Robby Ward is a member of the class of 2023.5 and plays on the men's tennis team. He is an environmental economics major and is minoring in biology.
 
How did you get involved with sustainability efforts on campus?
Coming into Middlebury, I did not know what major I wanted to pursue and what subject captured my interest more than others. One of the many great things about a liberal arts education is that it gave me the time and resources to figure out where my academic passions lie. So, my freshman year, I took Professor Baker-Medard's (Mez) class, Conservation and Environmental Policy. I had always been passionate about nature and our environment, but Professor Mez and that class inspired me to take a larger role in sustainability on campus.
 
Sophomore year I joined Research & Investment in Sustainable Equity (RISE), Middlebury's sustainable investing club, and declared as an environmental economics major. When looking for an internship in the summer of 2021, I was initially looking for a research position at Middlebury, but I came across the Sustainable Solutions Lab internship instead. It looked like a great opportunity to learn more about the college I love, while gaining experience in a sustainability related internship.
 
Tells us about the Green Panther Program and why you are excited about it this year?
The Green Panther Program (GPP), formally the Green Panther Challenge, was created a couple years ago to incorporate sustainability in Middlebury's sports teams. Johnny LaFortune '23, Lucie Rochat '22 and I decided this summer that we were going to revamp the GPP. The program calls for each sports team to have a Green Liaison whose role is to bring compost and recycling kits to away competitions and educate their team on these sustainable practices. Green Liaisons can also participate in perfect sort games and motivate their teams to participate in different sustainable volunteering initiatives.
 
As a member of the men's tennis team, it has been exciting working with two of Middlebury's departments that I am most involved with and passionate about, athletics and sustainability.
 
During the pandemic, you learned how to fish. How did you get into that?
For most people, COVID-19 quarantine brought some extra time at home that people did not once have. I enjoyed fishing, but it was never more than a summer activity that I would do a handful of times with my uncle. As the first few weeks of strict quarantine began to lift, I started going fishing with one of my friends from home. He had an extra rod, and it was a great, safe way to catch up with someone I had not seen in a while. Fishing with a friend, then turned into me going out alone for hours in the afternoon. I found that it was a great way to relax with my own thoughts, acting like a form of meditation. The best part is that I would be surrounded by the Delaware Oak Forests taking in all the sounds and sights to see.