Written by: Carrie Schmaus

In June, I was fortunate to attend a week-long colloquium in Bozeman, Montana, entitled “Property Rights, Markets, and Freedom” that was held by the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). During this colloquium, I met students from across the county to discuss numerous topics, ranging from the origin of human rights to the merits and dangers of privatizing federal lands. I was also able to participate in discussions held by prominent speakers in this field, which was both educational and inspiring. This photo was taken on the last night, when we were treated to a wonderful dinner at Terry Anderson’s house– he is one of the founders of PERC, and we had an incredibly interesting conversation.

Between making lattes at the Nordstrom eBar the rest of the summer, I’ve been interning with the City and County of Broomfield, Colorado where I have been working alongside the Superintendent of Environmental Services to update the city’s Greenhouse Gas Assessment. Broomfield conducted an analysis–along with the help of another graduate student from the University of Colorado Denver–in 2007, so I have been working with various departments across the city, local energy companies, and others to update these data for 2015. This work will help track Broomfield’s sustainability efforts, as well as inform future initiatives. At the end of the summer, I will present my findings about the city’s emissions to the Superintendent, as well as provide some recommendations on how to lower emissions. Below is a photo taken outside of the Community Development building, which houses some of the most dedicated and hard-working city employees around!

Through this work, I’ve gained experience in city-level sustainability efforts, as well as developed an interest in the potential for market mechanisms to lower emissions at a city level. As such, I hope to tie these experiences in my thesis work this upcoming year. This summer has great, but I’m excited to be back at SMEA in a month!