Student Produced Publications and Productions
Since the establishment of the Schoonover green roof project, there has been a great deal of excitement in the community around the initiative. Students have written articles discussing the project and their organization, The Green Initiative. Articles have been published in various news sources including Backdrop magazine, Ohio Today, The Post, OHIO News, The New Political, WOUB and more. The project was also highlighted on the Ohio Sustainability Series Podcast, a student led podcast by the Climate and Sustainability Ambassadors. A good portion of the media surrounding this project was pioneered by OHIO students from the Scripps College of Communication, providing substantial academic enrichment and interaction with the green roof. We highlight student products and interviews with students here.
We would love to add new published pieces about the green roof and its related projects and groups to this list. Please share any of your published work with us and we will gladly showcase it on this page.
Some student-driven articles and media are listed and linked below. The students who wrote these articles are described at the time the pieces were published, some of them may have already made the transition to alumni by the time you read this.
Photo by Megan Westervelt
OHIO Sustainability Series Podcast - Episode 5: Green Roof Initiative
10/01/2020
Megan Westervelt, an MFA candidate in Scripps College, and Daniela Grijalva, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences created the fifth episode of the Sustainability Series Podcast. The podcast was managed by Olivia Wolff, a graduate student in Environmental Studies at The Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service. The students interviewed and recorded Dr. Kim Thompson who spearheaded the green roof project and serves as faculty advisor to the Green Initiative. This podcast, released in October of 2020, explores the Schoonover green roof project, the Green Initiative, and the hope for more green infrastructure on campus. Megan Westervelt and co-producer Chad Reich also filmed the official green roof walking tour video which you can find in the Virtual Visits section of our website.
Photo by Maddy Salyer, 2020
“World Environment Day Focuses on Biodiversity” by Taylor Burnette
06/05/2020
Taylor Burnette is a journalism major in Scripps College at OHIO. Published in The Post, this article is centered around a virtual world environment day and the Green Initiative. Burnette puts a spotlight on the Green Initiative and its mission to inform others about environmental topics such as green infrastructure and sustainability. An interview with engineering student John Murray, the president of the green initiative, helped Burnette tell this story.
Photo by Ben Siegel
“Ohio U moving to install green roof atop Schoonover Center” by Alejandro Figueroa
02/28/2020
Alejandro Figueroa was an undergraduate student in journalism when he authored this article, published in The New Political, a student-run online publication. Figueroa provides a summary of the concept of a green roof and the plans for building the Schoonover green roof. It also briefly touches on the establishment and goals of the Green Initiative. This article serves as a good general overview of the green roof project.
Photo by Elise Hammond from a STEM event featured in the TV spot on WOUB. The green roof model was created by Johnny Murray and John Corcella.
Elise, Connor, Taylor on the unplanted Schoonover rooftop. Connor took drone shots for Elise and Taylor's introduction to their TV spot.
Photo by Kim Thompson
“Ohio University Takes Going Green To New Heights” by Elise Hammond and Taylor Bruck
02/21/2020
Elise Hammond and Taylor Bruck , two Scripps school seniors produced a news segment about the green roof for WOUB as part of their senior capstone project. Accompanying the newscast was an article they wrote and published on the WOUB website. Their article provides an in-depth exploration of the green roof project and its impact. The article connects the project to climate change, and Ohio University’s 2012 Climate Action Plan. It also promotes the engineering behind the structure of a green roof, green infrastructure, and green building certifications.
Within their article, Hammond and Bruck also included educational infographics and a video demonstration of how a green roof functions compared to a traditional roof. The demonstration was performed by John Corcella and John Murray, two engineering students working with Dr. Kim Thompson on education and outreach surrounding the green roof project. Notable members of faculty were interviewed for the newscast and quoted in the article including Dr. Thompson, Sam Crowl (associate director of sustainability), and Athan Vouizianas (founder of Renaissance Engineers).
Watch the TV newscast "Ohio University Takes Going Green to New Heights".
Green Initiative Student Organization Planning Meeting. Photo by Hope Roberts 2019.
Students Plan to Raise the Green Roof by Hope Roberts
12/10/2019
Hope Roberts, class of '20, is an undergraduate journalism student at Ohio University who wrote this while on a PACE (Program to Aid Career Exploration) work experience in the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology. Published in Ohio University news in December of 2019, this article recaps the first meeting of the Green Initiative, a student organization centering around the green roof project. In this article Roberts discusses the green roof project and the green initiative which aims to support it. This article illuminates the mission of the Green Initiative as well as describing the students and their participation.
Illustration by Riley Scott
“Schoonover green roof to provide educational opportunities, sustainability” by Riley Runnells
11/20/2019
Riley Runnells is an undergraduate in the class of ‘22 majoring in Journalism. Published in November of 2019 in The Post, this article centers around the student interaction aspect of the green roof. Runnels begins by recounting the history of the green roof project and the logistics behind its construction. Runnels highlights student involvement and how to get involved with the project. The article includes quotes from Dr. Kim Thompson and Dr. Natalie Kruse Daniels as well as a statement from Meagan Hamilton, a mechanical engineering student leading outreach for the project in regional schools.
Photo of Schoonover Center
“Schoonover is going green through work of Voinovich School, University collaborators” by Christina Van Fossen
10/28/2019
Christina Van Fossen was a senior majoring in Communications when this article was published in a newsletter for the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs. Van Fossen announced plans for the installation of the green roof and how it serves the university as a learning opportunity and a way to reduces stormwater runoff and energy costs. Van Fossen also delves into the sources of funding for the project and the project team. The article includes quotes about the project from Dr. Natalie Kruse Daniels who is a founding member of the project team and currently doing research on the green roof.
Photo from University Communications & Marketing
“Over $380K from 1804 Fund allocated to learning, research at OHIO” by Grace Dearing
10/03/2019
Grace Dearing also mentioned the green roof project in another article written by a journalism major. This article was published for Ohio Today. This article details the distribution of funding from The Ohio University Foundation, or the 1804 fund, for the 2019-21 academic year. The Schoonover green roof was one of four undergraduate learning proposals to receive an award. Grace Dearing was a junior journalism major in Scripps College at the time she authored this article.
Illustration by Lainy Douglas
“Turning Over a New Leaf” by Grace Dearing
10/02/2019
Grace Dearing , class of ‘21, is a journalism major at Ohio University who wrote for Backdrop Magazine. This article announced plans for a new green roof atop the Schoonover Center for Communication and its role in increasing sustainability. The article connects the function of the green roof to the larger issue of mitigating climate change, the 2016 Paris Agreement, and the sustainability efforts taken at Ohio University. Dearing quotes from interviews with Dr. Kim Thompson, who has served as the head of the green roof project, and Jessica Dalzell, a member of the Athens Environment and Sustainability Commission.