The University of Michigan’s Bicentennial Celebration and the introduction of the new School for Environment and Sustainability, both occurring this weekend got the team at It’s Hot In Here feeling reflective. How have we experienced sustainability in our respective times here? What things are most promising? Where does the University fall short?
This week’s guest, Doug Ham, joined hosts Harry Rice, Bean Sonnega, and Heena Singh for an engaging and fruitful, free-flowing conversation on his experience with the Michigan Medical System and its sustainability goals. Doug holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Anthropology, and is currently enrolled in the accelerated Bachelor’s of Nursing program at the University of Michigan. In this episode he spoke on issues such as the amount of disposable waste products generated by the hospital system, as well as views on interdisciplinary involvement between the medical field and other disciplines at the university. Yet, one of his best contributions was offering the perspective of an outsider looking in to the newly launch School for Environment and Sustainability, and causing some of us to address the difficulty in implementing such a lofty goal for our future.
The new school has made a point of focusing on involving experts from across campus such as those at the Ford School of Public Policy and the Ross School of Business. The Hot in Here panel all agreed that this interdisciplinary work will be the catalyst for positive change as we look to the University of Michigan to take the lead towards a more sustainable future.
All of this and more was nicely accompanied by music from Ann Arborites Sufjan Stevens and, past Michigan Wolverine, Iggy Pop. Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of It’s Hot In Here. We look forward to many more conversations with you.