The St. Edward’s School of Behavior and Social Sciences in coordination with the Office of Sustainability has created a new position as Sustainability Graduate Assistant. This position will be filled by current Master’s of Environmental Management and Sustainability student Thomas LaPoint. The position will entail assisting the Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSS) School and the Office of Sustainability research and implement sustainable practices on campus, develop web and blog content, assist with program development for undergraduate and graduate environmentally-focused degrees and act as a liaison between student groups and the sustainability staff.
Thomas is a part of the second cohort of the newly implemented Professional Science Master in Environmental Management and Sustainability (MSEM) program. This ambitious program has students propose and conduct a semester-long study relating to what environmental interest a student may have. This is complemented in the second year by taking sustainability classes in the second year of the program at the Université catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France followed by a full-time international internship. Although challenging, the program is also a rewarding and exciting experience for all involved.
For his semester long project, Thomas will be working with Gwen Bailey (also a MSEM grad student) on conducting a thorough study of St. Edward’s greenhouse gas emissions, comparing those findings with past studies completed at St. Edward’s and comparing also with emissions from other Texas universities. Despite these ambitious goals, they are optimistic that the study will be a success and show the need for all Texas universities to adopt sustainability practices to reduce emissions and conserve our resources.
To supplement his studies and gain professional experience, Thomas is also working with EcoRise, an Austin-based environmental education development non-profit, is a volunteer with the Sierra Club, Environment Texas and Imagine Solar, and is a member of the Students for Sustainability at St. Edward’s. Thomas is new to Austin but is diving right into the environmental community in hopes of leaving a lasting positive impact on sustainable practices at St. Edward’s university and the surrounding areas.