FAMU’s Green Coalition won an Energy Innovator Award at
the second annual Energy Ball, sponsored by Rethink Energy Florida. The ball honors Tallahassee-area people and organizations for energy innovation.
The Green Coalition won the award in the organizations
category in honor of more than six years of successful sustainability
initiatives. From 2007-2009, the coalition distributed more than 6,000
energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs, which were donated by the City
of Tallahassee, to residents of the south side and Frenchtown communities.
In 2010, the coalition received a $10,000 grant from The
Home Depot to build a rainwater-collection system and a green park on campus.
In 2012-2013, the coalition received a $50,000 grant from the Siemens
Corporation. A portion of the funds were used to sponsor the Southeast Student
Renewable Energy Conference and campus educational forums. The coalition plans
will use additional grant funds to purchase a solar-powered cell phone and
battery recharging station.
“I am very proud of the many years of hard work done by the
students in FAMU’s Green Coalition,” said Olivier Chamel (pictured), a FAMU
architecture professor and Green Coalition adviser. “They have shown the power
of today’s young people to make a difference in the world.”
Ryan Mitchell, lead coordinator for FAMU’s Department of
Environmental Health and Safety, won the 2012 Energy Innovator Award in the
individual category for his work in promoting sustainability on FAMU’s campus.
Mitchell led the initiatives that resulted in FAMU’s inclusion in The Princeton
Review’s 2011 and 2012 lists of top green campuses.
Duresny Nemorin, a senior public relations student from
Orlando, was a finalist in the individual category for serving as the voice of
America’s youth in the “Break the Silence on Climate Change” campaign during
the 2012 presidential campaign. She is currently studying sustainability in
Brazil for a semester.
FAMU’s Green Coalition is a student-led organization
dedicated to promoting sustainability in the greater FAMU community. Founded in
2006, the Green Coalition has collaborated with local government and other
university and environmental organizations to address renewable energy,
sustainability and climate change.