Ecologue

In order to foster camaraderie and community between colleagues and celebrate individual and collective employee success, the OSU Sustainability Office and Materials Management department have begun a student staff spotlight series. We want to build a sense of belonging for all who are employed by our organizations and to support the diversity of our backgrounds.

Lane Walter (they/them) is our student policy coordinator. Their primary duties include incorporating public and expert feedback on policy proposals, supporting the Green Certifications program, and engaging with campus stakeholders to support policies to reduce OSU’s carbon footprint.

Lane felt OSU was the perfect option for them because it was an in-state school that had everything they were looking for. They say, “[It’s] the perfect balance between big university and small connected campus, a program that was right for my degree, and plenty of greenspace!” And their time in the Sustainability Office has been incredibly fruitful: they are much more confident in their public speaking skills, synthesizing information and presenting it to others in a meaningful way, and their research skills ensure they can do so successfully.

Personal Background

A lover of music, Lane has been singing for as long as they can remember. As soon as they could, they got involved in choir and musical theatre with their school. Now, their roommates are lucky enough to get daily concerts!

One of their favorite family traditions includes a Christmas cookie recipe, passed down from their Scots-Irish great-grandmother. Empire cookies are two shortbread cookies sandwiched together with a jammy center, topped with icing, and every winter season when Lane makes them, they feel a little closer to her.

Lessons Learned in the Office

Fighting through the societal push toward hyper-independence, Lane realized there will always be someone with the time, resources, or information they need, and they just need to seek them out. The advice they’d give to incoming Sustainability Office employees is to ask questions! If something doesn’t make sense, or if you have a nagging “what if,” verbalize it because it will mean a world of difference in the quality of your work.

Lane says, “The people that make up the Sustainability Office are some of the kindest, most considerate people I have had the pleasure of working with. I have always had someone that I could turn to whenever I needed help or any extra resources.”

We look forward to sharing with you the student staff of the Sustainability Office and Materials Management and are grateful for their incredible work and fantastic personal stories. The many different backgrounds and stories create for us a strong group of individuals who are fighting for a more just, sustainable planet!

Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, is located within the traditional homelands of the Mary’s River or Ampinefu Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855, Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (grandronde.org) and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians (ctsi.nsn.us).