Green Teams Alumna Yvette Viasus ’20 is Mapping a Brighter Future

早在高中时，Yvette Viasus就掌握了计算机和科学的基础知识. Even then, however, she was looking at the bigger picture.

“My twin sister had already decided to go to Montclair,” she recalls. “At the time, I was getting ready to take a gap year after high school. But when I joined her for a campus visit, I changed my plans.”

Although Viasus had originally considered studying international business, 她对环境的热情使她参加了该大学的可持续发展科学和地理课程. 她选择了城市研究的专业，并对地理信息系统(GIS)制图着迷.

“当你能够观察到地理参考时，数据就有了更深层次的应用,” Viasus explains. “Whether you are tracking pollution or the spread of disease, GIS mapping provides context that supports efforts to create a solution.”

PSEG可持续发展研究所(PSEG ISS)的绿色团队实习项目为Viasus提供了充分体验可持续发展科学应用和GIS制图在推动商业决策方面的影响所需的平台.

“我的绿色团队被分配到学校的设施部门，建议减少校园用水的方法,” she says. “我们了解到，在地面维护工人需要取水的地方，很少或根本没有水龙头. 我们使用地理信息系统绘图来确定合适的地点，以建立集雨系统.”

“我们还观察到，许多宿舍的水龙头曝气器和淋浴喷头都过时了, which could be replaced to reduce water waste,” she adds. 该团队的工作为大学提供了切实可行的解决方案，并因减少用水而获得了新泽西州工商协会的环境领导奖.

While Viasus’ Green Team was addressing water usage at Montclair, other Green Teams were working on special projects for PSEG, Prudential, the city of Newark, and the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority.

她说:“所有的团队都会定期聚在一起，参加职业发展会议和社交活动。. “我们甚至访问了联合国，了解国际可持续发展倡议. 绿色团队为我们提供了一个高层次的职业规划.”

Viasus的第一次绿色团队实习帮助她看到了可持续发展领域的广度. “来自全州各个学科的人们在不同的领域工作, including healthcare, business, manufacturing, and hotel administration. We were all learning from each other.”

The program has run every summer since 2016, 将来自多个机构和不同学科的学生团队与主办机构进行匹配，以解决我们星球面临的复杂的可持续发展问题. “PSEG ISS绿色团队项目已经成功地让学生进入实习岗位, green jobs and graduate and professional studies, 作为STEM教育长期专业发展的培训基地和多元化管道,” says Amy Tuininga, director of PSEG ISS in the College of Science and Mathematics. “学生们给我们留下了深刻的印象，我们为绿色团队的校友们在他们选择的职业生涯中所做的有影响力的工作感到自豪。.”

After completing her Green Teams internship, Viasus继续留在PSEG ISS担任可持续发展生态中心大使，之后担任项目助理经理, 监督为纽瓦克和泽西城项目工作的绿色团队. She gained additional experience through internships in environmental health and safety at Stryker; as a sustainability ambassador at Rocky Mountain Institute; and as a GIS data technician at Suburban Consulting Engineers, Inc. Like many Montclair students, she worked at part-time jobs and still found time to be active on campus, serving as president of the Montclair chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

To top off an already packed schedule, Viasus’ double major required two capstone projects, one focused on water sustainability at Montclair, and the other on community solar site suitability for the Dover, New Jersey community.

Her hard work was noticed. 她获得了2019年史赛克可持续发展奖，以及2020年十大博彩推荐排名地球与环境研究系可持续发展科学优秀大四学生奖. Importantly, 她的第一份职业是担任太阳能景观公司的社区太阳能项目经理, a leading solar developer in New Jersey.

“在Solar Landscape，我能够在社区太阳能站点可持续性方面建立我的顶峰工作,” she points out. “Through the state community solar program, 该公司在仓库顶部建造太阳能项目，这些项目直接连接到社区电网，并帮助那些订阅项目的人降低能源成本. 这使得租客和那些房屋太小而无法有效安装太阳能电池板的人可以使用太阳能, 同时为那些参与社区太阳能计划的人降低能源成本. It was an environmental justice win.”

In 2022, Viasus被任命为新泽西州环境保护部环境司法咨询委员会成员, 通过教育和通信帮助建立该机构的能力. Last year, she joined the U.S. 能源部橡树岭科学与教育研究所(ORISE)低收入社区太阳能和能源援助奖学金计划, 她在哪里开发工具来增加全国低收入和边缘化社区的社区太阳能入学率.

Viasus鼓励每位十大博彩推荐排名学生在大学期间参与其中. “Take advantage of all of the clubs and internships,” she advises. “这对你的职业规划有好处，对你的心理健康也有好处. I started with Green Teams, 这是我学习如何为我的职业带来价值的关键的第一步, and to the community.”