Megan Zanella-Litke was in for a surprise when she arrived as a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans after growing up on a blueberry farm in Connecticut.
"I think growing up on a farm I took a lot of things for granted," Zanella-Litke said, laughing. "I assumed everybody thought about nature the way I did growing up on a farm. And when I left my little-bitty town in Connecticut and moved to New Orleans, I learned that wasn't the case."
That experience got Zanella-Litke started in environmental projects that have led to her being named the University of Richmond's new sustainability coordinator. She arrived on campus Aug. 30 to replace Trey McDonald, who was the first-ever sustainability coordinator at the school.
Zanella-Litke is responsible for applying the final touches to the university's Climate Action Plan, which outlines the university's plan to get its greenhouse gas emissions to a net total of zero.
According to the university's website, the CAP was supposed to be completed in April, but Zanella-Litke said that the plan should be finalized by the end of the year. She said that she would make minor adjustments to the plan, but that it would be beneficial to her because it would give her insight into the university's plan.
"I think the fact that the draft is already there helps me out a lot in regards to learning what happened in the past and where [the university is] headed," Zanella-Litke said. "It makes it so I don't have to learn everything from square one."
In addition to the finalization of the CAP, Zanella-Litke will also be involved with student groups and any other projects related to the environment.
"I certainly want to be a very visible presence on campus," Zanella-Litke said.
During her first week on campus, Zanella-Litke said she had worked mainly with the architects to tour buildings on campus - including the new football stadium - to find out more about the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
"I'm really excited about the number of LEED buildings going up right now," Zanella-Litke said. "That's just remarkable that so many of them have been able to come so quickly. I think that really makes the University of Richmond relatively unique among campuses, that at this time with the economic problems, they are able to build great, beautiful beacons of sustainability on campus."
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Besides the LEED buildings, Zanella-Litke was also impressed with the student response to environmentally friendly projects. She mentioned the Lug-a-Mugs and the student group GreenUR as two projects that had pleased her so far.
"It's really exciting that the students seem to really be embracing it," she said. "[They] have taken the initiative to reach out and contact me in my first few days here and bring ideas and be really excited about everything that's going on at campus sustainability-wise."
Sophomore Keon Monroe, a member of GreenUR, said that he was excited to meet Zanella-Litke. He described the position of sustainability coordinator as the liaison between GreenUR and the school administration.
"I'm anxious to meet her," Monroe said. "I would hope she would be really excited about the position and get some projects rolling this year."
Zanella-Litke previously worked at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth as a volunteer sustainability intern and before that she worked in grant management at Harvard University. She said that she planned to take some of the programs that worked at both of those places and apply them to Richmond.
"All the programs that I've experienced that have been successful at other locations I would love to bring here and take the opportunity to learn from mistakes they've made," Zanella-Litke said.
One of those programs that Zanella-Litke was quite excited about was a middle school sustainability camp at UMass-Dartmouth, which she described as amazing because of the impact that it had on the campers.
Through these types of programs, Zanella-Litke said she hoped to have an impact on every student.
"I would like to see every student leave here with an appreciation for sustainability and ideas they can incorporate into whatever career path they're seeking," Zanella-Litke said. "Ways to make that career path a sustainable career path."
Contact staff writer Andrew Prezioso at andrew.prezioso@richmond.edu.
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