T.H. Chan School of Medicine student Kyle Timmer recently spent a week learning about sustainability efforts at UMass Chan Medical School and potentially kickstarting campus-wide waste reduction initiatives.

“Knowing how much impact the environment has on human health, including problems like heat stress, air quality and extreme storms, is part of the reason I was interested in this experience,” said Timmer, whose work in the Office of Sustainability fulfilled the flexible professional experience component in the Vista curriculum that provides third-year medical students an opportunity for independent exploration in a broad range of specialties related to health care. “These issues only continue to grow, and we need to start tackling them now.”

The flexible professional experience gives students exposure to areas not covered by the core curriculum, and is student driven to allow for career exploration. The Office of Sustainability offers a sustainability in health care experience that encourages students to recognize the role health care professionals can play in creating a more sustainable health care system.

“Health care is an industry that uses lots of energy and physical resources and has a significant impact on climate change and the environment. It’s important to me to consider the indirect consequences of my actions in medicine and how they impact people’s health,” Timmer said. 

Timmer, who grew up in Willington, Connecticut, and earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Bowdoin College in Maine, said he is interested in pursuing a career in internal medicine or family medicine. He said his love for the outdoors prompted him to pursue the sustainability experience.

During his weeklong experience, he researched and developed program proposals to support the implementation of UMass Chan’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. He also helped the office prepare campus waste data to assist in the institution’s transition to a new waste hauler, explored the benefits of moving away from compostable and recyclable containers in the campus dining room to an option for reusable containers, and initiated other feasibility studies.

“What we hope Kyle gets out of this, and it’s something that’s very important to us, is finding ways to make institutional change and take something from concept and present its benefits to campus leadership,” Suzanne Wood, associate director of sustainability and campus services at UMass Chan.

Timmer also learned about the university’s commitments to decarbonatization and sustainability; and federal, state, and local laws and mandates regarding sustainability. 

“It takes a lot of different factors to affect change. It’s communication. It’s understanding the stakeholders and their circles of influence. It’s thinking about ways to scale up initiatives past a pilot stage and thinking about all the logistics that need to go into those steps,” said Kortni Wroten, sustainability and energy manager. “I’m really hoping that Kyle can learn from this experience and take it forward into his career.”