PCC ready to roll with C-RISE

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Aug 24, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Noelle Studer is climbing the stairway to sustainability as the new sustainability coordinator at Portland Community College. She is shown here at the Technology Classroom Building, built with LEED principals in mind, on the Sylvania Campus near Lake Oswego.

CLIFF NEWELL / LAKE OSWEGO REVIEW

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One of the virtues of sustainability is that it covers just about everything.

Of course, that means a lot of work, but Noelle Studer is ready for the challenge as the sustainability coordinator for Portland Community College.

A grant of $70,000 from the National Science Foundation came through last April, which provides seed money to plan the Cascadia Regional Institute for Sustainability Education (C-Rise), led by PCC.

“Today’s students are going to be faced with tough challenges,” Studer said. “We’re facing a future of uncertain energy supplies, which will impact every aspect of life from food to transportation.

“It’s inspiring for students to gain practical skills and apply good old-fashioned American ingenuity in the quest for energy independence.”

Core partners of the C-RISE team are Portland State University and Lane Community College. In addition, dozens of other education, public and private partners have already agreed to participate. Area employers who would like to get involved are encouraged to contact Studer – especially employers in the fields of construction, building maintenance, architecture, drafting, engineering, landscaping and biofuels.

Studer plans to match people in business and industry with educators to identify skill needs, because “ultimately, this institute is for employers. We know Oregon needs a more technically competent workforce, but it’s essential to connect this with actual jobs.”

The big date on the fledgling center’s calendar comes in October when a planning summit will be held at PCC’s Rock Creek Campus. It will be a gathering of business and industry leaders, policy makers, educators, and representatives of non-profit organizations.

“We’ll be showing state of the art projects, like the OHSU South Waterfront Building, which is the ‘greenest’ (most ecologically designed) building in the country,” Studer said. “It has so many features in ultimate building. We have to ask ourselves, ‘How can we make this a normal thing?’”

From building, it is an easy jump to ask how the land can be better preserved.

On a residential scale, “How can landscapes be more functional in handling water?” Studer asked. “How can it be better absorbed in the rainy months? How can it be drought resistant in the dry months? That’s the challenge of the landscaping industry.”

With the new C-RISE institute, Studer will be rounding up all of the inquiring minds she possibly can. She will be planning curriculum for students in science, technology and trades, plus classes for high school and college teachers.

While those classes on sustainability practices will certainly be filled with students in the usual college age group, Studer said, “Mid-career people can come to school.

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