ASU Now | August 15, 2019
As three Arizona State University alumni — Debbie Namugayi, Katherine Palmer and Patrick Ware — show, sustainability practices can be implemented into any career.
As a sustainability manager at Eastern Kentucky University, School of Sustainability alumna Debbie Namugayi works to implement broad policy sustainability initiatives across the entire campus. She also works on engaging students who aren’t necessarily concerned about sustainability, taking a different approach by incentivizing them with fun activities rather than asking them to make sacrifices. She previously worked at the University of Maryland where she promoted a “green chapter” program for Greek life and recently implemented a bike sharing project at the 16,000-strong Eastern Kentucky University.
A curator of education at the Musical Instruments Museum in Phoenix and a professional clarinet player with the Mill Ave Chamber Players, Katherine Palmer is an ASU School of Music alumna making an impact. For the past seven summers she has, journeyed to Tanzania to teach children about music, talk about conservation and plant the endangered mpingo trees — the source of the wood used to make clarinets. She is also the executive director of the Daraja Music Initiative. Members of the group have planted approximately 2,500 mpingo trees in Tanzania.
A brewmaster and co-founder of the Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., Patrick Ware is making waves in the brewing industry. Ware and his company have made several moves that show his commitment to sustainability. They partnered with Sinagua Malt, a partnership that boosted the cost of raw materials by about 30% but resulted in savings of “50 million gallons of water a month.” The company also successfully convinced their food distributor to pick up Arizona Grass Raised Beef which they now use in their burgers. Ware graduated in 2008 as an interdisciplinary studies major and began in the industry as a keg washer. In 2013, the Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. was named the best new brewery in the nation.