J-term travel goes carbon neutral

Donations help preserve and protect Guatemalan rainforest

In the upcoming J-term, all study abroad travel will be carbon neutral for the second consecutive year. 

The project was implemented in January 2023, when a study-abroad environmental culture class used online carbon emissions calculators to determine how much carbon was being emitted throughout Augustana’s J-term trips. During the 13 trips, 276 metric tons of carbon were added to the atmosphere during plane rides. 

Retired biology professor Craig Spencer, government professor Jennapher Lunde Seefeldt and Spanish professor Pilar Cabrera Fonte led the environmental culture course in Guatemala. 

“We didn’t feel good about that. We never felt good about it, even the students… for the benefit of their education,” Spencer said. “But we know there are some tradeoffs and one of those has been adding to the problem we’re having with carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere.” 

In order to offset the carbon emissions in 2023, Augustana —with the help of an anonymous  donor — donated $10,000 in carbon credits to Bio-Itzá, an indigenous Mayan Itzán non-profit organization that oversees 8,000 acres of rainforest in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve.  

“Tropical rainforests are the most productive carbon sinks, which just means that they capture the most amount of carbon,” senior Kira Van Roekel, a Spanish and environmental studies major, said. 

The carbon dioxide emitted is naturally processed through plant photosynthesis. However, the carbon credits are used by Bio-Itzá to preserve and maintain the reserve by planting more trees, hiring forest rangers to guard against deforestation attempts and organizing efforts to purchase more land to expand the reserve. 

Additionally, the donations are used to fund a school to teach the Spanish language.  

According to Van Roekel, Bio-Itzá is currently in the process of sending employees to Guatemala City, the country’s capital, to arrange forest management plans in order for the organization to be approved to purchase more land. 

“Rainforests are the most quickly deforested biome on the planet, so to be doing something with Bio-Itzá and helping them protect the rainforests, that is so crucial,” Van Roekel said.

Spencer said when entering this carbon agreement, Augustana wanted Bio-Itzá to have spending discretion when deciding how to use the carbon credits. 

“They’re the experts, so we’re just basically acknowledging that we’re contributing to increases in [carbon dioxide] in the atmosphere, and we’re offsetting that by supporting their work,” Spencer said. 

Erin Kane, co-director of the International Programs Office, said the carbon credits were donated to Bio-Itzá because of Augustana’s longstanding partnership with the organization. However, as this initiative develops, she said the IPO is exploring other organizations who might also be recipients of the carbon credit donations. 

Spencer initially discovered Bio-Itzá when on a trip to Guatemala on his 2006 sabbatical. With the help of five other Augustana professors, Spencer has introduced the university to the nonprofit organization through J-term trips since 2007.

Despite his retirement in 2021, Spencer returned to help teach his favorite class in 2023. However, he said he wants to pass the class on to new professors. 

 “If they need help, I’ll go in a heartbeat,” Spencer said.  

For her senior thesis, Van Roekel is partnering with the IPO to rethink the $10,000 carbon credit donation in order to keep J-term travel carbon neutral for the foreseeable future.   

“I just thought it should be something that we should try and implement every year since we have students that are traveling every year,” Van Roekel said.  

Using an algorithm designed by Van Roekel, Kane and Van Roekel determined how much of each student’s IPO fee would have to be put towards the carbon credit donation in order to properly offset the total J-term carbon emissions. 

Currently, the IPO builds a $200 fee into every student’s bill as a contingency fee. Using the algorithm, Van Roekel and Kane determined that if $60 from each student’s IPO fee was set aside, another $10,000 in carbon credits could be donated to Bio-Itzá, effectively making J-term travel carbonneutral for the second year in a row. 

Additionally, Kane said this algorithmic model could be implemented in future J-terms in order to maintain carbon neutrality. 

“That was a big thing when Kira and I started talking about it this semester. We don’t want to institute just one more fee because that seems to happen too much,” Kane said. 

Van Roekel said she looks forward to seeing how Bio-Itzá will continue to use the carbon credits to preserve the rainforest and the Mayan Itzán culture. 

“To be able to say that you are actively making an effort to make not only your study abroad carbon neutral but supporting a very important group in an underdeveloped country is something really cool,” Van Roekel said. 

President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin said she is excited that sustainability efforts like Van Roekel’s thesis are a collaborative initiative between students and staff, she said she encourages students to advocate for their interests. 

“We know that this generation of students is particularly passionate and informed on the issues, that we have colleagues across campus who’ve been doing this work for a lot of years and it is always a nice hook to inspire those types of conversations, but then beyond the conversation to specific actions like the partnership,”  Herseth Sandlin said. 

Junior Annie Johnston, an Augustana Student Association senator and the chair of sustainability in the housing and dining committee, said she appreciates that Augustana is fulfilling its sustainability goals in the Viking Bold strategic plan.  

“I think it sets a standard for other universities to follow through with sustainable initiatives. You can talk your talk all you want, but unless you follow it up with action, there’s not really much to be said about those core values,” Johnston said. 

Moving forward, Johnston said she hopes to implement carbon neutral travel policies in all study abroad, athletic and Augustana-sponsored travel. 

“By proposing this really big change in the way we offset our J-term travel, it hopefully will open the door to other sustainable policies in and around Augustana,” Johnston said.