Meet the EcoReps: Sustainability Superheroes

Green Girl! Captain Carbon! Compost Queen! Meet the EcoReps, Fisher’s new set of superheroes on campus, committed to saving the environment through sustainability efforts.

While they don’t really go by those superhero names, Fisher’s EcoReps are smart, savvy, sustainability-focused students intent on educating the campus community about how to be more environmentally conscious. The 2019-2020 EcoReps include Emma Bass, Christopher Coriddi, Conner Fenoff, Sydney Isaacs, Selin Kahyaoglu, Cassandra LeClair, Thomas Minahan, Grant Stokoe, Erin Turpin, Samantha Wilmier, and Emily Wilson.

Their passion was on display Wednesday, Feb. 5, when they helped the Center for Sustainability host the annual Fisher Goes Green Fair. During the event, students had the opportunity to further their careers by networking with sustainability professionals. Carbon Energy Systems, Inc. was brought to the campus by a Fisher alumnus and there were  a number of additional new vendors this year, including the Rochester Area Vegan Society, Young Urban Preservationists, Rochester Minimalists, and the Buy Nothing Project. 

“We’d love for every campus community member to be more knowledgeable of the issues because sustainability touches everyone,” explained Dr. Michael Boller, director of the Center, who also oversees the EcoReps. “Environmental, economic, and social sustainability is essential to our future, and the Center for Sustainability is working to helps students, faculty, staff, and the institution contribute to that lofty goal.” 

Fisher’s EcoReps help achieve that mission by increasing the environmental literacy of students, faculty, and staff in a variety of ways.

Minahan, who is a first-year student double-majoring in biology and sustainability, said he was inspired to become an EcoRep because he “can’t think of a better way to help the sustainability movement on campus than by helping encourage others to become informed and involved.”

If the EcoReps were a comic book, he’d take the name Carbon Captain. “I would sequester carbon out of the atmosphere and shape it to my will...think frozone but carbon instead of water,” he said.

Green Girl, also known as Emma Bass, is a junior majoring in criminology with an interdisciplinary minor focused on law and ethics. Her passion for the environment and love of nature led her to the EcoReps. “My superpower would be the ability to help stop contributors to climate change,” she said. And through this leadership program, she’s flexing those powers in her own way.

Senior Erin Turpin, the Compost Queen, has been working with Boller since her first year at Fisher. “The program gives students the opportunity to influence others and inspire positive change on campus,” she said. “Creating the program gives students a space to learn about topics in sustainability and then teach our peers, inspiring behavior change on campus. It also gives us the opportunity to work collaboratively, develop valuable outreach skills, and live more sustainably.”

And, when night falls, this super student would turn compost superhero, converting all organized waste into fresh, healthy soil to fertilize plants.

The EcoReps meet every other week to plan upcoming events, including Recyclemania and 50th Anniversary of Earth Day events, taking place April 20 through 24. Students interested in becoming an EcoRep can email Mike Boller directly at mboller@sjfc.edu or sustainability@sjfc.edu for further information.