Chuckie Harris and Carolina Van Horn presented the results of their energy audit to Whitman’s Conservation Committee on Thursday, Oct. 2. Last semester, then-sophomore Chuckie Harris and senior Carolina Van Horn undertook the project for their environmental studies major. Both fulfilled their one-credit internship through this project, which sought to measure Whitman’s total carbon emissions. Amy Moliter, Whitman’s Academic Assistant for Environmental Studies, oversaw their progress.

The two students used a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tool called the Campus Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Calculator. The non-profit organization Clean Air Cool Planet released the calculator, and schools such as Harvard University, Middlebury College and Smith College have all used it to determine their greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the energy audit couldn’t be completed because the task overwhelmed the two environmental studies majors. The audit requires a spectrum of information from calculating how many miles Whitman faculty fly for academic conferences to the carbon emissions of Whitman’s farmland. Currently, student groups such as Campus Climate Challenge plan to attempt the energy audit again next semester.