Heya! We’re the 2012/13 Steering Committee for Common Energy UBC. The Steering Committee is made up of the Director, Assistant Director, Finance Coordinator, and each of the team Coordinators and Co-Coordinators. We oversee the “big-picture” vision for Common Energy and work together to facilitate connections between teams, plan larger collaborative events, and build community within the broader team.
- Director – Quinn Runkle
- Assistant Director – Amy Jiang
- Finance Coordinator – Khushi Chachcha
- Challenges Co-Coordinator – Connie Chen
- Challenges Co-Coordinator – Samantha Davis
- Education Coordinator – Abi Bradford
- Dialogue Coordinator – Maegan Cowan
- Tangible Solutions Co-Coordinator – Shiori Ito
- Tangible Solutions Co-Coordinator – Jenny Liu
- Food Coordinator – Corina Santema
Get to know the team!
Director – Quinn Runkle
Hi everyone! My name’s Quinn and this is my fourth year with Common Energy UBC and my second year as Director. In my first year I was involved with the Challenges team and was the coordinator for that team in my second year. This is an organization that I care very deeply about – it’s an amazing community of passionate individuals who make real change at UBC and beyond. I hope you’ll join us this year to work toward a more sustainable UBC which can act as a model for communities everywhere.
I’m originally from Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast and grew up playing outside and have been passionate about the environment since I was young. I am currently a 4th year Arts student majoring in Geography with a concentration in Environment and Sustainability and minoring in Political Science.
Other than Common Energy, I’m involved with UBCC350 (ubcc350.org), the Youth Advisory Group for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and the Pacific Advisory Council for the World Wildlife Fund.
Assistant Director – Amy Jiang
Hello! My name is Amy and I am a third year science student, majoring in biology. I am interested in animal biodiversity and conservation issues. My enthusiasm for sustainability initiatives led me to join the Common Energy Challenges team in my first year, and since then, I have been inspired by the dedication and passion of all of our members. This year, I am thrilled to be serving as the assistant director. Aside from Common Energy, I can be found telling people about blue whales or casually running half marathons.
Finance Coordinator – Khushi Chachcha
Challenges Co-Coordinator – Connie Chen
Connie grew up near Vancouver, BC with a sense of responsibility for the environment and is a second year Commerce student. She joined Common Energy in September 2011 as a member of Challenges, when recruiting other new members. Whenever she is not attempting to study, Connie can be found volunteering at Sprouts, playing tennis on campus, or baking vegan and gluten-free treats. Connie is excited to co-lead Challenges with Samantha in 2012!
Challenges Co-Coordinator – Samantha Davis
Samantha is a 2nd year Forestry student studying Natural Resources Conservation. She will be new to the Common Energy team this year and is thrilled to be co coordinating the Challenges team. Outside the classroom she can usually be found at Whistler or skiing somewhere with the UBC alpine ski team. Apart from shredding powder, she also likes to run, play lacrosse, go to the beach, dance like a crazy person, watch hockey and try new things! If you ever need to get on her good side she can’t resist sushi (lots and lots of sushi) or coffee!
Dialogue Coordinator – Maegan Cowan
Maegan is a fourth year International Relations student in the faculty of arts. She joined the CE challenges team in her second year after serving on the Totem Park Sustainability Committee. She helped organize the first ever Do It in the Dark competition as well as UBC’s Earth Hour event. Over the past year she has been looking at ancient temples, learning to avoid stinky tofu and writing far too
many essays on exchange in China. She is super excited to jump back into Common Energy and lead the dialogue team!
Tangible Solutions Co-Coordinator – Shiori Ito
Tangible Solutions Co-Coordinator – Jenny Liu
Hello, friend! :). I’m Jenny, and I’m currently enjoying my third year at UBC. My favourite pastime is probably somewhere between reading an amazing book for the first time (or Harry Potter for the 15th time.. no exaggeration), doing crazy fun things with my friends, and jamming out with my guitar. I also like to pretend I’m cool by wobbling around on my longboard.. you’ll probably see me cruising slowly along around campus! In terms of environmentalism, I don’t quite remember when it became a priority in my life, but all I know now is that I want this incredible planet to be able to support the amazing creatures that call it the only home they’ll ever know. I think it’s a race against time and ourselves; only together can we make a change that will make a change, as convoluted and cliched as that sounds. So let’s join hands and step up to the challenge, shall we? Welcome to Common Energy!!
Food Coordinator – Corina Santema
This is Corina’s third year in Common Energy. In second year she Co-Coordinated Challenges and this year she’s taking on The Food Group. Between taking third year Food, Nutrition and Health classes, volunteering at Sprouts, and The Food Group she spends a lot of her day thinking, eating and celebrating food. She also enjoys running, camping, and meeting anyone and everyone around campus! She has also been involved as a Student Ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund and has been involved in Imagine Day. UBC lover and proud LFSer over here!
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