Last Thursday, Oct. 17th, three students in Roosevelt’s SUST program shared their recent internship and research fellowship experiences in the first-ever SUST Student Symposium in RU’s LEED-Gold Wabash Building. More than 20 students, faculty, and staff attended and ask great questions of the presenters, and there was plenty of lively conversation over the hummus, veggies, and sweet treats provided by the College of Professional Studies.
SUST students Allison Breeding, Kyle Huff, and Ron Taylor; with SUST Director Mike Bryson (L to R; photo by B. Hunt)
Each student spoke for 20 minutes and entertained a few questions. Then, after all were done, we had about 20 minutes for group conversation. All in all, a great way to spend a Thursday afternoon!
Allison Breeding is a senior SUST major at Roosevelt who was awarded a prestigious research fellowship this past summer through a National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at Southern IL University. This summer she wrote about her work in agroecology and water quality monitoring as a guest writer for this blog. Her presentation on her 2013 Convergence Ecology fellowship can be viewed here as a pdf.
Kyle Huff, a sophomore SUST major at Roosevelt hails from Iowa and has a strong interest in urban farming and sustainable agricultural practices. This summer he worked at the Iron Street Farm in the Bridgeport neighborhood (pictured at right) as an intern with Growing Power, one of the most high profile urban farming and community development organizations in Chicago. View his presentation here about his summer experiences making compost and learning other urban ag techniques (pdf).
Ron Taylor is a senior SUST major at Roosevelt with keen interests in sustainable business practices, public transportation, and environmental law. For the past year his internship has focused on transportation policy initiatives and funding proposals for Cook County at the key urban sustainability organization, the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Ron’s presentation, “Transit Future: Expanding Transit in Cook County,” argues for investment in and expansion of key public transit initiatives in the Chicago metro region that will address sustainable development priorities and facilitate job creation (pdf).
The excellent student presentations and positive audience response bode well for future student symposia. Stay tuned to the SUST blog for news of upcoming events at RU!
Sustainability Studies @ Roosevelt University 
Enjoyed the presentations, especially the one by Ron. Investment in mass transit is not only wise, but the ROI is excellent. For every dollar spent on mass transit, the ROI can be between $4 to $9!