Hello again Wildcats! I am writing to you from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education in Nashville, Tenn.

This is an international gathering of sustainability professionals in higher education.

The conference has been exceedingly rich to say the least; hundreds of sessions focusing on different aspects of sustainability from zero waste and community gardens to divestment plans and conversations about sustainable purchasing policies.

I have met folks from colleges and universities all across the country and even some from as far away as Mexico, South Africa and Denmark.

The keynote speakers at the conference have been inspiring to say the least.

Raj Patel, author of “Stuffed and Starved and The Value of Nothing,” challenged the audience to question the context of our current food system and explore more sustainable alternatives in our campus communities.

There were also a diverse array of vendors who were offering products such as water bottle refill stations, recycled bike shelters and sustainable paper products.

Needless to say, the vast amount of resources both physical and intellectual was somewhat overwhelming.

Besides the amazing learning opportunities at the conference, we were lucky enough to have been accepted to present about our Sustainable Agriculture Internship summer program.

Last summer’s pilot program provided inspiration and information for the broader sustainability in higher education community.

Several other schools were presenting about their campus garden and sustainable agriculture programs as well.

It was gratifying to see that Linfield can be a leader in sustainability in the international sustainability community.

If you would like to see a video about the program, please visit our Linfield Sustainability Facebook page.

The AASHE conference was an amazing experience and an incredible resource for sustainability in higher education.

Next year the conference will be hosted in Portland, Ore. and the Office of Sustainability will provide opportunities for Linfield students to attend the conference.

If students are working on a sustainability project and would like to present a poster presentation, submissions will be due to AASHE in March 2014.

Who knows?

You might be presenting at AASHE next year.

Duncan Reid / Sustainability Coordinator

The Office of Sustainability can be reached at [email protected].