Meet the students, faculty, and staff awarded for their commitment to sustainability
Human Resources and the Office of Sustainability have created three awards to acknowledge those who green our campuses and curriculum. Learn about the latest NU Sustainability Excellence Award winners.
Winter 2014 Student Excellence in Sustainability Award Winner: Christina Cilento
Role at NU:
Class of 2017 Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences student, pursuing an Ad Hoc major in Organizational Sustainability. Christina is Vice President for Sustainability for the Associate Student Government, President of GREEN House, Public Relations Chair of DivestNU, and co-founder of In Our Nature environmental magazine.
Why Recognized:
Christina received this award for her commitment to the environment and leadership on campus. She is a champion for sustainability in a variety of Northwestern organizations, and lives her life in a way that reflects what she stands for in her organizations.
Who is your sustainability role model and why?
“I would say my high school Environmental Science teacher Mr. Baier is my sustainability role model. He was kind of goofy, but his passion really changed the way I looked at the environment and inspired me to pursue sustainability work. I hadn't had that much knowledge of environmental issues before being in that course, so it was really him that started my interest in sustainability and encouraged me to follow through with it in college.”
What inspired you to be committed to the environment?
“I was always interested in doing small eco-friendly things growing up and was known as the recycling fiend in my house, but I really got interested in environmental issues my junior year of high school. I took an Environmental Science course to avoid taking Physics (hehe), and that's what really inspired me to get more serious about environmental work. That course exposed me to all sorts of issues-- overfishing, species extinction, waste, pesticides, etc. that made me realize I wanted to do something more than just recycle. From then on I realized how necessary environmental work is and how interesting it was to me and that really shaped what I pursued in college.”
Winter 2014 Green Office Excellence Award Winner: Elizabeth Adamczyk
Role at NU:
Branch Operations Manager of the Schaffner Library on the Chicago campus. Elizabeth is also a member of the Library Environmental Committee and NU Cycling Committee.
Why Recognized:
Elizabeth was recognized as a founding member of the Library Environmental Committee and a leader in the Green Office Certification process for the University Library. She doesn’t just commit herself to the environment at work; she also lives sustainably by cycling to work and between the Evanston and Chicago campuses. She encourages her co-workers to follow her lead in being sustainable in every aspect of their lives.
Who is your sustainability role model and why?
“My colleagues and friends over the years have inspired me to follow a more sustainable lifestyle both in and out of the workplace. I do not think I can pin it down to any one person, as they all continue to inspire me.”
What inspired you to be committed to the environment?
“It all started with biking to work and discovering that “being green” could be fun and have an impact on more than just the environment. I love the freedom of bicycling and the joy it adds to any day, so why not ride to and from work? It’s good for the environment (less pollution), for the roads (less traffic), for my health (a great workout) and for my well-being (I’m happier). From there it grew – to bringing my own reusable bags when shopping, thinking of ways to use less electricity, and being more conservative in my use of all “plugged” power.”
Winter 2014 Faculty and Staff Excellence in Sustainability Award Winner: Maggie Waldron
Role at NU:
Program Director of Fuse at the School of Education and Social Policy.
Why Recognized:
In addition to carrying her own water bottle and taking the stairs, Maggie runs all of her teacher professional development programs paperless. It is estimated that she has saved over 1,000 pages by running the program without paper, and she has inspired other educators to follow her lead and ditch the hard copies.
Who is your sustainability role model and why?
“I honestly don’t have one.”
What inspired you to be committed to the environment?
“There’s a finite amount of resources, so it’s important that we conserve them as well as we can.”