A Fond Farewell to Nate!

SEEDS has been very fortunate to have the support of intern Nate Mansfield, who first became involved with our organization as an intern in our Home Energy Assessment program nearly four years ago. Now a senior at Honesdale High School, Nate continues to assist in the office and at SEEDS events. This fall, Nate will begin pursuing a degree in Computer Science at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, PA. We will be very sorry to see him go, but wish him all the success that is certain to light his future, based on what he’s already accomplished.

We invited Nate to reflect on his experience with SEEDS and his ensuing efforts:

“I’ve grown up with a natural interest in technology and energy, and Seeds has been largely responsible for bringing my attention to the impact our energy usage has on the planet, as well as the subsequent impact we can have in saving it through conservation efforts. It’s the wonderfully unique learning experience I’ve had here that I value most. I plan on continuing to lend part of my efforts to conservation on into adulthood. Currently, I enjoy spending my time outside of the office creating, whether it be something on the computer, or on paper and canvas with pen or paint, while also working to uphold good grades in school.

“On March 16, I and fellow high school senior, Liam Carmody led an assembly for Honesdale High School to present to students and staff what had been going on behind the scenes for the past few years in terms of new initiatives for sustainability. Most recently, the school had begun looking for ways to conserve energy. A professional audit and the observations of a student-led efficiency group both helped in the effort to explore what behavioral changes or efficiency upgrades might help the school and the school district.

“Further back, a different effort was made to address the district’s waste output. This effort resulted in a push for recycling as well as the more notable implementation of composting throughout the district. In our assembly, both efforts and the timeline behind them were explained to the high school body with the addition of a handful of guest community members, all of whom for years had joined in on our effort to conserve but may not have known how successful or impactful it truly was. [See http://seedsgroup.net/recylce-forum-and-rocket-composter-demo/]

“With some humor, some history, and some numbers to put the success to scale, our audience was entertained and informed, and to top it all off, the assembly closed with the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance [https://keealliance.org/] presenting their “Head of the Class” award for sustainability to the high school.