For St. Thomas senior Lewis Segl, protecting the environment is more than just a part-time job. It means working every day toward creating a more sustainable world; a philosophy that may make him America’s Next Eco-Star.

Segl, who is the Undergraduate Student Government sustainability committee student chairman and Green Team president, is one of 133 environmentally-conscious students from across the country who are in the running to be America’s Next Eco-Star.

“I just like the thought of saving what we have for future generations,” Segl said.

The competition, sponsored by SmartPower and the U.S. Department of Energy, is a nationwide search for the next clean-energy and environmentally conscious leaders. The winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Sustainable Future’s Academy at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria and a fellowship at the Washington, D.C., office of SmartPower. The winning contestant’s university will receive $1,000 to use toward sustainability improvements.

Junior Jesse Stock nominated Segl for the competition. Stock described Segl as “the most active person on our campus in both sustainability and environmental responsibility.”

“He’s the face of environmental activism on campus. He makes sure that everyone is doing their part to make the campus a more sustainable and eco-friendly place,” Stock said.

Stock is also a member of the Green Team and the USG Student Sustainability Committee. He said if Segl won, he would like to see the money donated to the next Campus Sustainability Fund or to the Green Space on South Campus.

Segl was the first nominee in the competition, and is the only one from Minnesota.

Segl’s involvement in sustainability issues began at an early age and continued into college. As a St. Thomas freshman, he began work with the recycling program. Inspired by his boss and his work on campus, Segl joined Green Team, a group that raises environmental awareness within the St. Thomas community. In his junior year, he became the Student Sustainability Committee chair and in his senior year, Green Team president.

This year, Segl was involved in creating the UST Campus Sustainability Fund, which is a $50,000 fund for sustainable improvements that will offset carbon outputs. The goal is for St. Thomas to become carbon neutral by 2035.

“St. Thomas is trying to offset all the pollution we put in the air. From the Catholic standpoint of our college, we’re stewards of the earth, so it’s our responsibility to make sure that we take care of our planet. Not only for now, but also for the future,” he said.

The fund has allocated $15,000 for the restoration of an oak tree savanna. The trees will offset pollution by sequestering carbon out of the air and will double as an outdoor laboratory for biology students.

“That was just from the first year of our campus sustainability fun. Even though $50,000 is a lot, it’d be nice to get a little more backing and be able to fund more projects,” Segel said, “It’s just kind of a way to help us reduce carbon every single year in order to meet that goal. ” l.

If he won the competition, Segl said he would like to see the $1,000 donated to the Campus Sustainability Fund.

Though he is graduating in the spring, Segl is confident about the leadership in place for next year’s sustainability programs and USG.

“We’ve had a really strong year. The leadership has greatly improved this year,” Segl said. “We’ve got Mike Orth; he’s our president now and will be our president next year too. We’ve got a strong exec board. Most of them are coming back. So it’ll be nice to see the same leadership and improved leadership next year.”

In the future, Segl said that he would like to work for Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources and hopes that the St. Thomas community will continue moving forward in promoting sustainability.

“We need to act on what we actually teach. It’d be nice to see more outside the classroom type of work for the community, for the environment.”

The competition is in its voting, round and Segl must rank in the top ten in online votes by Feb. 24 to move onto the next round.

“If I win, it’d be a big step for St. Thomas, knowing that we have the leadership here and the fact that we’re trying to make the world a better place through this type of action,” he said.

Voting for America’s Next Eco-Star can be found on America’s Next Eco-Star’s Facebook page.

Amanda Ogbuehi can be reached ogbu0322@stthomas.edu.