Most students wouldn't eat algae if you paid them. But for junior Ryan Corrigan, trying to make algae into food is part of his plan to help save the rainforest. For him, it's just another day preserving the environment. Ryan, who is studying environmental science, biology and journalism, is part of a professor/student team working to produce cheap methods of algae growth that can be applied anywhere in the world for food and fuel. "I want to build a world where villages in Africa grow their own fuel to heat their food instead of cutting down the rainforest," he said. In his blog from a semester in Costa Rica, Ryan calls himself "your average, gangly six-foot three college dork." The 6'3'' part is true, but his leadership on campus makes him anything but dorky. Ryan has been a part of almost every recent environmental movement at Doane, including his latest initiative to install energy-efficient showerheads.  At first, Ryan wasn't sure Doane would be a fit for him. He went to the largest high school in Nebraska. He graduated from a class of 700. He worried about moving from Omaha to a place that would feel closed or small. Turns out, he worried for nothing, he said. As a college town only 20 minutes from the state capital, he found Crete to be diverse and open to change.
He also found a wealth of leadership opportunities, and to his surprise, a love for small communities. "I never realized how much the stress of living in a big city and driving bothered me until I spent a semester in Crete...I have come to expect a wave or a friendly honk when I go out for runs. Doane is very special to me because it is such a complete community atmosphere and I have so many opportunities I never had in the competitive big-school atmosphere." The opportunities include the chance to see the world. He traveled to India for a three-week interterm course, and recently finished a semester in Costa Rica. The trips reinforced a passion to protect the environment that began after a summer hike in Colorado at age 15. "I witnessed the massive destruction of strip mining on the environment and the animals I was trying to see," Ryan said. Since then, Ryan has never slowed down. That's typical Ryan, Biology Professor Brad Elder says, a go-getter who accomplishes tasks in the time it takes others to wait for direction. Ryan returned from Costa Rica with thousands of pictures. That's also typical Ryan; National Geographic photographer is his dream job. It would let him see every corner of the world he wants to protect. "We are at a pivotal point in history, where we need to decide if we want to continue destroying our environment or find a way to live sustainably." |