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Welcome to my blog! In future posts, you’ll see a lot about environmental sustainability at Duke. That’s been my passion for the past few years, and I’ve worked as a student advocate on many of Duke’s sustainability initiatives.  But for this first post, I want to tell my story.  How did I get involved with all of this environmental stuff?

Three years ago, as a freshman, I felt awestruck and overwhelmed, wondering where I would fit in. Duke is a big place. And I’m not referring to the size of the campus or the number of students. There’s just a lot going on. Hundreds of student organizations, academically rigorous classes, a complex social scene, and of course, sports. It can be pretty intense.

Ben at the Campus Farm

Already thinking like an ecology student, I wanted to find my niche; my unique role in Duke’s ecosystem. And as you might expect from someone who relates his life to basic ecology, I had a strong interest in the environment. I entertained notions of becoming a Biology major, but I also liked the environmental science program at the Nicholas School (I ended up doing both). Outside of class, I signed up for a student group called Environmental Alliance (and I’ve been actively involved ever since). Before I knew it, I was finding a place.

However, my place at Duke actually ended up being a bunch of places. I’ve never been the “all green, all the time” type. That’s why I’ll write about a variety of topics here, not just sustainability.  At Duke or anywhere else, it’s difficult to see life through a single lens.

One of my favorite quotations, from John Muir, pretty much sums it up: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”