About Shrinking Footprints

Shrinking Footprints, which began in the Fall of 2007, is a blog intended to serve as a forum for information and communications regarding sustainability at Carleton College.

Staff Profiles

Ben Barclay | Sustainability Assistant

Ben Barclay is an International Relations major who hails from Ames, Iowa. He's also pursuing the ENTS concentration, and is involved with CSA Senate and Model UN in his spare time. Ben's interests include environmental and alternative energy policy and market-driven approaches towards sustainable development both in the United States and around the world, and he just finished working with an Arab sustainable development NGO based in Cairo. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, baking, reading blogs, and lobbying the Carleton administration to build more wind turbines.

Mathias Bell | ENTS Educational Associate

Mathias Bell is an ENTS educational associate and co-chairs the Environmental Advisory committee. He is the managing editor for Shrinking Footprints. As an educational associate at Carleton, he is helping the college devise a framework for becoming carbon neutral. Mathias has interned with the World Resources Institute’s climate and energy program and has conducted research in Iceland on stabilization wedges. As a student at Carleton, he studied the politics of sustainable development in China. Some of his other interests include southwestern cooking, jogging, and photography.

Eliza Berry | Sustainability Assistant

Eliza Berry is History major from New Rochelle, NY. She is pursuing concentrations in Educational Studies and ENTS (Environmental and Technology Studies). At Carleton, she has been involved with the Environmental Advisory Committee and Kids for Conservation. Eliza is constantly amazed by the energy so many Carleton students and faculty members have put into sustainability initiatives at and beyond Carleton. As such, she is excited to see how much can be accomplished in the next couple years. As an STA, Eliza is working with the residents of Watson and Musser. When not in lovely (though landlocked) Minnesota, she likes to sail on the ocean.

Katie Blanchard | Sustainability Assistant

Katie Blanchard is a prospective History major and ENTS Concentrator from Petoskey, Michigan. She co-leads Farm Club, organizes volunteers and translators for HealthFinders Free Clinic in Dundas, and attempts to attend chapel programs of every sort. Katie loves the beautiful chaos of food: the dirt and weeds when growing it, the messy kitchen when preparing it, and especially fingers to lick after consuming it. She believes that “Food is the greatest of sustaining forces” and “The creation of more holistic food systems” is what most excites her about the sustainability movement. She is, shockingly, the Sustainability Assistant for Dining Services, and will be working with Goodhue and Evans.

Becky Dernbach | Sustainability Assistant

Becky Dernbach is a senior sociology/anthropology major from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During the past few years, Becky has been involved with MPIRG, through which she helped start Dorm Wars, an all-campus energy-saving competition, at Carleton, and WHOA house (the Wellstone House of Organization and Activism...house), and this year is excited about working with the Office of Intercultural Life as social and cultural sustainability assistant. Becky appreciates autumns in Minnesota, good questions, and her ancient Egypt pop-up wall calendar. She's also a big fan of children's books and will happily read you The Lorax.

Laura Oxtoby | Sustainability Assistant

Laura Oxtoby grew up in Chicago, IL, but now calls southern California her home. Laura is a senior biology major and ENTS concentrator. During her time at Carleton, she has been an active member of SOPE, co-leader of Carleton's Green Roof iniative, and involved in campus initiatives to incorporate more sustainable foods into the dining halls. Laura is excited to work with the Facilities Department in Buildings and Grounds this year. She is also looking forward to apple picking in Northfield, and delving into her comps research on climate warming and the Arctic.

Adam Smith | ENTS Educational Associate

Adam Smith graduated from Carleton in 2007 with a major in Political Science and an Environmental Studies concentration. He is currently an Educational Associate for the ENTS program at Carleton and in the past has been a member of student groups SOPE and MPIRG. He has studied environmental politics in New South Wales, Australia and has held internships with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Washington D.C. along with a number of political campaigns. His environmental interests lie in the policymaking process and in urban and regional planning for sustainable communities.