From Brown to Green [12/08/2008]

by Judi Jetson

Graduate students in USF’s Environmental Science and Policy Capstone Seminar, taught by Professor Robert Brinkmann, developed project proposals this fall to create jobs and improve health in East Tampa, using brownfields and sustainability as themes. Brownfields are properties which may have been contaminated with a low risk hazardous substance, such as petroleum products, and need to be cleaned up before they can be redeveloped.

On Thursday, December 4th students presented their final project ideas – ranging from renewable energy in buildings, a green education center, rainwater harvesting, an East Tampa Greenway, and turning Brownfields into art parks – to an audience of city officials and community business owners. Lorna Alston, an Economic Development Specialist with the City of Tampa’s East Tampa Development Department, started their semester off with a tour of East Tampa and the Brownfield properties. Students also had a listening session with residents and community leaders to hear their concerns, and learned that health and economic development were foremost in their minds.

Students were clearly enthusiastic about the new sustainability movement, and recommended projects they felt would increase “green” building and practices, as well as train “green collar” workers, in order to distinguish East Tampa in the Tampa Bay area. For more information about this project, contact Robert Brinkmann, Chair, Department of Geography, at the USF Tampa campus, phone (813) 974-4939, email: rbrinkmn@cas.usf.edu