I was raised in Zimmerman, MN and graduated from University of Minnesota, Morris with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. After college, I was a renewable energy intern at the West Central Research and Outreach Center and then got a GreenCorps position at River’s Edge Academy in St.Paul, MN. This has all led me to my new position as the Southern Region YES! Program Coordinator. I am
Sleepy Eye Guest Blog Post: Prairie Garden, Pollinator Sites, and LED Lighting
Guest Blog Post by the Sleepy Eye YES! Team With the help of the grant money from the McKnight Foundation, the Sleepy Eye YES! team was able to carry out three projects this past season. We are most excited in working with our local DNR headquarters with Megan Benage, regional ecologist, in planning and planting prairie seed mixes and plugs at Ross Park Apartment Complex and the Sleepy Eye Golf
YES! Alumni Spotlight: Nathan McMullen
Nathan McMullen is an alumnus of the inaugural year of the Sleepy Eye YES! team. Some of the main focuses during his time on the team were researching different ways to reduce school energy consumption and paper use. According to Nathan, his participation in YES! helped to define his passion for natural resources and renewable energy. He continued his education at South Dakota State University and
Summer in the Metro
The YES! Metro Region this summer provided assistance to the Edina High School Environmental Club called PROJECT EARTH to design and fabricate a float for the 2018 Edina City Fourth of July parade this last week. The float promoted the use of renewable energy and to support funding for a 12 panel solar tracking array PROJECT EARTH is developing to be installed at the Edina High School. The
Discovery Woods LED Lighting
Our school used our McKnight Foundation grant money to install LED lights in our library. Our building is almost eighty years old and has seen some updates but we have a ways to go yet. The library lighting was irreplaceable and not functioning. To begin, the students looked at the school’s electricity bills to find out how much our school pays per KWh and then we estimated how much the current
West Central Summer Water Project
On June 30th, 2018, a few YES! students spent part of their summer morning searching the Middle Fork of the Crow River for aquatic invasive species. YES! students from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC) helped build up the new AquaHunter App. This smartphone and computer application was created by the task force for the general public. It allows anyone to be able to take a photo of aquatic