Fall 2009

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Alum Embodies Green Ethics on Campus

Merry Rankin, Iowa State's first director of sustainability programs, takes a brief break from working at the Live Green initiative's clean up day at College Creek in Ames.

Merry Rankin became intrigued by the idea of combining the rest of the world with the conservation-minded ethics she grew up with on her parents' farm near Attica, Iowa.

As Iowa State's first director of sustainability programs, she coordinates environmental activities on the Iowa State campus.

She joined Iowa State in January 2009 to guide development of a university-wide plan for sustainable practices as part of President Gregory Geoffroy's Live Green initiative. Rankin says the initiative's recognizes that sustainability efforts have been going on for a number of years on campus that support the university's mission.

"The other part is ensuring that we not only are on the cutting edge of energy-conserving and sustainability efforts in our teaching and research, but also in everything we do on a daily basis that supports our ongoing operations. And looking at how we are carrying this on into our daily lives and into the community," she says. "When students go on to their future careers it is our hope they will apply these skills and knowledge into their work and workplaces and the communities in which they live."

Rankin honed her skills on the Iowa State campus, earning a business degree in 1987. She got her start in the retail business then decided to go back to school at Iowa State. She graduated with a master's in wildlife biology in 1998. Research projects took her to Australia, Costa Rica and India while in school. After graduation, she received a Rotary Ambassadorial scholarship to complete post-graduate study in South Africa.

Fresh from a position with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), she brought practical and strategic experience to ISU's efforts. At the DNR she had worked as an environmental specialist with the recycling technical assistance team, working in green building, green purchasing, electronics recycling and helping municipalities expand recycling efforts. Then she became director of volunteer programs, helping coordinate the approximately 100,000 volunteers assisting the department annually.

"What this position allows me is really the opportunity to put everything together," Rankin says. "In any given day I may be talking about green building, green purchasing, maybe talking to professors about service learning that supports sustainability efforts, and even - recruiting volunteers. So it really brings everything together."

She has found an enthusiastic response from students and staff, who are willing to participate in recycling efforts in the dorms or cleaning up College Creek. "I may be an office of one, but I feel I have a whole campus team supporting the effort," she says.

It will take the entire campus to make the initiative a success, she believes.

"This is our initiative," Rankin says. "This is for everyone at Iowa State University. I want to do everything I can to make folks feel like they know what's going on, they can make suggestions, they can be active and that the initiative is valuable for them."