Graduate Student in the Spotlight: Sarah Stark Shows Off Smarty Pants

Sarah Stark, a second-year Master's student in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, wowed the audience in a Grad Slam preliminary round as she introduced her idea for using new media in education to change the world ... one student at a time. As Sarah prepares to graduate this spring with a Master's of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) and a specialization in Coastal Marine Resources Management, she took some time to respond to a few questions for the GradPost.

Read on to learn about Sarah's Eco-Entrepreneurship project, Smarty Pants, and how she hopes to launch it as a business after graduating.

Tell us a little about your research and how you came to choose the topic.

At the Bren School, every student is part of a Master’s Group Project, rather than a traditional individual Master’s thesis. These Group Projects consist of students working together to solve a problem for a client. We also have the option of pursuing the Eco-Entrepreneurship (Eco-E) focus, where we can propose our own Master’s project, but we treat it as though we are creating a business.

All Eco-E projects must solve a significant customer problem while providing an environmental benefit. I chose to go down this path after taking a few classes about entrepreneurship. I didn’t have any sort of business background as an undergraduate student studying science, so I thought I would expand my horizons. As an undergraduate student, one of my best friends and I had talked about creating a television show that taught science to kids, so I began exploring this topic at Bren, and my Master’s project eventually evolved out of that idea.

I never thought that I would actually be able to take my idea of a science television show for kids and run with it, especially as a basis for my Master’s project. I feel extremely fortunate that the Bren School has allowed me to research a topic that is so near and dear to my heart.
-Sarah Stark

Tell us a little about your project “Smarty Pants.”

Smarty Pants creates educational media that teaches environmental science to students in grades K-8. It is presented in the form of webisodes, or web episodes. It is designed as a tool to save teachers time (e.g., preparing lesson plans) and to help them teach science in their classrooms. The webisodes are entertaining and informative for the students and they come with lesson plans and assessments for the teacher to use.

Our webisodes are episodic in order to feel more like a television show and less like a boring educational video. Each episode features our main characters going on an adventure to learn about an environmental issue in their community. Along the way, they learn the science behind the issue, so each webisode aligns with the required academic standards for each particular grade it is targeting.

We use live-action characters and local settings so students can relate to and look up to the characters. We want the students to feel empowered to solve environmental problems in their own backyards. We reach out to students that are often underrepresented in science by featuring students like them in our webisodes.

The ultimate goal of Smarty Pants is to increase environmental stewardship in youth by giving them the knowledge and self-efficacy to take care of the environment. Knowledge is power and we think that our media can inspire this next generation of students to save the planet.

What has graduate student life been like for you?

Busy. Extremely busy, but also extremely rewarding.

What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?

I never thought that I would actually be able to take my idea of a science television show for kids and run with it, especially as a basis for my Master’s project. I feel extremely fortunate that the Bren School has allowed me to research a topic that is so near and dear to my heart. Also, the entire Bren community has been so supportive of our idea.

Name an accomplishment you are most proud of and explain why.

Smarty Pants recently competed in the International Business Model Competition at Harvard. We were one of 28 semifinalists, out of about 1,400 applicants. We were extremely proud that we got into the competition! While we did not move forward to finals, it was a great experience overall, and it was great for Smarty Pants to make connections on the East Coast.

What do you do to relax? Any hobbies, collections, pastimes, favorite places to go, favorite things to do? 

I like to watch a lot of really bad TV shows because they help me zone out. I really enjoy baking treats and going out for good meals with my friends. I love going to shows, especially at smaller venues. I love relaxing at the beach as long as I have my SPF50 with me at all times!

What do you hope to be doing 5 or 10 years out of graduate school?

I would really love to see Smarty Pants get off the ground as a business and ideally we would already have our products in some schools by then. In one way or another, I hope to be educating people about science and the world around us, because I think science can solve so many important issues these days.

Do you have any advice for current grad students?

Learn a lot, and work hard, but don’t forget to have fun!

UCSB Student Team Wins ‘Innovative’ National Award in 2013 Better Building Case Competition at White House

The UCSB team gathers at the White House. From left: James Choe, Harry Bergmann, Alex Kovalick, Jacob McConnell, Melanie Jones, Justin Lichter, Assistant Secretary of Energy David Danielson, Martin Harrison, Jason Dale, Michael Georgescu, and Ben White. Credit: DOE courtesy image

An interdisciplinary UCSB team of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students were praised for their innovation, winning one of the top national prizes this month in the 2013 Better Building Case Competition at the White House.

Better Building Case is an annual U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) contest that aims to get college students searching for creative solutions for energy efficiency.

The 10-member UCSB team won the “Most Innovative” award in the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub portion of the competition. The students examined strategies for the Hub to assist Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in completing a renovation that produces significant energy savings in a publicly owned, multi-tenant office building.

The UCSB group was among 14 universities – including Yale, MIT, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Tufts – vying in the competition.

In an Office of Public Affairs and Communications news release, Jordan Sager, LEED program manager for UCSB's Facilities Management department, said this was UC Santa Barbara’s first year participating in the program. "Our team was one of only two West Coast schools in the competition, and was very diverse in terms of fields of study, with members representing five departments on campus. Winning in the ‘Most Innovative’ category is an acknowledgment of both the analytical power and the creativity fostered by this type of interdisciplinary collaboration."

Sager and Katie Maynard, sustainability coordinator for the Department of Geography, assembled the winning UCSB team: Bren School graduate students Ben White, Harry Bergmann, Justin Lichter, and James Choe; mathematics doctoral candidate Martin Harrison; Michael Georgescu, doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering; art history undergraduate students Melanie Jones and Jacob McConnell; and environmental studies undergrads Alex Kovalick and Jason Dale.

The university teams had one month to prepare their proposals. On March 8, they convened at the White House and presented their plans to a panel of expert judges, which included Assistant Secretary of Energy David Danielson.

“This competition provides the next generation of engineers, entrepreneurs and policymakers with skills and experience to start careers in clean energy and generates creative solutions to real-world problems to be used as models by businesses and other organizations across the marketplace,” the DOE says on its Better Buildings Web page. “Through the Better Buildings Case Competition, the DOE seeks creative and innovative solutions for energy efficiency that could be implemented by the commercial industry, thereby serving as ‘models for success.’”

Bren grad student Justin Lichter, a member of the winning UCSB team, is a long-distance hiker and backpacker who has written the book, “Trail Tested: A Thru-Hiker’s Insights Into Hiking and Backpacking.” One of the team members, Bren School’s Justin Lichter (MESM, 2013), spoke with the GradPost about his participation in the competition, what the award means to him, his thoughts on sustainability, and more.

“As a group member for UCSB, we all had similar roles,” Justin explained. “Since the timeline was so short and we only had three to four weeks to prepare our solutions, we all initially tried to gather as much background information on the case and options. From there, we brainstormed and suggested solutions, which ended tying together into a multifaceted approach for our submission. Since we were all coming from different disciplines, one of my main roles was to research the financing aspect and possibilities for the project.”

For Justin, the contest wasn’t primarily about winning but about making a contribution. “We went into the project trying to create an innovative and practical solution for the stakeholders,” he said. “We all would have been happy having accomplished that, had we not won. For the judges to acknowledge our solutions, it just validates the amount of time and energy that we put into the project and that our multi-disciplinary approach has real world application. It has been great to be recognized by the DOE!”

He described what it was like to compete at the White House. “It was a tremendous experience to be able to present our solutions at the White House and go to Washington, D.C., in this role. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Justin shared his thoughts on sustainability. “I think there are a lot of improvements that we can make towards being more sustainable and there always will be,” he said. “We can accomplish many of these without affecting our daily lives and with positive economic returns.” 

For more information about the 2013 Better Building Case Competition, visit the DOE Web page; and read the UCSB news release and Bren School's news item.

Bren Students’ Water Action Plan Is the First of Its Kind Among UC Campuses

From left, Jewel Snavely, Rebecca Dorsey, Dane Johnson, Matthew O'Carroll, Briana Seapy, and Katie Cole, the Bren students behind the campus Water Action Plan. Credit: Mo Lovegreen

Until now, a master plan to reduce water consumption and waste had been a parched area on University of California campuses. But six graduate students from Bren School of Environmental Science and Management are making a splash with their recently approved Water Action Plan that is the first of its kind in the UC system and one of the most detailed plans for a university in the nation.

Two of the Bren students, Matthew O’Carroll and Katie Cole, proposed the project a year ago in an effort to address a mandate by the UC Office of the President that all 10 UC campuses create water conservation plans by 2014. They were joined in the master’s project shortly thereafter by fellow Bren students Rebecca Dorsey, Dane Johnson, Briana Seapy, and Jewel Snavely.

The team's "water tour" took the grad students inside UCSB's central water pumping station, one of its cooling towers, and its wastewater collection facility. Credit: Dane JohnsonThe Water Action Plan Team members first plunged into the project last summer when they went on a “water tour” throughout campus and collected data from numerous sites, including UCSB's central water pumping station, one of its cooling towers, and its wastewater collection facility.

Based on their findings, and taking into account estimated water rate increases and campus growth, the team made projections through 2028. The final document offers recommendations for immediate and future water savings; and includes outreach and education components.

"This is a living document," Katie said in an Office of Public Affairs and Communications press release. "We want it to be something the campus continues to come back to, and update, as technology advances and circumstances change. We see it as a roadmap. Some things here may not be feasible now, but we've laid out the conditions for which they would be feasible. We don't want this to collect dust. We want it to stay relevant."

“The Bren students have done a fantastic job developing this plan, which will serve as a template for other UC campuses to develop Water Action Plans of their own," Ron Cortez, associate vice chancellor for administrative services and co-chair of the Chancellor's Sustainability Committee, said in the press release. "This speaks to the progressive nature of UCSB, not only in its ability to surpass California's 20 percent water-use reduction mandate nine years in advance, but also in our ability to assist others as they strategize for future reductions, conservation, and education of their campus communities. UCSB has shown great leadership with this plan, and we are excited about the finished product."

For more information about the Bren grad students’ Water Action Plan, read the Office of Public Affairs and Communications press release.

UCSB’s Bren School Confers 87 Degrees in 2012 Commencement

Photos by Patricia Marroquin

There’s nothing like having your own fellow students serenade you on your big day.  On Friday morning, June 15, Brengrass provided the musical accompaniment to the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management’s Commencement ceremony. Among the Brengrass musicians were two 2012 MESM graduates themselves, Ariadne Reynolds and Marina Feraud.

The festive Commencement ceremony was held in the Bren School’s Michael J. Connell Memorial Courtyard, where 10 Ph.D. students were hooded; and 77 students received their master’s degrees in environmental science and management.

The keynote speaker was Mary D. Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board. The Student Address, titled “Forging an Improved Future,” was given by Danni Storz, MESM 2012.

The Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award was presented by Fernando Accame (MESM 2012) to Professor Sarah Anderson. Bren School Professor Arturo Keller presented the MESM Academic Achievement Award to Marina Feraud.

Class Chairs Dana Jennings and Karly Kaufman presented the MESM 2012 Class Gift to David Parker, Director of Career Development and Alumni Relations: $2,200 for support of career services and alumni networking.

The Commencement program paid special tribute to Naomi Schwartz, who passed away June 4. Naomi – referred to as a Bren School champion, mentor, role model, and valued friend – was a former three-term Santa Barbara County supervisor who was a founding member of the Bren School Dean’s Council and had provided financial aid for student support every year since 2005.

To view more photos, go to our Facebook page, where you can “like” it, and see our 2012 Bren Graduation photo album.  A video of the event, featuring Brengrass performing “Home,” may be viewed below.

Congratulations, 2012 Bren School graduates!

Alum Henley and His Wife Pledge $50 Million to UCSB, the Largest Donation in Campus History

The Henleys and Yangs. Credit: Monie Photography

You see evidence of their generosity every time you enter the UC Santa Barbara campus from the east and pass through Henley Gate. The gate is one of many philanthropic contributions over the years from Oracle Board Chairman Jeff Henley (B.A., UCSB Economics, 1966) and his wife, honorary UCSB alum Judy Henley. Now the philanthropists have committed $50 million to UCSB for the Institute for Energy Efficiency (IEE) and the highly regarded College of Engineering, it was announced at a reception on Saturday at Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. It is the largest gift in the history of the university.

The Henleys at Bren. Credit: Patricia MarroquinAt the interdisciplinary institute, created in 2008, “brilliant researchers from across disciplines come together to generate practical, measurable solutions to global problems in energy use,” UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang stated.

Graduate students play important roles in IEE and the College of Engineering. IEE has 50 faculty members and 120 graduate and postdoctoral students who collaborate on energy-efficient technologies. The College of Engineering, which had a Fall 2011 enrollment of 753 graduate students, awarded 90 master’s degrees and 77 doctorates in 2010-2011.

Of the total donation by the couple, $30 million will be earmarked for a new building to house IEE, to be called Henley Hall, and for investment in faculty recruitment for both the institute and College of Engineering. The additional $20 million will be in the form of an estate commitment and will support College of Engineering initiatives.

The Henleys not only want to support research but also to spotlight the importance of private giving at a time when all UC campuses face state funding cutbacks. "We hope to create new opportunities for research and discovery, and to support UC Santa Barbara's already strong commitment to preparing the next generation of scientists and engineers,” Jeff Henley said in a UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release.

Their gift is an impressive contribution to the Campaign for UC Santa Barbara, which launched its next phase with a goal of $1 billion.

In a statement to the campus community on Saturday, Chancellor Yang thanked all students, saying: “You personify UC Santa Barbara and help make the case for supporting our campus. Every gift to UC Santa Barbara is an investment in your future, and in the future we all share.” For more information, read the UCSB press release and a Los Angeles Times article.

Former Bren Grad Student’s Design Inspires Winning Equipment

A former Bren grad student's innovative design inspired a piece of oil-spill recovery equipment by Elastec/American Marine that has earned a $1 million top prize.

Victoria Broje, working in a research group led by Bren Professor Arturo Keller, redesigned a standard drum oil skimmer at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management in 2006 for her Ph.D. dissertation.

The design was patented, and shortly before Broje received her Ph.D., UCSB officials completed a deal to license the patent for the technology to Elastec/American Marine, the nation's largest maker of oil-spill recovery equipment.

Elastec/American utilized her design to create a piece of equipment that was entered into the 2011 Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE competition, earning the top prize.

"I'm happy that my Ph.D. research resulted in a fundamental change in approach, which significantly improved oil-spill recovery efficiency and allows many people to benefit from it," Broje said in a UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release.

Michael Witherell, UCSB's vice chancellor for research, praised the Russian-born physicist turned oil-spill recovery expert. "When you give a very bright and innovative graduate student like Victoria Broje an important problem to work on, new technology is often the result," he said in the release. "It is a great story of success."

To read more about this graduate student success story, read the UCSB press release.