a crisis on multiple fronts stemming from the impact humans have made on the environment.  I have seen first hand while fishing the impact that humans have had on our rivers lakes and oceans.  I hope to learn in this class how to create more sustainable practices to achieve a better future for future generations, as well as learning new skills in the realm of Mathematics.  I also hope to learn a way to make an impact myself on all of the above mentioned things.  Thank You!