Between pollution, deforestation and everything in between, it’s undeniable that the little blue planet Earth has seen better days.
However, there are plenty of students on campus who are devoted to saving the planet.
Plant biology senior Elena Michel and genomics and molecular genetics senior Joseph Uebler, who are co-presidents of the Plant Biology Club, said they’re both passionate about that.
Michel, who is currently working on a project involving bioenergy, said her interest in the planet stemmed from her childhood.
She said she used to play in the woods with her neighbor and help her mother out in the garden.
“I ended up working on a farm when I was in high school and then ever since then I knew I wanted to study plant biology,” she said.
Uebler said he grew up on a farm, so agriculture and plant biology have also been a part of his life since he was a child.
He said saving the earth is a huge task, but every day can make a difference. Some of the things he does regularly include walking as opposed to driving and recycling as much as possible.
Michel said some of her daily attempts to be environmentally friendly include recycling, keeping the lights off as much as possible and not leaving the faucets running.
She also said she rides her bike whenever she can, but if she has a long trek ahead of her she tries to take public transportation.
With the stress of classes, work and everything else in life, she said it’s easy to put the state of the planet on the back burner.
That being said, Michel and Uebler said it’s imperative foe people to become more aware of how their actions affect the planet.
“Sustainability is a huge issue right now,” Uebler said. “If people aren’t proactive now about saving the planet, we could get into very scary times as far as our environment goes with pollution.”
Although it’s difficult to exactly determine how people are impacting the planet, Michel said it’s well-known certain resources, such as fossil fuel, are starting to run out.
“We need to start looking for other solutions for energy in the future,” she said. “I think the earlier we start looking, the earlier we start trying to save these resources, the bigger impact it can have on the future.
