March 9, 2017
Welcome to the Evie Project! We are delighted to share with you our efforts as we complete Phase 1: Retrofit. Our timeline was short, but we had the team to pull it off. Meet the Evie Team:
Kunthear is our gardener extraordinaire! She is volunteering to help with the planning and implementation. She will also be at Evie on April 22nd to run an interactive children’s activity. She is advising on the practical elements of the greenhouse, helping determine which plants can be grown in each of the different micro-systems.
Alex is advising on the inclusivity of the project, and brings an artist’s perspective. He has been with The Hunt Institute for several years designing a tablet that will help make the field of education part of a more inclusive economy.
Mili is our volunteer project manager. She brings incredible experience and expertise to the table, having worked on and managed projects in multiple countries around the world. She previously studied environmental engineering, and is now completing her Master’s in Sustainability and Development. As part of the Evie project, she is compiling best practices researching similar efforts, so we can build on what has already been done.
Alejandro is our in-house mechanical engineer. He came to SMU last semester as a freshman, though he is already taking upper-level classes. He helps in every single area of The Hunt Institute, and seems to be able to fix just about anything. For the Evie project, he is researching solar capabilities for the trailer, and designing our information towers, where we will display concept boards at Earth Day, and continue to use in HI.
Maggie is our grad student who brings a myriad of perspectives and experience. She comes from Yale where she studied architecture, and is now in her first year in the MADI program. She is designing the trailer inside and out. She is a true collaborator, works with the rest of the team to adjust her design as different complications or opportunities arise. She is the team lead on this project but approaches that role with humility, mentoring newer students and ever ready to teach others what she knows to strengthen their existing skill sets.
Silvia is a triple major in business, international studies, and Spanish. She brings a fantastic interdisciplinary perspective to each conversation as she filters through the very important, but often overlooked, element of economic viability in sustainability. Last semester, she studied abroad in Chile and returns to SMU and HI just in time to help create the content for our concept boards. By compiling the collaborative conversations from multiple meetings with her own research, she has narrowed down the concepts to four main categories. This was a very difficult task, because there are so many potential applications for a mobile greenhouse. Each of these categories, and their potential applications, will be on display at our booth.
Wendy is a “4+1” student, working toward her Bachelor’s and Master’s in environmental engineering. Her capstone project is on aquaponics. She is helping choose the aquaponic system to install in the greenhouse. Additionally, this system will help educate other students on the functionality of aquaponics. Her hands-on experience with community gardens brings a valuable, practical application to this design and implementation.
JD is a senior studying computer science. He has been a member of the SMU chapter of Engineers Without Boarders (EWB), and has served in leadership roles throughout his time at HI. He launched the “Greenhouse for Good” fundraiser during Mustangs Give Back 2017. He also led the “Plant Lab” team in EWB where they designed multiple concepts for micro-greenhouses, specifically targeting food deserts in South Dallas. He is advising on the hydroponic system within the mobile greenhouse, and is overseeing germination of the many plants we will be installing.
Ali is our photographer and communications manager. She joins our team this semester as an intended advertising major. She is a graphic designer, team player, and humanitarian, and joined our team brimming with ideas. In addition to her advertising and marketing support for The Hunt Institute, she is heading up an internal and external campaign to recruit volunteers and participants to join us at our booth at Earth Day Texas 2017.
Written by: Corrie Harris
Edited by: Maggie Inhofe
