Travis Kwee
Head Eco-Rep at Rice, senior Travis Kwee finds being an EcoRep an excellent way to focus time into lasting changes. He believes there are many ways we can improve life here to lessen our impact. His main goals are organizational in that he wishes to create effective leaders among the EcoReps and environmental organization officers. Kwee is hosting a Sustainability Workshop to begin leadership training and to acquaint the EcoReps. He is also invested in expanding Greenware and finding new ways to compost. Outside of these initiatives, Kwee loves rock climbing and baking. His spirit fruit is the grape because individually they can be meaningless, but together they are significant just like the EcoReps.
Rebekah Bryant
Rebekah Bryant is a junior at Baker that wants to improve her college on a bigger, lasting level. Her current projects include working on reducing paper towel waste using hand dryers and hand towel racks in communal bathrooms and reducing food waste by using Greenware. Bryant is also involved with new BioSciences Society and other environmental advocacy groups. In her free time, Bryant enjoys reading science fiction, playing powderpuff, and finding new music. Her spirit fruit is the blueberry because she can be a little sour sometimes and is easily found at a farmer’s market.
Jessica Alanis
Jessica Alanis, a sophomore at Will Rice College, wants to make tangible and impactful changes at her college to promote more sustainable actions and make them a part of their culture. Her goal is to fully implement the Greenware project, a project that involves lending out reusable plates and utensils, to reduce Will Ricers waste. Outside of EcoRepping, Alanis enjoys cooking, and her spirit fruit is the pineapple.
Monica Julian
With a dream to make Hanszen College a more sustainable place, senior Monica Julian joined the EcoReps upon seeing many things that could be improved, such as recycling and energy saving. Her main project will be to install sensor lights in Hanszen commons and bathrooms in order to save energy. She also plans to sell reusable cups and lend out reusable plates and bowls to be used during study breaks. Julian also enjoys baking yummy things and is on the Rice Seismic Design team. Her spirit fruit is the mango.
Sarah Silberman
Passionate about educating people about environmental causes, sophomore Sarah Silberman from Wiess College joined the EcoReps to work alongside others that are as passionate about the environment as she is. She believes students should play an important role in campus environmentalism and hopes to involve other Wiessmen as well. Her main goals as an EcoRep are to start the process of moving away from #6, non-recyclable Solo cups, to get better alternatives for the Styrofoam lined cups in the servery, and to set up many environmental events for her college that will hopefully become traditions. In addition to EcoRepping, Silberman is also the Social VP of Wiess, works out everyday, watches Netflix, and hangs out with her friends. She identifies with the tomato as her spirit fruit due to her great love for them.
Ethan Hasiuk
Senior Ethan Hasiuk was approached by Head EcoRep Travis Kwee to become the Jones EcoRep this year. Having wanted to get involved in sustainability activism at Rice for a while now, Hasiuk saw this as one of his last chances to serve Jones in this capacity. Hasiuk has previously worked on a comprehensive study of Rice’s recycling system, and he hopes to educate Jones about recycling. He is also working towards replacing paper towels with hand dryers in the colleges of those working on this initiative. He hopes to widen this effort campuswide. For fun, Hasiuk likes to ride his bike around Houston, explore the local music scene, and play drums in a band called Half Patrick. He is also the Special Programming Director for KTRU. He wishes his spirit vegetable was kale but believes he is more like spinach.
Grace Wickerson
In her second year as an EcoRep, sophomore Grace Wickerson from Brown College wants to help develop sustainable lifestyle changes and saw that her residential college was the perfect place to work on those changes. Her goals for the year include getting recyclable cups to become a mainstay at Brown parties, instituting a greenware program, and starting a Brown community garden. In her spare time, Wickerson likes to cook vegan food, work on entrepreneurial projects, travel, and practice Tae Kwon Do. Her spirit fruit is the avocado.
Jahnavi Jagannath
An EcoRep from Lovett College, senior Jahnavi Jagannath plans to make changes to the servery and college culture in order to decrease food waste. She also hopes to implement a system that could reduce plastic cup waste on campus. Jagannath initially decided to become an EcoRep because she wanted to play her part in making Rice a more eco-friendly campus and to help students think more about the environmental impact of the decisions they make. In her free time, she sings for Rice’s South Asian acapella group, Basmati Beats, DJ’s for KTRU, and works at the Women’s Resource Center. Her spirit fruit is a cherry tomato.
Jayson Tyler
Lovett sophomore Jayson Tyler believes that Lovett could be more proactive in prioritizing eco-initiatives. He wants to foster enthusiasm about environmental concerns throughout Rice and Lovett and create a culture of environmental consciousness. His goals for this year include increasing student participation and reducing the amount of flyers left on Lovett commons tables by transitioning to a different platform for announcements. Tyler is also involved in Rice Urban Agriculture and the Black Male Leadership Initiative. For fun, Tyler enjoys playing ping-pong and watching Netflix. His spirit fruit is the pineapple.
Claire Weddle
A junior from Sid Richardson College, Claire Weddle wants to get motion-activated lights installed at Sid Rich, where the lights are typically left on overnight. She also wishes to start a garden. Weddle participated in the Green Dorm Initiative her freshman year and knew she wanted to be a part of the group that organized it. She realized being an EcoRep would enable her to make eco-friendly changes in her college. For fun, Weddle likes to make jewelry and sell it to people in the neighborhood. Her spirit fruit is the avocado.
Kimberly Wood
An environmental co-chair at Martel, junior Kimberly Wood is already fairly involved with environmental efforts. She joined the EcoReps in order to get more involved with campus wide awareness. She hopes that the support of this group will give her more freedom and ideas of what to implement. Her goal is to implement the Greenware program at Martel, starting with about 65 bowls and plates. This is hopefully a stepping stone to using Greenware at larger events. She also wants to install motion sensing lights in study rooms, where the lights often remain on all night. In her free time, Wood plays ultimate frisbee, draws for Torque, and works with R2 for their magazine. Her spirit fruit is the rambutan.
Laura Nicholson
Working with her co-EcoRep from McMurtry, senior Laura Nicholson wanted to become an EcoRep because she wanted to initiate changes that she saw could be made within the colleges. Having similar goals to co-EcoRep Sachi Paul, Nicholson wishes to establish the Greenware program and build a garden at McMurtry. Nicholson is also a trip leader for ROPE and is involved with EMS. Her spirit vegetable is the carrot.
Sachi Paul
McMurtry sophomore Sachi Paul believes that recycling and staying environmentally conscious are things that are often forgotten with college students. She believes that college campuses are prime locations for taking action. She loves the passion that the EcoReps have. Paul aims to have a solid replacement plan for red solo cups within residential colleges. Having done some surveys, Paul has discovered a vast majority had a positive reaction to straying away from red solo cups. She also wants to start a rooftop garden at McMurtry and continue to sustain campus wide composting. When not working on environmental initiatives, Paul loves working with kids and is a member of two mentoring programs, PAIR and DREAM. She also loves running and trying out new coffee shops. Her spirit fruit is the pomegranate.
Neha Goel
A senior at the “greenest college,” Neha Goel hopes to further promote sustainability at Duncan College. She wants to increase the use of reusable dishes at Duncan, increase awareness for recycling, and educate people more on easy ways to save the environment. An active individual, Goel enjoys running and is on the Rice Bhangra team. Her spirit fruit is the pineapple.
Oliver Chang
A 2nd year PhD Student, Oliver Chang enjoys being kept in the loop of Rice’s sustainability policy and want to be able to help shape it. Chang aims to reduce the amount of non-recyclable plastic waste that the graduate community generates. He also hopes to start a dialogue between the EcoReps and graduate student housing to disseminate information about living sustainably and make buildings more energy efficient. Chang is a social programming co-director for the GSA, and he loves coffee and shopping on eBay. Recently, he bought an industrial coffee grinder from a Denny’s. His spirit fruit is the grape.
Rebekah Bryant
Rebekah Bryant is a junior at Baker that wants to improve her college on a bigger, lasting level. Her current projects include working on reducing paper towel waste using hand dryers and hand towel racks in communal bathrooms and reducing food waste by using Greenware. Bryant is also involved with new BioSciences Society and other environmental advocacy groups. In her free time, Bryant enjoys reading science fiction, playing powderpuff, and finding new music. Her spirit fruit is the blueberry because she can be a little sour sometimes and is easily found at a farmer’s market.