Saturday, September 7, 2013

About Me

Hello!

I'm Mackenzie, a senior environmental studies and history major at Wellesley College. I'm originally from Charlestown, New Hampshire. I have largely studied the environment through a social science lens, which has allowed me to understand the environmental degradation and social injustice that results from our food system, energy policies, consumption, and the disconnect between our actions and their consequences. My broad interests are sustainable agriculture, ecological restoration, and international development. At Wellesley, I live in the Sustainability Cooperative, or "Scoop." Living in this intentional community is a big part of my life, and I will refer to it often!

I come to EXTD 120 with the desire to gain a deeper understanding of the technological challenges facing communities in developing nations. It is my goal to develop a set of engineering design skills that can be applied to confronting these problems through appropriate and sustainable technology. As one who usually cowers at the mention of math or "hard science," I hope that this course will increase my confidence and ability to engage in and apply these disciplines. Another motivation for taking this class is my interest in exploring the field of engineering for the first time. This semester I look forward to being challenged, gaining insight, and hopefully, creating something that can (in a small way) make the world a more sustainable place. 

9 comments:

  1. Excited to be working with you in this class :) Interesting introduction.

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  2. In your studies have you done any sort of engineering new products that are applicable to sustainable agriculture, ecological restoration, and international development?

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  3. Yes Katie! While I haven't developed any new technologies before, I have been involved with building some pretty innovative technologies that are applicable to sustainable ag and int. development. During a cultural exchange in Nicaragua, I helped build some biogas systems, which offer a non-biomass fuel source (methane), that can be used for cooking in developing countries. Also, I've built a simple aquaponics system for Wellesley's greenhouses. Aquaponics is a closed-loop system for growing food plants in a non-soil medium while also raising fish, and it's becoming a pretty popular technology among small-scale farmers.

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  4. Very gad to have you in the class. I heard about your aquaponics system form Kristina Jones. Looking forward to talking to you more about that and the biogas systems in Nica!

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