The greener, green grass of home

Tan Chee Yong Business Times 24 Jan 11;

YOU could say that becoming a National University of Singapore (NUS) environmental engineering undergraduate has amplified my passion for protecting the earth and prepared me well to face real-world climate issues when I graduate.

Since I started out as a freshman, my professors have often challenged students' ideas by encouraging us to explore and discover better engineering concepts to solve specific real- world problems of the environment (water, air and waste).

In fact, there were many times during a project where I was kept constantly on my toes - pushed to unearth first-hand knowledge through tests and findings. In my first sustainability module, the theories were translated into green designs and solidified my appreciation of the intricacies of how nature and structure can work together.

I have also been given countless opportunities to plan and organise green events like the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore 2009 and Earth Hour 2010. Being a project director of a team for NUS Earth Hour 2010 was by far my most memorable event on campus.

As the vice-project director of the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore 2009, I helped organise a coastal cleanup at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve with 150 volunteers - which was invaluable exposure for a budding environmentalist.

These experiences led to me being the recipient of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) Sustainability Fellowship award from the NUS Office of Environmental Sustainability in 2010.

The alliance sees member universities sending two representatives each to a partnering university. The member institutions are Australian National University, ETH Zurich, National University of Singapore, Peking University, University of Tokyo, University of California Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen, University of Oxford and Yale University.

I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to intern at prestigious Yale University for six weeks because the faculty was conducting leading research on climate change, biodiversity, watersheds, energy systems, global governance, sustainable development and other critical subjects.

There, I was exposed to various sustainability practices through site visits and collaborations with people from all walks of life. I was tasked with different assignments that included working on proposals for microloans at Yale for sustainable enterprises, Green Information Technology, the drafting of Yale's Climate Action Plan, and aligning Yale Sustainability Strategic Plans with AASHE Stars metrics. (AASHE is the US-based Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.)

Yale's Office of Sustainability also took me around Yale's Sustainable Farm, Sterling Power Plant, Becton Wind Turbines, Kroon Hall (Yale's most recent LEED-certified platinum building), and we climbed up to a rooftop to view the thin-film solar panels too. (LEED is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification system.)

Going to Yale also allowed me to apply in real life many of the theories and the green design knowledge I had picked up in NUS.

The IARU internship provided me with fresh perspective and instilled the firm awareness that dealing with green issues also means starting from within. This means adopting the right attitude and always asking if greener processes can be utilised first. On a personal level, I am motivated to change my lifestyle options, just like how a lot of the Yale-ies do - by cycling to school, recycling everything in their residential college, bringing along a mug/eating box for meals, etc.

It took going overseas to make me appreciate the value of being at NUS - through my interaction with the Yale community, many were impressed with my insight and green ideas as well. I shared proudly some of the ideas that NUS had adopted that Yale had yet to introduce to its campus community.

Ideas like our default double-sided printing of documents, Meat-Out Thursday and our usual keep-your-own-food-tray programme were met with much enthusiasm and vigour.

In all, NUS has provided me a well-rounded education and opened up so many opportunities to explore what I am most passionate about. I appreciate the times my professors challenged me to think critically and the NUS administration officers who are always so supportive of students' initiatives, such as in the planning and organising of Earth Hour last year.

They have shown me that taking pride and having passion in your work is essential. I am even more excited to take what I have acquired here to the world arena now.

The writer is an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore's Division of Environmental Science & Engineering, under the Faculty of Engineering