Northern Michigan University graduate student and basketball career scoring record-holder Makaylee Kuhn will screen a video at next weekend's Fresh Coast Film Festival that highlights the sustainability efforts of Wildcat volleyball, initiated by assistant coach and former standout player Sarah Kuehn. Both say the intent is to inspire other teams at NMU and beyond to incorporate small changes that will benefit the environment. Kuhn also established the Green Athletics working group last year with the goal of making Northern the greenest school in the GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference).
Kuhn embarked on the video as a senior capstone project for the bachelor's degree in environmental science she completed last spring. She had conducted a general survey of NMU Athletics personnel related to sustainability and reached out for in-person interviews.
“I got great feedback from Sarah and her players,” Kuhn said. “Once I realized volleyball was really setting an example within the athletic department ingraining sustainability into their culture, I thought it would be cool to show that so other teams and the Marquette community in general are aware of what's happening and might be inspired to try something similar,” she said. “It would also be great if other teams in the GLIAC saw this and made changes to their programs.”
Assistant coach Kuehn said her awareness of the potential for sustainable strides in Northern's volleyball program began when she was a player. When the team traveled, the coaches used to purchase cases of plastic water bottles. While a common practice, Kuehn said it bothered her because she personally hadn't used those for a long time and some were tossed away when they were only half empty.
“So I suggested we bring our NMU-issued reusable water bottles and have a water jug on the on the bus to eliminate the need for plastic bottles, and also that we sub reusable grocery bags for plastic ones when we bought snacks for road trips. We took it further when I joined the coaching staff, taking reusable utensils with us to replace the amount of plastic ones we used on the road. I just saw those little opportunities, and the coaches recognized my passion and were so receptive to my ideas. The players have become more curious about recycling and other aspects than resistant, which is to their credit. It's a little extra work up front, but I think they've fully embraced it, which is awesome.”
Kuhn had the vision for the video, wrote the script, provided the voice-over narration and guided editing decisions. But without any previous video production experience, she relied heavily on Mark Shevy, head of the Communications and Media Studies Department, to handle most of the technical work. They spent most of the last academic year on the project. They also received help acquiring video from Professor Dwight Brady, Kobe Manzo (now digital media manager for NMU Athletics) and alumna/former volleyball player Evynn Layshock, who recorded material on road trips and was interviewed in the video.
Earlier this semester, Kuhn addressed a mandatory all-athlete meeting in Jamrich Hall. She discussed the Green Athletics program, a student-driven working group consisting of student-athletes, coaches and other administrators striving to create and promote sustainable changes within NMU's Athletic Department. Kuhn also showed her video.
“Afterward, it got a big round of applause and tons of compliments,” she said. “I wasn't expecting that. It wouldn't have been possible without Mark's help and contributions from Sarah, Evynn and the entire team.”
Kuhn and Kuehn are central Wisconsin natives, from Hilbert and Green Bay, respectively. Both credit their mothers with instilling in them an awareness of and commitment to the environment.
“My mom was my Girl Scout leader when I was younger,” Kuhn said. “I was always surrounded by both her and my grandma talking about their love of nature and these practices. So it was definitely a part of me. When I went off to college, I decided to pursue a major in environmental science. I was always passionate about sustainability, so why not potentially make a career out of it?”
“My mom was big on recycling and would always correct my dad on what goes into what bin,” Kuehn added. “And I was just mindful about that. And so I really appreciate her. It was just the small things, and then all of a sudden I became passionate about it. I've since taken it further than she ever did, and sometimes it's funny, because now I'm correcting her about what she can recycle and whatnot.”
The seven-minute video, titled “Serving as an Example: Small Sustainability Steps to Make a Big Difference,” will have two Fresh Coast Film Fest screenings: at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at Ore Dock Brewing Co.; and at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at Blackrocks Brewery. Learn more here.
