Environmental Advocate

Will Kochtitzky '14

Will Kochtitzky ’16 dishes about Dickinson, sustainability, blueberries, Barack Obama and more.

Majors: 

Earth sciences and environmental science.

Clubs and organizations:

Dickinson’s Sustainable Investments Task Force, Presidential Commission on Environmental Sustainability, Outing Club, Reinvest Dickinson, Environmental Studies/Science Majors Committee,  Student Handiwork for Organized Projects (SHOP), the Treehouse (ecosystems manager), Dickinson College Farm (student farmer), EarthNow (vice president), Geology Club (secretary) and Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Climate Change (treasurer).

Why I chose Dickinson:

My criteria were pretty simple. First, how strong is the sustainability program? And second, does the college have a farm? Dickinson has an incredible farm and a great sustainability program, so it was the clear choice.

Favorite learning experience:

During my first semester I took Introduction to Archaeology and World Prehistory with Professor Maria Bruno to fulfill [liberal-arts] requirements, but I ended up really enjoying the course. Last summer [Bruno] invited me to work on research with her in Bolivia. It was an incredible experience to get to work with a professor in a different field than my major.

Favorite Dining Hall food:

Anything from the College Farm, especially the cherry tomatoes.

Favorite book:

Life of Pi.

Favorite movie:

[James Balog's] Chasing Ice.

Post-graduation plans:

I have a blueberry farm back home in Tennessee that I really enjoy. I would like to use permaculture-design principles to make it a fully functioning farm. I am also deeply concerned with global climate change and the effects that humans are having on our only planet. Many people are already feeling the effects of our fossil-fuel consumption, and I would like to do whatever I can to help mitigate global climate change.

Favorite place on campus:

The Handlebar.

Little-known talent:

I occasionally play the harmonica.

If I could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, it would be . . . 

Barack Obama. I would love to fill his ear [with] climate change for a couple of hours and learn about why we are struggling to address it.

Published November 15, 2013