DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

photo by Eric Van Danen

Stephanie Tepperberg is pairing her passion for environmental activism and advocacy with a unique DukeEngage experience that took eight students this summer to Portland, Oregon.  Below she explains what drew her to this specific realm of civic engagement and how she hopes to apply what she's learned and accomplished to the Duke and surrounding community upon her return to campus this fall.

1.  What drew you to this particular program or project?

I was hoping, as I reviewed the 2009 DukeEngage projects, that there would be at least one program that reflected my interests in environmental, community fieldwork.  To my delight, I discovered many hopeful projects, but the one in Portland, Oregon piqued my interest the most.  The Portland program seemed like the perfect opportunity to participate in a unique, community action-based DukeEngage experience, while still being able to gain professional skills in the environmental field and experience an amazing city. 

2.  What excited you about working with your community partner?

Recently, I have been trying to narrow my interests in the environmental field to one focus that I may pursue throughout the remainder of my major.  Ultimately, I have decided on environmental urban planning and development, and in this way I am incredibly excited to be working with the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, a non-profit organization that works to improve the transportation system throughout the state of Oregon and advocates for a more "green," urban lifestyle.  I'm enjoying learning about the legislation, marketing, and campaign skills needed to exert such change in a community. 

3.  What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?

Throughout my time in Portland, I am working closely with the Safe Routes to School Program and upcoming National Conference sponsored by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.  In this respect, I hope that I am making a significant
and meaningful contribution to the planning and organization of this Conference, as well as connecting and making a difference, through the program, in the city.

4.  How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke?

Upon my return to Duke and Durham, I hope to take the skills I have learned from my experience at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, as well as what I have observed from the city of Portland, and apply that information to improve campus and the city of Durham.  Hopefully, either through an independent study or as a separate community or school-wide project, I will be able to benefit Duke and the Durham community by advocating for a more bike friendly city or promoting the benefits of public transportation.  I may start by presenting my thoughts and ideas to the Environmental Alliance at Duke and work from there to create a “greener” and more eco-friendly environment in which to study and live. 

DukeEngage is featuring 18 students over the course of the summer participating in both group programs and independent projects.  Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.

photo by Eric Van Danen

Jared Dunnmon is one of several dozen students pursuing an independent project through DukeEngage this summer.  Below he explains what drew him to combine his interest in climate issues with service to a community.

1.  What drew you to this particular program or project?

I was drawn to this project by the unique nature of the organization I would have a chance to work with.  San Francisco's Office of Climate Protection Initiatives is the only governmental entity in the world specifically devoted to mitigating the effects of climate change on a municipal scale.  Not only does it play an active role in forming targeted environmental policy for the City of San Francisco, but also focuses a great deal of effort on implementing crucial initiatives such as bike-to-work and biodiesel programs that work to change the environmental culture of the city by making environmentally conscious decisions generally preferable to other alternatives.  Changing the "rules of the game" in this way is often most effectively done on a municipal scale as opposed to through sweeping state and federal legislation due to the fact that the implementation program can be customized to a particular population.  The opportunity to participate in the activities of this unique organization was one of the major reasons I applied to DukeEngage.

2.  What excited you about working with your community partner?

Aside from the alluring policy-related elements of my community partner's work, there is a distinct technological aspect as well.  One of the opportunities I am most excited about is the potential for me to take on personal projects involving the effective implementation of new green technologies on a municipal scale.  I have done a great deal of my academic work around the theme of energy, engineering, and the environment, and in particular have been investigating the viability of a number of alternative energy technologies.  Given that one of the most heavily incentivized areas of investment is in alternative energy technologies, I hope to use some of my technical expertise to help the Office of Climate Protection Initiatives more efficiently meet its ambitious emissions-reductions goals.

 3.  What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?

The most significant benefit that this service will have for the community of San Francisco is that in addition to raising awareness about the potential effects of even minor climate change on coastal cities, I will be helping to form a sustainable climate protection model on a municipal level—something that has not yet been substantially attempted.  If even some of the goals of San Francisco's recent Climate Action Plan are met, the city's entire population will benefit from the agricultural, human health, and general quality of life difficulties that unchecked climate change (and particularly sea level rise) could cause in the not so distant future.  In particular, if such a model were to be disseminated for use throughout the country (and perhaps the world), the ultimate result could be a significant reduction in the negative consequences of climate change worldwide.

4.  How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke?

I hope to take a great deal of what I learn from this experience back to Duke and perhaps to begin similar initiatives when I return in the fall.  I am sure that there are a number of successful programs that the Office of Climate Protection Initiatives has already put together that would be incredibly valuable to a university as concerned with the state of the environment as Duke clearly is, and my goal, in addition to raising awareness about the effects of climate change on coastal cities, is to illustrate to my fellow students some of the most effective ways of combating this issue more accessibly on a local level.

DukeEngage is featuring 18 students over the course of the summer participating in both group programs and independent projects.  Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.

Welcome to the Blog of the DukeEngage Portland, Oregon program! We are a team of eight rising juniors and seniors who have partnered with six different environmental non-profit organizations in the Portland area. We are officially at the halfway mark of completing our projects. We have a wide array of backgrounds and experiences that prepared us for our work here: a few of us are in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke, others have backgrounds in psychology, some have worked in law firms and even one student has experience in the marketing department at a major publishing company. The goal of the program is twofold: we seek to fulfill a community need by providing services as interns to member organizations of the environmental community and simultaneously learn about how the organizations are managed, operate on a day to day basis, and contribute to the environmental movement. The following is a list of the partnerships we have formed:

• Christina Carlson and Sarah Frush – The Nature Conservancy (http://www.nature.org/)

• Katie Barzee and Suedi Walker – Oregon Conservation Network (a project of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters) (http://www.olcveducationfund.org/ocn)

• Rachel Seidman – Oregon Environmental Council (http://www.oeconline.org/)

• Amanda Pade – Crag Law Center (http://crag.org/)

• Susan Carter – River Network (http://www.rivernetwork.org/)

• Stephanie Tepperberg – Bicycle Transportation Alliance (http://www.bta4bikes.org/) 

An essential component of any service project is getting to know the community in which you work. Our group has been exploring Portland constantly since we arrived. The city is incredibly pedestrian friendly. We are staying in the LEED-certified Broadway dorms at Portland State University. Most of our offices are only a mile or two away from our dorm, which gives us a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of Portland’s mild summer weather for a refreshing commute walking to and from work. For rainy days or longer commutes there are also numerous forms of public transportation including buses, streetcars, and the TriMet.

The renowned Portland Farmer’s Market takes place every Saturday on PSU’s campus two minutes away from Broadway. Portland definitely has a thriving local food economy. There are crowds for hours on Saturday to take advantage of all the locally grown produce and other products – particularly the berries and famous cherries.
On the weekends, we venture to other parts of Oregon to investigate some of the many diverse ecosystems and other Oregon-defining locales. Our weekend excursions have so far included trips to:

• The Columbia River Gorge (http://www.crgva.org/)
• The Nature Conservancy’s Cascade Head Preserve(http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/oregon/preserves/art6796.html)
• Sokol Blosser organic winery (and also the first winery nationwide to receive LEED certification) (http://www.sokolblosser.com/)
• Bonneville hydroelectric dam on the Columbia River (http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/b/home.asp)
• Beaches at Lincoln City and Newport

Please check out our group Blog (http://dukeengageportland.wordpress.com/) for more details about the projects we’ve been working on at our organizations, our reflections about our weekend trips, our opinions about the environmental movement, and other updates about the Portland program. The Blog contains reflection prompts that our on-the-ground coordinator Cassie Hoffman - recent graduate of the Masters in Environmental Management program of the Nicholas School - posts weekly as well as each of our responses. Enjoy! We’d also really appreciate comments about our entries! 
 

~Katie Barzee

Class of 2011

Nicholas School of the Environment & Earth Sciences