Meet the Bloggers 2012

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Austin
Hometown: Greensboro, NC

My name is Austin. I am 17 years old, and I aspire to be an active environmentalist. I would like to focus on sustainability and the sustainable development in the world's mindset. My only wish is that people see the planet as a sustained system instead of just something personal that is given only to themselves. I want to live a life dedicated to helping others realize what an amazing Earth we have.





Briana
Hometown: Raleigh, NC


Hey there! My name is Briana, and I am 15 years old.  My passions include playing soccer, designing, and eating food.  For my future career I aspire to be a designer or an architect.  I am trying to figure out ways I can incorporate sustainability into design and architecture, which is one reason why I have decided to attend the summit.



Emily
Hometown: Saratoga, NY

Hi my name is Emily, and I live in a small town called Saratoga in upstate New York. I love dark chocolate, traveling to new places, waking up early to go on sunrise runs, eating Chex Mix without the pretzels, exploring the outdoors, and photographing my experiences. When I’m not doing any of these activities, I’m sharing my experiences with others so that they will realize that we need to work harder to conserve the world’s resources so that everyone will have the opportunities to enjoy them in the future.


Emma Sophia
Hometown: Durham, NC


Hey, I'm Emma Sophia, and I'm from Durham, NC.  My family has always been very big on eatting local and organic foods and trying to use as little as possible. Because of that I have interests in both environmental and international issues and have joined my school's Sierra Club and our Model UN club. I also love the outdoors in general and enjoy spending lots of my time outside.
Jocelyn
Hometown: Roanoke Rapids, NC

I am Jocelyn, and I'm 16 years old. I'm from Roanoke Rapids, NC. I always try to recycle items that I know we can reuse, and I also enjoy to look at the beauty of different places around here. For example, the sunset on the lake is a beautiful place to go and take pictures of, as is the beach. 




Keela
Hometown: Wilmington, NC

Hi my name is Keela! I am 17 years old and a senior at Isaac Bear Early College. My enthusiasm with the environment began about two years ago when I began working on a project dedicated to conserving my coastal city of Wilmington NC. After my work on the project I dove into environmentalism in each and every way I possibly could. I am planning on majoring in Journalism and Communication in hopes of pursuing a career as a reporter with a focus on conservation and preserving our planet. I am thrilled to be working on this blog project and hope to gain a lot from the summit.



Rafaello
Hometown: Medford, MA

I'm a 17 year old homeschooler who has always loved the environment. My father is a lobbyist for environmental education, at both the state and federal level. I have accompanied him on multiple occasions to DC, and really enjoyed it. I hope to share with other teens both the problems our environment is in, and how to solve them.





Sarah
Hometown: Elgin, SC
I’m Sarah. My interest in environmental issues began with studying health science, through Food Inc. and Take Back the Wheat. My particular concerns are with large grain monocultures because their overly hybridized and genetically modified crops dominate our food economy, impact habitat, displace species, and take enormous amounts of water and energy, and the feedlots and processed food industries they supply are falling short of providing the health and nutrition benefits we envisioned for them.  I think the biggest environmental issue is sustainability.  If we are talking today about clean air or water, energy conservation, soil erosion, toxins, endangered species or global warming, we need to look towards what our children will have.

Shaina
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI

Hi my name is Shaina, and I'm 16 years old. I believe that anyone can make a difference with the environment no matter how small the first step they take may be. It's hard to tell people that they're hurting our planet without them automatically putting up a defense. I want to show people that the Earth and its environment is an important issue and that you can impact it positively in various different ways. You don't have to become a superhuman activist who is vegan and only drives a hybrid (though I commend those people!), but you can contribute in small ways that are meaningful to both you and the people around you. By spreading this message, I hope to give those people who are skeptical about joining this movement a chance to see its importance and worth. 


Cyndi Allison Wittum
Hometown: Cleveland, NC

Cyndi Allison Wittum teaches online publication, new media, and social media classes at Catawba College. She has been a writer for over 30 years with 14 years online publication credits. She will be working with students on the blog project at Redesigning Our Future: National Environmental Summit for High School Students.








Hometowns of Redesigning Our Future participants:



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