Program on the Environment

Blog post by Dorothy Kong

On Thursday, May 28th, this quarter’s ENVIR 480 course culminated with a walking tour on the environmental history and sustainability of the University of Washington campus. The tour was open to the public and as we, the tour guides, gathered at Drumheller Fountain in our purple shirts, a larger group of people gradually began to form around us! Around 11:45 AM, the tour kicked off with an introduction from Megan Horst and Ashley Blazina, the instructors for this quarter, and they split the group into two.

One tour, titled “The Hidden Challenges and Stories of UW Sustainability,” focused on the diverse inputs of UW’s environmental history, including many of the hidden challenges the university still faces in terms of sustainability. This group elaborated on Red Square, buildings/power, the Medicinal Herb Garden, and transportation. The second tour, titled “Big Icons of UW: How Our Visual Identity Informs Our Sustainability,” focused on who we cheer for, what we eat, and how we move as a community and population. This was the group I was a part of and we visited the south end of campus, including the Burke-Gilman Trail, Husky Stadium, Lake Washington, and UBNA.

Tour Highlights

For this tour project, the ENVIR 480 class was split into groups of 3-5 and we each put together a presentation for one of the stops on the tour. Since each group studied a small aspect of UW’s environmental history and sustainability, piecing all of the information together into a more complete picture through the tour gave an even broader story of our campus! I honestly learned so much that I hadn’t known before through my own group’s research and other group’s presentations. Here are just a few of the interesting facts I picked up:

• The Burke-Gilman trail used to be a railway, which was founded by a group of men led by Thomas Burke and Daniel Gilman
• The railway was abandoned and transformed into a trail (27 miles) in the 1970’s
• 95% of the waste from the 2013 construction of Husky Stadium was recycled or reused
• Husky Stadium is U-shaped with the opening toward Lake Washington, which means fans can sailgate (or tailgate by boat)
• The bleachers from the old stadium were repurposed as panels behind the UW logo at the front of the current stadium
• Lake Washington used to be called Lake Stinko because of how Seattle discharged phosphate-treated sewage into the lake in the 1900’s
• The water from stormwater drains at UW is discharged into Lake Washington through 2 places
• The Lake Washington Ship Canal lowered the lake’s water level by 8 feet
• Much of UBNA and the surrounding area used to be part of the Montlake Landfill in 1911-1966 before being partially cleared, covered, and developed
• Ravenna Creek used to connect Green Lake and Lake Washington until partially drying up around Cowen Park

Reflection
I never thought that I would lead a tour, but this class proved me wrong. I now have a greater appreciation of those who regularly lead tours because it really isn’t easy. In particular, my group had trouble talking loud enough with the traffic from the nearby street and we also had to change our location last-minute to one with more shade because of the hot weather. This year’s topic was also a big one to tackle and I only wish that there was a way to fit more of the interesting information my group found from research into the presentation!

Overall, ENVIR 480 has informed me of the rich history of UW and how the university has gradually implemented more sustainable practices throughout the years, but still has a ways to go. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to learn this while I’m still attending UW and can appreciate walking across this campus every day.

poeadvisor:

Do you want to work closely with legislators and business leaders on the big questions facing the PNW, including trade, transportation, economic development and the environment? 

Check out the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) summer internship. They need help developing their 25th Annual Summit. 

This is an unpaid internship, but the intern will be invited to attend PNWER’s Annual Summit in Montana and will have the chance to connect with leaders in the public and private sector. 

More details here: http://www.idealist.org/view/internship/JXppgw7CkNH4/

PoE Students and Alumni – our colleague at Commute Seattle has shared this wonderful, PAID opportunity for the Summer. Here’s the scoop:

Position: Bike Amenity Inventory Coordinator

Responsibilities : 

– Data collection, reporting and analysis on bike amenities in Center City
– Training and monitoring staff field work
– Relationship development
– Draft and present a report with recommendations
– Administrative and operations duties as needed

Duration: 3 months paid internship

Application deadline: May 22

Full information below:

Department: Commute Seattle

REPORTING RELATIONSHIP: Program Manager

STATUS: Term limited, temporary

Commute Seattle is an alliance of the Downtown Seattle Association, King County Metro and the City of Seattle working to increase access to downtown.  Our Mission is to help downtown users live more and drive less by improving access and mobility to and within downtown.

Overview

Commute Seattle seeks a Bike Amenity Inventory Coordinator to lead a 3 month bicycle amenities inventory project collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on bike amenities in Seattle’s Center City.

In 2010, Commute Seattle completed a baseline inventory of over 1100 buildings showing the existing level of private sector bicycle parking available to accommodate desired levels of bicycle commuting. This summer, the Bicycle Parking Inventory of amenities, which include racks, lockers, showers, and tire pumps, will be updated.

The Bike Amenity Inventory Coordinator will work collaboratively with Commute Seattle partners and stakeholders to lead the project.  Partners include but are not limited to the Downtown Seattle Association, King County Metro, the City of Seattle, and other bicycle and transportation organizations. The position will supervise data collection and complete data analysis and reporting. Deliverables will include a gap report, executive summary, and re-population of a web-based bike amenity map.

Responsibilities

• Follow the established methodology and approach to complete an accurate and useful inventory of private building bicycle parking amenities
• Train and monitor staff on field inventory protocols, observation schedules, and data collection
• Develop and communicate effective strategies for managing data collection, analysis and retrieval by and subdividing downtown geographies by property address, parcel, block, section or neighborhood
• Effectively develop relationships and communicate with property owners to achieve access to private sector amenities for the purpose of completing building inventories
• Work collaboratively and creatively with partner organization to achieve best practices, data and methodology alignment and compatibility.
• Compile, merge, and analyze private data with public data
• Adhere to best practices for database management
• Communicate findings, including gap report and recommendations
• Update online bike facilities map
• Meet benchmarks as established with program manager
• Perform necessary administration and operations functions such as recordkeeping, program measurement, effective reporting, correspondence, and protocol development

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing, Business, Planning, Public Administration or other related field; students currently enrolled in a Master’s degree program in a related field preferred.
• A minimum of 3 years in related employment including staff supervision, client management, Transportation Demand Management, Commute Trip Reduction, Consultative Sales, Transportation Planning or other related field.
• Demonstrated history of increasingly responsible experience performing the variety and complexity of responsibilities associated with this position.

Other Required Skills:

• Professional, polished, confident and capable of developing professional client relationships.
• Demonstrated experience in program management, prefer demonstrated interest in the field of alternative transportation
• Strong analytical skills including experience with data collection, data management, quantitative analysis, and reporting; Competency with MS Access and Excel required, and GIS strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success setting priorities, meeting project benchmarks and timelines
• Must be able to work independently and as part of a team, and have a strong sense of responsibility.
• Requires excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to make public presentations to small and large groups.
• Strong organizational skills, and the ability and willingness to handle multiple projects, demands and moving targets are a must.
• Working knowledge of MS Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint required.

Compensation:

This temporary 40-hours a week position will pay $24.00 an hour.

To Apply:

Email 1) a copy of your resume, 2) a cover letter providing more in-depth information on the experience and qualities you would bring to the job, and 3) the names, addresses, and phone numbers of three references to: hr@downtownseattle.org.

Position Open until filled. To ensure consideration, please send in your application by 5/22.

Commute Seattle is an Equal Opportunity Employer.