Brian Lautenschleger has just returned from service in the Peace Corps in Lesotho where he was deeply immersed in community development and farming issues
A Canton, OH native, Brian Lautenschleger has just returned from service in the Peace Corps where he was deeply immersed in community development and farming issues. In his one-year appointment as GMC’s “Campus Greening Coordinator,” he will assist in three primary areas including expansion of the College’s organic farm; planning and development of the Living Machine; and some community outreach through further development of the Poultney education trail connecting the college to Poultney Elementary School.
Just a few weeks into his assignment at GMC, Brian is already heavily involved with a number of projects. He has spent the majority of his time working with students in the organic garden as they complete the busy harvest season. Brian brings a good deal of expertise on this front. During his Peace Corps assignment in the country of Lesotho in Southern Africa, Brian worked as a Community Development Advisor for Lesotho Save the Children. The focus of his work was the resurrection and management of a defunct cooperative farm following the country’s civil war. Brian’s work in community outreach and training resulted in a remarkable turnaround for the farm, providing not only a food and income resource for the community, but an education and training center for youth from the village to learn essential farming skills, new technologies, and to understand the importance of species diversity in plants and livestock.
In his work on the GMC organic farm, Brian has helped expedite plans for a student-built greenhouse that would dramatically increase opportunities for learning on campus. “We want the greenhouse to be a learning lab in all respects,” he says. “It will certainly be important for students studying farming methods, but we also hope it will be a showplace for the campus, alumni/ae and community to enjoy.” Currently, the plan is to build the greenhouse into the side of a hill on the back of campus (affectionately remembered by many as the ski hill) overlooking the garden. Funding, materials and labor will come from a variety of sources including student government, grants, and volunteer labor. “Plenty of schools have highly sophisticated greenhouses, but I haven’t seen too many that are the result of grassroots planning and development by students,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a basement laboratory across campus, a hypnotic bubbling sound complements the slightly eerie lighting of the “Living Machine,” a small scale version of a sophisticated wastewater treatment system that uses plants and fish to filter toxins from the water. This is the second focus of Brian’s volunteer work on campus. Though it may seem a remote connection to the organic farm, the Living Machine may eventually play a role in farm operations, potentially providing both compost and water.
Another student-managed project, the Living Machine has taken on a life of its own. This summer, student worker Joe O’Connor made the exciting discovery that, for the first time since its installation, life was visibly reproducing itself within the closed system of tanks and hoses. Baby snails had appeared, the cause of much excitement and celebration in the realization that the system was running well enough to sustain life and, indeed, propagate it. “This project is a great tool for community outreach,” says Brian Lautenschleger. “Prospective students, current students, community and school groups are all fascinated by what this represents.”
One of Brian’s priorities is to develop a plan to take the living machine to its next phase, which is a possible installation of a small-scale unit in the new greenhouse. The final phase is hoped to be a full-scale living machine wastewater treatment system which would handle the the entire campus’s water treatment needs.
Cari and Brian are both recruiting students who may be eligible for an Americorps education award for volunteer service they have already completed.
“Both of these volunteers are providing service that is in high demand with our students,” said Dr. Susan Sutheimer, Associate Professor of Chemistry and supervisor of Cari’s service learning efforts. “Approximately 60% of our incoming students express an interest in service projects, but in the past only about 15% have graduated with this type of experience. Brian and Cari are broadening the opportunities for many more students to participate.”
The volunteers’ one-year assignments beg the question of what happens to all this good work after the VISTA volunteers leave. “A very important aspect of this assignment is that Brian and Cari institutionalize their work and establish systems,” says Dr. Sutheimer. “When they leave, we certainly hope the programs they’ve established can be easily picked up by someone else.”
In the meantime, faculty, staff and students and the community are clearly reaping the rewards of their efforts.
