American Ecological Engineering Society

October 13, 2010

The American Ecological Engineering Society is a team made mostly of biological engineering students that aims to educate the community about minimizing impact on the local environment.

The society promotes environmental stewardship and prepares ecological engineering student body for life after the undergraduate degree, according to the RSO website.

"My favorite thing about the organization is that it's fun. It's fun just to get together informally and be active for the community," said American Ecological Engineering Society president, Katy Rutledge. "Most of the time, we're in huge auditoriums with no opportunities to get to know the people around us. It's a good excuse to hang out with people in a different environment."

Who can join?You don't have to be an engineering student, or even a biological engineering student to join the AEES.

“Anyone can join our organization,” Rutledge said. “We have a sophomore interior design major and a nursing student that are in the society.”

The society coordinates closely with the Biological Engineering Group, so most AEES members are biological engineers. Even still, Rutledge is not an ecological engineer and the Carnival of Clubs attracted the attention of a variety of majors to the society. “That got more people interested (in us),” she said.

What do I have to do? There are no membership requirements and no membership fee. Members are encouraged to attend meetings and volunteer for the community.

American Ecological Engineering Society meets and volunteers actively. Unlike other student organizations, members are not required to participate in a certain amount of events; there are no penalties for not being involved, but participation is encouraged.

Rutledge said the main focus is simple: to leave minimal impact on the environment and educate the community.

Events and projectsThe local chapter of the society has two big service projects each year and this time the society is planning a trail cleanup at 2 p.m. on October 24, as one event.

“We want to see more people conserving natural resources,” Rutledge said.

AEES plans a watershed education day in partnership with IRWP because, Rutledge said, cleaning up local lakes is a good way for public to realize their own impact on the environment. Last year’s watershed day was mostly canoeing the lake and taking water samples.

“A lot of people don’t realize the impact of even just building a parking lot,” she said. “That affects the way the water runs off.”

So far, the organization hasn’t teamed up with ASG Vice President Billy Fleming’s Paperless Campus Initiative campaign, but Rutledge seemed interested in moving the society that direction.

AEES also plans more active recycling on campus, especially during (home) football games.

OfficersNathan Holeman is Vice President of the society; Evan Childress is secretary and Clark Trapp is the AEES Program Chair.

Rutledge explained that these officers are mostly juniors and seniors, because freshmen and sophomores are typically more hesitant to get involved.

Among the more unique officer positions is AEES treasurer, Jacob Taylor.

“He handles the RSO funding that we receive from ASG and coordinates the funds from the department, which we use for food during the meetings and for travel expenses,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge said the unique thing about leadership in the American Ecological Engineering Society is that the responsibility is not set, not completely based on which chair you hold because the officers are friends.

“We do have a service outreach chair. He is supposed to organize our events, but…me and (Nathan) the VP do it, too,” she said. “We’re all friends, so it’s kind of hard to make each other do what we’re supposed to do.”

Advisers“We have a few professors help us out,” Rutledge said. “Dr. Osborne is there (at meetings), Dr. Griffis likes to stand in, and sometimes Dr. Verma, the department head.”

Also, 2009 AEES president, Zak Johnson continues to lend a hand to the officers of the society.

Later this year, AEES hopes to bring a lecture weighing the benefits of grad school comparitively with entering the workforce.

What can I do?
Rutledge encourages Fayetteville residents to do as much as you can to reduce environmental impact, no matter how small the task seems.

She suggested composting and making rain barrels as beneficial activities.

“Walk, bike or carpool. Those are some of the easiest things you can do, with our trails around here,” she said.

One thing you can easily do but might not know about:

“There are a lot of chemicals in drinking water, which are hard to filter out,” Rutledge said. “What doesn’t help this is (what is harmful is) people flushing old or unwanted prescriptions down the toilet or drain.”

Instead, she suggests either sending or dropping off your unwanted prescriptions at Walgreens. There, a service, which costs only two dollars, will dispose of these prescriptions in a more environmentally safe manner.