University of Minnesota Sierra Student Coalition showed up early to the Rochester People's Climate March to help gather petition signatures for 100% renewable energy.
photo credit: UMN Sierra Student Coalition
University of Minnesota Rochester Students Advance Clean Air and Renewable Energy
Matthew Spiten and Lis Pearson
The Student Sierra Coalition at the University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) closed out their second year with an expanded air quality study and a petition for 100 percent renewable energy on campus.
Since August 2017, the SSC has collaborated with local environmental health advocates and community leaders—including Rochester Energy Commission, Zumbro Valley Medical Society, local physicians and scientists, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency—to create a citizen science air quality project in Rochester.
The aim of the community-driven project was to develop a citizen science model to empower local communities to examine ambient air pollution and influence public policy. The SSC presented results of the data collection to Public Health officials in Olmsted County and at the UMR Research Symposium. Over the next year, they will seek to validate a computer model that correlates traffic patterns with air quality, which will be increasingly important as the city grows.
Lis Pearson, the incoming SSC president, was inspired to get involved by this work.
“As a third year at UMR, I was already involved in a lot of clubs and organizations on campus,” says Lis. “However, when I saw my friends at the Sierra Student Coalition tabling, heard what they were prepared to fight for, and saw them working to bring knowledge to students on how the environment impacts our health, I was 100 percent sold on becoming a part of this new club.”
In April, the club organized a community-wide petition that called for the leaders of UMR to commit to 100 percent renewable energy and divest from fossil fuel industries as they develop plans for a new campus in Rochester. The petition garnered support from over 30% of the student body.
Lis is excited to take up the reins of leadership in the coming academic year.
“I hope to continue with our efforts on the petition, the great work of air quality studies, building relationships with community members, and to recruit and mold the next leaders of the Sierra Student Coalition,” she says. “In the city where medicine is one of the most important things in town, we can’t disregard the impact that the environment has on our health.”
Are you a UMR student or do you know someone who is? Get involved by emailing the UMR SSC at UMRSSC@gmail.com or follow our Facebook page University of Minnesota Rochester Sierra Student Coalition. Come visit us at the Student Activities Fair in on campus in September and sign up to be a member!
University of Minnesota Rochester Student Sierra Coalition and Dover-Eyota high school students gather in downtown Rochester at 6:00am to collect air quality data for an ongoing study.
photo credit: staff
Matthew Spiten is the Sierra Student Coalition President, UMR ‘18 and Lis Pearson, is the incoming Sierra Student Coalition President, UMR ‘19