Written by Mae Mouat
One of the best things about being a Student Sustainability Advisor is that no two days look the same. Some days I’m mainly focused on my studies, while other days I’m helping organise events, engaging with students or getting involved in sustainability activities around campus. Over the year, this has included events such as Bee Day, redoing the Rothwell Cottage veggie gardens, screening Ocean to celebrate Biodiversity Month, and most recently, hosting a spotlighting night on the Albury campus.
The spotlighting event was definitely one of the busier days in the role. Before the event even started, there were plenty of things to organise. I started by double-checking that everyone who had volunteered to help was still available and making sure we had everything we needed for the night. This also meant a quick trip to pick up supplies for the barbecue.
Before the spotlighting event, we also held the Enviro Club AGM. Being involved in the Sustainability Advisor role has given me lots of opportunities to work alongside the Enviro Club, and the two often overlap when organising environmental activities on campus. Once the AGM was finished, we moved on to setting up and cooking the barbecue for everyone attending the spotlighting night.
Around 40 people came along, including both students and members of the wider Albury community. It was great to see such a mix of people interested in learning more about the wildlife found right here on campus. After everyone had eaten, we grabbed our torches and headed out for a walk around campus to see what we could find.
We were lucky enough to spot squirrel gliders moving through the trees and a tawny frogmouth, while also hearing plenty of frogs calling throughout the night.
Events like this are a great reminder that the Albury campus is home to an amazing range of wildlife, some of which you might walk past every day without even noticing.
For me, being a Sustainability Advisor is about much more than simply talking about sustainability. It is a chance to turn ideas into actual activities that bring people together and encourage them to learn more about the environment around them.
One day might involve planning an event, another might involve creating sustainability content or working on a campus project, and sometimes it means spending an evening walking around with a torch looking for squirrel gliders!
If you enjoy sustainability, meeting new people and getting involved in campus life, the Student Sustainability Advisor role is a great opportunity to gain experience while making a positive contribution to your university community.
Charlie blog is a SSAF initiative.
