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Sustainability Blog

Connecting our campus, community, and environment

Phi Beta Kappa and So Much More

May 10, 2012 | Allison Orjala and the Office for Sustainability

Alex Lopatka, a 2011-2012 Office for Sustainability Intern, is graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in Environmental Geoscience. He will leave DePauw University to do environmental policy work with Congresswoman Donna F. Summers over the summer. Come September, he will be attending the University of Maryland—College Park—in their PhD program in the Geology Department. Last summer, Alex was selected to be part of a team at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that researched carbon capture and sequestration.

More than that, though, Alex has worked with our Office for Sustainability since his sophomore year here at DePauw, and has put in countless hours of work on a wide variety of projects. His latest effort has been to bring to life student Ashley Conard’s idea of making DPU a part of TreeCampusUSA. He began researching the concept further late fall semester and has created the structure to make that happen. As a first step, he has been able to create a Tree Committee, whose members are currently working on developing the full TreeCampusUSA application to submit in December of this year.

Alex not only attends the meetings required of his position as a Sustainability Intern, but he listens. He reacts. He is constantly bringing fresh ideas to the table. Alex has a brain for numbers, too, and has been a critical help in computing both of DePauw University’s carbon footprints (2009, 2011).

He will leave behind a legacy, too. In 2010, Alex was the co-chair of the student campaign to ban bottled water from campus. The successful campaign brought H2O fill stations to a majority of our university’s buildings and eliminated the sales of bottled water in the UB and the Den.

Alex has been an influential and motivating force in all of the work that he’s done for DePauw and the Office for Sustainability. He will leave here to find success, undoubtedly, in bringing about more sustainable options for the United States through the ever-familiar sustainability projects, and through policy work and research.

We are very proud of you, Alex. And you will be very much missed.

The Year's Summary

May 2, 2012 | Katie Aldrich

Working in the Office for Sustainability this year has been one of my favorite experiences at DePauw…and I’ve done some pretty cool stuff over the past four years. Starting off in August, I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had worked with DePauw Environmental Club a lot in the past, but the Sustainability Office was something completely new and different.

Throughout the fall semester, we spent most of our time calculating DePauw’s carbon footprint. Thank goodness Taylor and Alex had done this a few years before or else it would have taken even more all-nighters and much more coffee. My favorite part of the fall semester though, was working with Urinetown the musical. In Urinetown, the citizens had to pay to use the bathroom because the water was being polluted and they had such a short supply of water left…very reminiscent of where several of our world’s municipal water systems are headed. ...

Read the full blog post here.

Basketball, Sustainability MVP

Mar 9, 2012 | Allison Orjala and the Office for Sustainability

  • Top scorer or top rebounder for 20 of the 29 games in the 2011-12 season
  • Prindle Institute for Ethics Intern
  • Recipient of the Nan Nichols Award in the 2012 NCAA Tournament
  • Office for Sustainability Intern
  • Most Valuable Player
  • REU Intern in Environmental Engineering at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte
  • Environmental Geoscience Major

And the list goes on and on.

There are not many people that you meet in life that can leave you with such a vast impression. Katie Aldrich is one of those people. The epitome of well rounded and well-on-her-way-to-success, Katie always seems to be either smiling or thinking. And after a tough loss to Carthage on Saturday, the graduating senior, upset, still held the team together. Written about her on the NCAA tournament’s website,

“The Tigers were led by Aldrich's 12 points in the final game, coming off a 4-for-7 performance from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 showing at the free throw line. She also chipped in 11 rebounds. Aldrich, who posted a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds in DPU's semifinal victory over Wittenberg, received the Nan Nichols Award as the most outstanding performer of the tournament.”

She effortlessly brings a motivating spirit to the team; a cohesive persona.

Outside of the team, though, Katie is the same. Besides the wardrobe change from her number 25 jersey, she is motivated to get work done and power through projects in the most productive ways. Working with her in the Office for Sustainability has given me first hand experience of working with Katie and it has been fascinating. Impressive. Three times per week, she would go to various Greek chapters on campus to read their meters for Energy Wars. She is always friendly and willing to work with anyone. She consistently goes out of her way for the Office for Sustainability, making long “to do” lists in the weekly meetings.

As to her plans after graduation, Katie has applied for master's programs in conservation biology: at this writing she has been accepted at more than one program and is waiting to hear from the rest. Her current professional goal is to work as a technical person in this field, and to eventually become a director of a non-profit conservation organization.

We will all enjoy watching her achieve these goals, for there are not many people who will impress you like Katie Aldrich.

Towards a conflict-free campus

Dec 8, 2011 | Katie Aldrich | The DePauw

"Leonardo DiCaprio's film "Blood Diamond" was my first exposure to the issue of conflict minerals. In the movie, DiCaprio's character becomes involved in the business of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone, where his search for a precious pink stone closely links him with the civil war and conflict occurring in the country at this time. 

Although the narrative is fiction, the backdrop for the film portrays struggles over conflict minerals happening now in countries like Sierra Leone and the Congo..."

Read the full column in The DePauw.

Clinton: society is too unstable, too unequal, and too unsustainable

Nov 19, 2011 | Taylor Cantril

President Bill Clinton delivered an hour-long lecture at DePauw on Friday, sponsored by the 25th anniversary of the Ubben Lecture Series. The Ubben lecture series' aim is "to bring the world to DePauw."

Clinton organized his lecture under three themes: stability, equality, and sustainability.

He shared his vision of:

A world that has a profound sense of obligation to the future. A world that uses the earth we have been given but also preserves it for future generations. A world where we celebrate our differences but understand that the only reason we can celebrate them is that we know our common humanity matters more. If that’s the kind of world you want you have to ask yourself - how do I get it?"

Read more about Clinton's visit at DePauw.edu news and The DePauw.

"Liberal arts to get dirty on campus farm"

Nov 8, 2011| Stephen Hesterberg and Ashley Conard | The DePauw

"For the past semester, we have been working with many dedicated students, faculty and staff to create a DePauw University Campus Farm.  The current plan is to have a 1-2 acre plot in a field close to The Prindle Institute for Ethics....

This farm is the definition of the liberal arts — it is interdisciplinary, experimental, hands-on, provokes discourse and most importantly, it dares students to think about questions that normally would have gone unnoticed."

Read the full column in the DePauw.

Students research and testify on state environmental policies

Oct 28, 2011 | Alex Lopatka

The DePauw Environmental Policy Project (DEPP) was created in 2008 when Professor Kelsey Kauffman learned that Indiana ranked 49th out of the 50 states for clean energy. A summer course was made and students researched different environmental policies in order to present evidence to policymakers determining what action should be done. I participated in DEPP my sophomore year, but instead of working at the local and state level...

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Where did the campus bicycles go?

Sep 14, 2011 | Alex Lopatka

Observant eyes may have noticed an addition to the bicycle racks near the Hub, Julian, and Roy – there are now multiple campus bicycles. Those of us who were here two to three years may remember seeing many of this colorful campus bicycles all over campus. One could simply walk up to a bike, secure their bag and other belongings in the front basket, and ride to their heart’s content. However, this system relied on trust and well-meaning people. Unfortunately, this bicycle program suffered from the tragedy of the commons. With no visible enforcement and way to lock up them, the bicycles began showing up in odd places, such as the McDonalds off campus, or thrown in a ditch with a bent wheel and a missing chain. Only a few dozen out of the original 200 remained at the end of the year in usable condition.

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Farmer's market continues to grow

Aug 29, 2011 | Alex Lopatka

Local food has become a buzzword in sustainability circles in recent years. The desire to purchase food grown and produced nearby has many benefits such as a reduced carbon footprint, knowledge of how the food was produced, and the added benefit of supporting local economies. DePauw and the larger Greencastle community have taken many steps in recent years to increase the presence of locally grown food in people’s diets

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