Director of Environmental Management and Business Institute John Arendt and Associate Prof. Amulya Gurtu (Cofrin School of Business) brought a group of students to the 12th annual Wisconsin Sustainable Business Conference on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. This year, the conference was hosted at the Potawatomi Event Center in Milwaukee and sponsored by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP). The theme of the event was “Evolving Sustainability.” Students in attendance were (back row) Matthew Schellinger, Ryan Curtice, Carly Flunker, Andrew Willems, Matthew Pawlowski, (Gurtu and Arendt) and (front row) Kelsey Gosse, Katie Bruni and Kirby Katers.
Every year, the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council brings businesses from around the state together to learn from each other. The first conference was held back in December of 2008 and has become an annual event ever since. The conference features business practitioners sharing their strategies, their tools and their experiences to help move Wisconsin Businesses forward in sustainability. UW-Green Bay students had the opportunity to identify and hear about Wisconsin companies engaged in sustainable business practices and to network with company leaders.
John Arendt, Director of the Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI), was appointed June 18, 2019 to serve on the City of Green Bay Sustainability Commission. The City of Green Bay established the Sustainability Commission in 2018 with its goal to protect, steward and improve the environment in the interest of the health, prosperity and welfare of the Green Bay community for present and future generations. Arendt’s term expires in August, 2020.
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI) awarded the 10th annual Earth Caretaker Award to UW-Green Bay alumnus Yue Rong, ’86 (Master of Environmental Science). The annual event and awards presentation was on Earth Day, April 22, 2019.
Rong (aka, YR), a Ph.D., is the environmental program manager at the California Environmental Protection Agency, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. He has also served as the acting assistant executive officer of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, in the groundwater division. Rong is in charge of site assessment and remediation of leaking underground storage tank (UST) sites, and the program of water quality control in oil and gas production fields.
The UST program contains a large number of leaking UST sites to be remediated in Los Angeles area, which was ranked in top 10 in terms of total numbers of the impacted sites. He has 29 years of experience with the Agency in dealing with groundwater contamination problems in the Los Angeles area. His expertise includes organic pollutants fate and transport in the subsurface soil and groundwater, environmental analytical chemistry and quality assurance and quality control, environmental statistics, risk assessment, and soil and groundwater pollution assessment and remediation. The projects he is involved with include collaboration with USEPA at Superfund sites in Los Angeles area, Santa Monica methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) drinking water pollution cleanup, I-710 corridor regional cleanup and water quality control at oil and gas production fields in Los Angeles area.
Students on the Green Bay Campus are no longer collecting plastic for recycling this semester. Bins from throughout campus have been removed. They have so much plastic that they will be busy baling until the end of the semester. Bins will return in fall. In the meantime, your are encouraged to continue saving plastic bags and dropping them off at local grocery stores. Almost all of the grocery stores have collection containers at the store entrances.
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI) will award the 10th annual Earth Caretaker Award to UW-Green Bay alumnus Yue Rong, ’86 (Master of Environmental Science). The annual event and awards presentation is Earth Day, April 22, 2019, in Phoenix AB.
Yue Rong
Rong (aka, YR), a Ph.D., is the environmental program manager at the California Environmental Protection Agency, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. He has also served as the acting assistant executive officer of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, in the groundwater division. Rong is in charge of site assessment and remediation of leaking underground storage tank (UST) sites, and the program of water quality control in oil and gas production fields.
The UST program contains a large number of leaking UST sites to be remediated in Los Angeles area, which was ranked in top 10 in terms of total numbers of the impacted sites. He has 29 years of experience with the Agency in dealing with groundwater contamination problems in the Los Angeles area. His expertise includes organic pollutants fate and transport in the subsurface soil and groundwater, environmental analytical chemistry and quality assurance and quality control, environmental statistics, risk assessment, and soil and groundwater pollution assessment and remediation. The projects he is involved with include collaboration with USEPA at Superfund sites in Los Angeles area, Santa Monica methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) drinking water pollution cleanup, I-710 corridor regional cleanup, and water quality control at oil and gas production fields in Los Angeles area.
A decade ago, UW-Green Bay launched a collaborative effort to bridge a perceived gap between the business world, the natural environment, and the role public policy plays in sustaining both. The University now has more than 100 graduates in the field with certification that helps them connect business and their environment and lead in both areas.
The collaboration was formalized in 2008 and was named the Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI). Economics professor John Stoll ’73 (Regional Analysis) and Environmental Sciences professor Kevin Fermanich were named co-directors. Along with professor John Katers ’91 and ’93 (Business Administration, Environmental Science and Environmental Science and Policy), now dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, recognized that each of these worlds had a significant influence on the sustainability of the other two, and that the symbiotic aspects of their relationships could be used for mutual benefit.
As an article in the April 2009 Inside Magazine put it, EMBI marked “a renewed declaration to (UW-Green Bay’s mission) that ‘eco’ means both ecology AND economics.” John Arendt ’88 and ’12 (Business Administration and Environmental Science and Policy), the program’s current director, said Stoll, Fermanich and Katers realized the environmental focus that was at the heart of UW-Green Bay’s founding could be amplified through this multidisciplinary program.
Kaity Lindner ’11
“It had been nearly 40 years since the first Earth Day had been celebrated,” said Arendt, “and we had learned a lot about how business and the environment depend on each other. EMBI was a natural extension of the University’s historical focus on the environment and public policy and integrated our on-campus expertise so we could connect to the community and make leaders and future leaders more aware of each other’s worlds.” That awareness effort is what drew Kaity (Gilles) Lindner ’11 (Environmental Policy and Planning and Public Administration) to the program soon after it started. Lindner, a former environmental engineer at Green Bay Packaging, now works at Treehouse Foods in that role, and she credits her experience with EMBI for getting her there.
“I came to Green Bay from my home in the Madison area for an orientation tour,” Lindner recalled. “I knew right away it was the right place for me, but, like most freshmen, I had no clear idea of what I wanted to study. I took an environmental science course and loved it. That led me to pursuing the Environmental Policy and Planning major and my introduction to EMBI’s Certificate in Sustainability.
“The EMBI experience opened my eyes to what was possible for me,” said Lindner. “As part of the Certificate in Sustainability, I was set up as an intern with UW-Green Bay’s Sustainability Committee, which in turn, provided experience in collecting sustainability metrics, participating in meetings and initiatives.” This led her to a sustainability communications internship and eventually a full-time job at Green Bay Packaging (GBP).
“The opportunities and people that were introduced to me because I was involved in EMBI led me to where I am today in my career.” Lindner continues to give back to the program and the community. She serves as chair of the selection committee for the Ethics in Business award program, which includes, among other criteria, social responsibility and ethical environmental behaviors.
EMBI has evolved over the decade, but its mission has remained largely unchanged: Advance UW-Green Bay’s historic mission of studying environmental issues and developing multidisciplinary solutions to problems, where those solutions recognize the critical interconnections between science, policy and business, and the social contexts within which they occur.
“I am proud of the role we play,” said Arendt. “The certificate program we started 10 years ago just graduated its 100th recipient and is going strong. The internship program we started in 2010 with Aurora BayCare Medical Center is still going, and we’ve expanded internship opportunities into other companies in Northeast Wisconsin, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. We continue to give out the annual Earth Caretaker Award to UW-Green Bay graduates who have distinguished themselves in their field,” he said. “These are people who are widely recognized for accomplishments in sustainability, environmental management, environmental policy and related areas.”
“Employers find the certificate very valuable, so expanding the program into a minor seems like a natural progression and an added value to our students,” Arendt said. “We’d also like to dive into the emerging ‘smart cities’ concept. Our focus on sustainability and the use of technology ties nicely into the efficiencies in energy and transportation smart cities seek as a way to improve urban living.”
“We’d like to continue growing that aspect of the program, so where there’s an environmental policy or sustainability component to a grant, we’re invited to participate or even manage the grant. That builds awareness of the links between business, the environment and policy, and gives our students opportunities to learn.”
Prof. John Stoll (Public and Environmental Affairs) and John Arendt (Director of Environmental Management & Business Institute) brought a group of UW-Green Bay students to the 11th annual Wisconsin Sustainable Business Conference. The conference demonstrates innovative and sustainable new business practices that have been put into effect. Students were able to interact with business leaders and participate in a business centered program.
Save the date for the upcoming iPat (impact = population * affluence * technology) films, part of the 7th Annual iPat Environmental Film Series.
Enjoy entertaining and thought-provoking films that evaluate the condition of the natural world, identify drivers of environmental harm, and consider solutions. At the conclusion of each film a community expert or panel will offer their insights, draw our attention to relevant local issues, and answer questions from the audience.
The films are free admission and sponsored by Public & Environmental Affairs, Public and Environmental Affairs Council (PEAC) and Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI). Screenings occur in the Christie Theatre on the Green Bay campus.
Schedule
Nov. 5, 2018, 7 p.m.: “Comfort Zone”
Dec. 3, 2018, 7 p.m.: “Of Shark and Man”
For more information, contact Ashley Heath at 920-465-2608 or heatha@uwgb.edu or Elizabeth Wheat at 920-465-2848 or wheate@uwgb.edu.
UW-Green Bay’s Environmental Management Business Institute (EMBI) recognized UW-Green Bay alumnus Douglas McLaughlin ’83 and ‘85, recently, as the ninth recipient of the Earth Caretaker Award. The award recognized his work on projects related to characterizing and improving wastewater quality, which led to several studies designed to better understand and reduce concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in mill wastewater in the Fox River. McLaughlin accepted the award Thursday (April 19, 2018) during a joint EMBI and Alumni Association reception held in the University Union.
McLaughlin is a principal research scientist at the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI), a non-profit environmental research organization funded by the forest products industry. He is based near Kalamazoo, Michigan where he provides scientific expertise and research that address questions affecting surface water quality and management.
