Category: Green jobs

Apply Now for SUST Work-Study Opportunities for 2021-22

The Sustainability Studies Program @RooseveltU is hiring up to three undergraduate students to work as Sustainability Student Associates for the Fall 2021 semester. Information and application instructions for this part-time position can be found on Student Employment website: to apply, just login to the Handshake job posting system and upload your letter of interest, résumé, and writing sample.

The application deadline as been extended to Friday 10/08/21 and interviews will be conducted the following week via Zoom. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. A cover letter, updated résumé, and writing sample (which can be paper written for an RU class) are required for the application. Note your FWS eligibility status in your cover letter.

Applicants should explain their interest in advancing campus sustainability as well as highlight their prior knowledge about and/or skills in relevant sustainability issues and practices (e.g., recycling, gardening, event planning, data analysis, student outreach, etc.)

Desired Majors: Sustainability Studies, Sociology, or Biology preferred; however, all majors will be considered.

Required Skills/Knowledge: Knowledge of and interest in sustainability; strong writing/editing skills; effective communication skills; dependability and strong work ethic.

Scope of Duties: This $15/hour FWS student position will work at the Chicago Campus as well as remotely to support the mission, pedagogy, and service work of the SUST Program at Roosevelt by the following (other duties as assigned):

  • developing & supporting campus sustainability projects in consultation with the program director, department faculty, operations and planning staff, and the RU Green student organization;
  • providing logistical and communication support for sustainability-related activities, events, and projects, both on- and off-campus;
  • supporting student experiential learning, recruitment, retention, & career development efforts;
  • coordinating & promoting departmental events & campus outreach (e.g., Campus Sustainability Month [October], SUST Symposia, & Earth Month);
  • performing current student and alumni outreach;
  • serving as the primary student liaison between the SUST Program and the university community in the advancement of RU’s 2015-2020 Strategic Sustainability Plan;
  • managing the Roosevelt Urban Sustainability Lab (RUSLab) & WB Rooftop Garden

Student Associates will work closely with the SUST Program Director, Prof. Mike Bryson, and utilize the Roosevelt Urban Sustainability Lab at the Chicago Campus as their home base. Funding for the position is provided by federal work-study funds.

Please email Prof. Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu) for questions about the position or application process.

Earth Day 4/22: RU Alumni Talk Sustainability

This Earth Day, April 22nd, join alumni of Roosevelt’s Sustainability Studies (SUST) program as they talk about the sustainability work they do in their jobs, communities, and personal lives, as well as reflect on the meaning of Earth Day. Since its founding in 2010 as the Chicago area’s first sustainability-focused bachelor’s degree, the SUST program’s more than 100 alumni have pursued a wide variety of career pathways, community and environmental service projects, and creative endeavors.

Please join Dr. Mike Bryson, Professor and Director of Sustainability Studies in Roosevelt’s College of Arts & Sciences, as he hosts two virtual roundtable conversations on Earth Day with SUST alumni. Learn about how sustainability plays a role in their current jobs, get inspired by their service and activism, and engage in thoughtful discussion about the state of the world in 2021 and its sustainable future. Two roundtables are scheduled: the first at 1pm and the second at 6pm (both CST), each featuring different alumni. All members of the RU community are welcome to attend one or both!

— REGISTER HERE for these Zoom events —

Moderator: Dr. Mike Bryson, Professor and Director of Sustainability Studies, Roosevelt University’s College of Arts & Sciences

Alumni Participants – 1 PM Session

  • Maria Cancilla (BPS ’18), Garden Educator
  • Karen Craig (BA ’15), Manager of Retail & Visitor Experience at Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance
  • Reece Krishnan (BA ’16), Energy Specialist at Franklin Energy Services
  • Tiffany Mucci-Heitman (BPS ’16), Licensed Massage Therapist and Freelance Writer
  • Emily Rhea (BA ’16), Project Manager and Energy Analyst at Eco Achievers

Alumni Participants – 6 PM Session

  • Zarakyah Ahmadiel (BPS ’13), Restorative Practices Coordinator for Blocks Together / Cameron Elementary School
  • Jessie Crow Mermel (BPS ’12), Marketing & Development Assistant at Severson Dells Nature Center; On-farm Educator at Angelic Organics Learning Center
  • Stephanie Eisner (BA ’13), Program Manager & Philanthropic Advisor at Caerus Foundation
  • Diana Ramirez (BA ’17), Roving Forest Corps Leader at Student Conservation Association (Americorps)
  • MeLissa Tate (BA ’18), Corporate Sustainability Specialist at Ferrara Candy Co.

Now Hiring Sustainability Student Associate Positions for Fall 2019 @RooseveltU

The Sustainability Studies Program @RooseveltU is hiring two (or more) undergraduate students to serve as Sustainability Student Associates for the Fall 2019 semester. Information and application instructions for the position can be found on Student Employment website: to apply, just login to the Career Central job posting system and upload your letter of interest and cover letter.

Deadline for applications is Tuesday 9/3/19. Interviews will be conducted that week in person or via Zoom with the goal of hiring by the week of 9/9. Depending upon the applicant pool, the available hours (30/week) may be split among 2-4 students. A cover letter, updated résumé, and writing sample (which can be paper written for an RU class) are required for your application. Your letter should explain your interest in advancing campus sustainability as well as highlight your prior knowledge about and/or skills in relevant sustainability issues and practices (e.g., recycling, gardening, event planning, data analysis, student outreach, etc.)

Desired Majors: Sustainability Studies, Sociology, or Biology preferred; however, all majors will be considered.

Required Skills/Knowledge: Knowledge of and interest in sustainability; strong writing/editing skills; effective communication skills; dependability and strong work ethic.

These 15 hour/week at $13/hour student positions support the mission, pedagogy, and service work of the SUST Program at Roosevelt by the following (other duties as assigned):

  • developing & supporting campus sustainability projects in consultation with the program director, department faculty, Operations and Planning staff, and the RU Green student organization;
  • managing the Roosevelt Urban Sustainability Lab (RUSLab) & WB Rooftop Garden;
  • providing logistical and communication support for sustainability-related activities, events, and projects, both on- and off-campus;
  • supporting student experiential learning, recruitment, retention, & career development efforts;
  • coordinating & promoting departmental events & campus outreach (e.g., Campus Sustainability Month [October], SUST Symposia, & Earth Month);
  • performing current student and alumni outreach;
  • serving as the primary student liaison between the SUST Program and the university community in the advancement of RU’s 2015-2020 Strategic Sustainability Plan

Student Associates will work closely with the SUST Program Director, Prof. Mike Bryson, and utilize the RUSLab at the Chicago Campus as their home base. Funding for the positions is provided by federal work-study funds as well as Testa Produce of Chicago.

Please email Prof. Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu) for questions about the position or application process.

Part-time Student Sustainability Position Available in RU’s Physical Resources, Chicago Campus

RU Campus STARS logoThe RU Physical Resources Department is offering a paid student internship/work-study position for the 2016-17 academic year. This job is an outstanding professional development opportunity and involves working directly with the RU Physical Resources Team under the direction of Paul Matthews, Assistant VP for Campus Planning/Operations. The internship is based primarily at the Chicago Campus, Applications are being accepted ASAP (see details below) until the position is filled.

Duties and responsibilities include:

  • Assist in implementing the newly adopted Sustainability Strategic Plan, approved in Spring 2015
  • Help maintain and update of the RU Green Campus website, Green Campus Blog, and associated social media pages to provide other information which may benefit and educate the RU community about environmental sustainability
  • Help manage the Chicago Campus Rooftop Garden
  • Assist in maintaining contact with associations and government sponsored agencies that support the Physical Resources Environmental Sustainability Initiatives, including: Association for the Advancement for Sustainability within Higher Education (AASHE), United States Green Building Council, Second Nature, World Wildlife Federation, EPA Green Power Partnership Program, and the Illinois Governor’s Campus Sustainability Compact
  • Participate in DCEO Recycling Grant Reporting; Recycling Project for AUD, Field House, and Wabash (with 50% diversion goal); and university Compost Agreement, which provides materials for Schaumburg Garden Plots
  • Help prepare PowerPoint presentations on select ES topics to present to the RU Community when necessary.
  • Attend RU-based meetings that deal with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership thru Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification Program for the Wabash Vertical Campus, Field House, and other major construction projects. Assist in tracking the LEED credits for certification and green building construction, and in achieving USGBC LEED Silver level for Field House.
  • Work on Physical Resource plans or initiatives that center around green technologies, landscapes, hardscapes, alternate methods of transportation, and renewable energy sources.

To Indicate Interest and Get More Information: Contact Paul Matthews, Assistant VP of Operations/Planning, Department of Physical Resources, Roosevelt University, at 312-341-3600 (office) or pmatthews@roosevelt.edu (email). This position does not require federal work-study status, but may qualify as a work-study position for those with that designation. See the Career Resources page on RU’s website to apply.

SUST Program Student Associate Position Available for 2016-17

For the first time, the SUST Program at RU has a student associate (work-study) position available for the 2016-17 academic year, starting 29 Aug 2016 and ending 8 May 2017. This position is for 12 hours/week at the Chicago Campus and earns $10.50/hour. Undergraduate students must be enrolled in 6 credit hours (F16) and graduate student 3 credit hours to be eligible. The position is open to all RU students, but SUST majors will receive priority consideration.

Position Description

This student associate position for the Sustainability Studies Program within the College of Arts & Sciences reports directly to Dr. Mike Bryson, SUST professor and director. Primary duties include but are not limited to:

  • outreach to current students and alumni on behalf of the SUST program
  • social media research, writing, and editing (SUST at RU blog, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn)
  • contribution to campus sustainability projects in coordination with the RUSLab, Operations & Planning within the Department of Physical Resources, and the RU Green student organization
  • event planning and coordination, including the SUST Student Symposium in fall and spring, and Earth Month campus activities in April 2017
  • completion of other tasks to advance RU’s Strategic Sustainability Plan and support the SUST Program’s mission

The student associate will acquire and polish multiple professional skills as well as gain valuable experience in sustainability education, outreach, planning, communication, and collaboration. Applicants will be assessed according to their academic record, relevant work experience, writing/communication skills, and ability to work both independently as well as collaboratively. Office space provided in AUD 829, with additional access to the Roosevelt Urban Sustainability Lab in AUD 526. Hours are flexible and can be negotiated with the SUST director.

To Apply

Go to the Student Employment at Roosevelt webpage and click on Career Central. Follow the instructions to register as a student user if you have not already done so. Search for the position by typing in SUST in the search box, then follow the instructions for submitting your application. In addition to filling out the online application form, three supporting documents are required:

  • a cover letter expressing your interest in and qualifications for the position
  • a résumé summarizing your education and employment history, as well as your relevant skills/experience
  • a writing sample that exemplifies your writing at its best (this can be something new or a paper you wrote for an RU class)

Application Deadline: applications will be reviewed starting immediately and continue through 24 August 2016. Position begins on 29 August or soon thereafter. All applications must come through the RU Student Employment website linked above.

Questions? Email Prof. Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu) to discuss your interest in the position or to ask any questions about the application process.

 

Sustainability and Biodiversity at the Field Museum

Last Monday, as a warm 60+ degree (F) day enveloped downtown Chicago in a splendid preview of spring, my students and I hiked from Roosevelt’s Gage Building in the Loop to the lakefront, where we strolled southward to that great edifice of natural history and biodiversity, the Field Museum. Once there, we met up with Carter O’Brien, the Museum’s sustainability manager (who basically created the job over a number of years after spearheading the FMNH’s recycling program). Carter gave us a comprehensive walking tour of the museum’s grounds, community garden, and loading dock.

SUST 210 visits the FMNH with Carter O'Brien (front left), the museum's sustainability manager (aka "green guru")
SUST 210 visits the FMNH with Carter O’Brien (front left), the museum’s sustainability manager (aka “green guru”)

Along with many of staff and researchers at the FMNH, Carter has spearheaded the museum’s efforts to green its practices in energy consumption, waste management, food service, recycling, transportation, exhibit design, and gardening. Despite being an institution dedicated to studying and conserving the world’s rich trove of biodiversity, the Field Museum until recently was not at all sustainable in its own operations, an irony not lost on environmental advocates such as Carter and many of his museum colleagues. Now the FMNH is a recognized leader in transforming old buildings into sustainably-managed facilities, as it recently garnered a LEED Gold rating on its operations and maintenance from the US Green Building Council, only the 2nd existing museum building in the US to do so, and it has just received a $2 million grant to redevelop its grounds within Chicago’s famed Museum Campus in ways that enhance biodiversity, water conservation, and public education.

Carter brought us inside through the seemingly ancient (and surprisingly small) loading dock, thorough a phalanx of heavy doors, narrow passageways, and claustrophobic elevators (all part of the FM’s 19th Century charm), and to the Botany research division, one of the four major research/collections areas of the museum. There we met up with the equally ebullient Dr. Matt Von Konrat, who has many titles at the museum but is best known as an early land plant botanist (which means he studies mosses and liverworts both here and abroad) and the Head of Botanical Collections at the museum.

Dr. Matt Von Konrat in the Botany Collection at the FMNH (photo: M. Wasinka)
Dr. Matt Von Konrat in the Botany Collection at the FMNH (photo: M. Wasinka)

Dr. Von Konrat was kind enough to set up a sampling of preserved plant specimens from the Museum’s vast collection, which when arrayed on a huge wooden table represented a journey of 500 million years of land plant evolution. Many of these examples had special significance as type specimens, which are recognized as being archetypal examples of the species that are used for benchmarking certain key identifying characteristics.

Photo: M. Wasinka
Photo: M. Wasinka

One plant, a particularly tiny moss, held special significance in a recent court case about Burr Oak Cemetery scandal  in the far South Side Chicago neighborhood of Dunning. Cemetery caretakers dug up several hundred human remains and dumped them in a mass grave in order to sell additional plots in the cemetery over a several year period. The moss was part of forensic evidence analyzed by Dr. Von Konrat that proved the involvement of cemetery employees in this heinous crime. The story illustrates the profoundly important role that environmental evidence can play in forensics, and the potential value in aligning the study of botany (and sustainability) with that of criminal justice.

After both of these splendid tours, my students and I ventured forth into the public area of the museum — its exhibits, naturally! — where we inspected the notable (and LEED Gold certified) conservation exhibit, Restoring Earth, which documents FMNH efforts to conserve natural and human communities in South America as well as restore local prairie, woodland, and wetland ecosystems here in the Chicago region.

Photo: M. Wasinka
Photo: M. Wasinka

Sustainable Agriculture Jobs in Chicago

Growing Home Wood St Farm
Growing Home’s Wood Street Farm in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago

Just now I’ve had a couple of interesting sustainable agriculture job ads cross my desk. (OK, they appeared in my email inbox, to be precise — but that doesn’t sound as good.) The first is with one of RU’s arch-rivals here in Chicago, Loyola University — but since it’s a good job, I’ll post it here anyway. The second is with one of the area’s biggest players in urban ag / community developing, Growing Home.

Loyola University: Farm Operations Assistant (pdf of description/info)

Growing Home: Farm Assistant / Market Supervisor (pdf of description/info)

Job Opening: Assistant Volunteer Coordinator at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, located just north of Wilmington IL in Will County, is seeking a full-time Assistant Volunteer Coordinator.  This position is possible because of a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy.

Midewin signTo view this job posting and apply, please visit www.nature.org/careers.  You can search by using the job ID #41231.  All applicants must apply online; Midewin does not accept emailed resumes. Submit your resume and cover letter as one document.  All applications must be submitted in the system prior to 11:59 pm Eastern Time on July 16, 2013.

For more information, consult the Volunteer page on the Midewin website, and/or contact:

Allison Cisneros – Volunteer Coordinator
The Nature Conservancy @ U.S. Forest Service
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
30239 South IL State Route 53, Wilmington IL 60481
Work: 815.423.2149    Cell: 815.474.3808
acisneros@tnc.org

 

College Graduates and Employment Prospects

As thousands of college students graduate this month, including our students here at Roosevelt, many are concerned how they will fare in the current job market. And that market continues to be challenging as we slowly recover from the Great Recession of 2008-2010.

Recent news, however, show that the economy is adding new jobs (albeit not quite at the rate one would like to see this far into the economic recovery; and this 5 May 2013 report from the New York Times illustrates how much better off college graduates are in terms of employment levels than those who have some college but no degree, or no college at all. For workers without a high school diploma, employment prospects are very tough indeed, unlike in decades past when the US economy sported an abundance of unskilled labor positions. As the news article notes:

The unemployment rate for college graduates in April was a mere 3.9 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for the work force as a whole, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. Even when the jobless rate for college graduates was at its very worst in this business cycle, in November 2010, it was still just 5.1 percent. That is close to the jobless rate the rest of the work force experiences when the economy is good.

Among all segments of workers sorted by educational attainment, college graduates are the only group that has more people employed today than when the recession started.

The number of college-educated workers with jobs has risen by 9.1 percent since the beginning of the recession. Those with a high school diploma and no further education are practically a mirror image, with employment down 9 percent on net. For workers without even a high school diploma, employment levels have fallen 14.1 percent.

The news is not all good here, as the article raises an important point about what sort of jobs college grads have been taking.

But just because college graduates have jobs does not mean they all have “good” jobs.

There is ample evidence that employers are hiring college-educated workers for jobs that do not actually require college-level skills — positions like receptionists, file clerks, waitresses, car rental agents and so on.

“High-skilled people can take the jobs of middle-skilled people, and middle-skilled people can take jobs of low-skilled people,” said Justin Wolfers, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. “And low-skilled people are out of luck.”

In some cases, employers are specifically requiring four-year degrees for jobs that previously did not need them, since companies realize that in a relatively poor job market college graduates will be willing to take whatever they can find.

Does this mean that the cost a four-year college degree is not a good investment anymore? Decidedly not, whether one takes the short-view (immediate employment prospects in a difficult job market) or the long-view (return on investment over one’s lifetime). College grads have a marked advantage either way. As the article continues to note:

The median weekly earnings of college-educated, full-time workers — like those for their counterparts with less education — have dipped in recent years. In 2012, the weekly median was $1,141, compared with $1,163 in 2007, after adjusting for inflation. The premium they earn for having that college degree is still high, though.

In 2012, the typical full-time worker with a bachelor’s degree earned 79 percent more than a similar full-time worker with no more than a high school diploma. For comparison, 20 years earlier the premium was 73 percent, and 30 years earlier it was 48 percent.

And since a higher percentage of college graduates than high school graduates are employed in full-time work, these figures actually understate the increase in the total earnings premium from college completion, said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an independent research organization.

So, despite the painful upfront cost, the return on investment on a college degree remains high. An analysis from the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington estimated that the benefits of a four-year college degree were equivalent to an investment that returns 15.2 percent a year, even after factoring in the earnings students forgo while in school.

Today’s graduates will need to aggressively and strategically seek employment opportunities, to be sure; and they may have to settle for a less-than-optimal job or internship the first time around. But they’re still in a far better position than their less-educated peers to get gainful employment in their area of expertise, especially as the economy continues to recover.