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!

Hi, my name is Owen Harrison and I am a sophomore and I am a Latin American and Caribbean Studies major with a Spanish minor.  I am from a town called Warwick that is in New York and is about one hour from New York City.  My main hobby and thing that I enjoy to do the most is play soccer.  I have played soccer for pretty much my entire life and now I am also a part of the Union Club soccer team here on campus.  My understanding of sustainability is somewhat limited since this is my first course I have taken related to the topic.  However, I understand that sustainability is essential to ensuring that future generations can grow and prosper.  Making sure that not everything is used up before the following generations are here is a task that all people must understand and support.  Sustainability is about the here and now but also mainly about the future and ensuring a brighter future for those that come after us.

Hi! My name is Rayna Katzman and I’m a junior sociology major and visual arts minor from Short Hills, New Jersey. I love to hike, take photos, and spend time with my family and friends. I became interested in sustainability when I took intro to environmental studies last fall. It was really interesting to me to learn more about what actions each of us as individuals can take in our daily lives in order to promote a more sustainable world. After taking that course I became increasingly interested in environmental policy and global warming and it made me want to continue learning more on these topics!

Hi everyone, my name is Athena Bo and I am currently a senior at Union College. I grew up in Hong Kong but I have also lived in Spain, Costa Rica, United States and London. I took IB environmental science in my high school and one topic that fascinated me the most was climate justice. Climate justice is a movement that ¨acknowledges climate change can have differing social, economic, public health, and other adverse impacts on underprivileged populations¨ (Yale Climate Connections) The weight on environmental protection should not weight equally on all countries, rather, the countries that have had reap the benefits of the industrial development (mainly the west) should take the lead in this movement. When I was in Costa Rica, I also got the chance to go to many national parks where I saw the diverse kinds of animals. Costa Rica occupies only 0.03 percent of earth’s land but accounts for 6 percent of the biodiversity of the world. Its environmental effort and its biodiversity is something that more countries should adhere to do. Due to the above reasons, I am really excited to be taking this class.

Hello Classmates,

My name is Matt Schwartz. I am a Senior History Major and focused on Caribbean History. I enjoy painting and watching documentaries. My understanding of sustainability is that the world is facing a crisis in regard to pollution, climate change, and depletion of natural resources and sustainability is a solution to combat these issues. Methods of sustainability can be used across industries and governments to help lessen the detrimental effects of human interference and help sustain and preserve the planet. Sustainability is more important than ever.

Hi! I’m Sydney McPartlon, I’m a junior, Environmental Policy major, from Niskayuna, NY. My understanding of sustainability stems from its definition, that we must meet this generations needs while also ensuring the survival of future generations. Sustainability can be found in every industry like food, energy, fashion, and so on. When I look into sustainability and environmental issues I tend to focus on marine environments and the effects of the fishing industry. The ocean makes up the majority of our planet and is a huge resource humanity uses. The ocean is heavily impacted by human interference (extraction and pollution). Hopefully, the necessary precautions and protections will be made so the ocean stays healthy and thriving.