Quincy Ipsaro
Quincy Ipsaro – Built Environment Intern 2020-2022
I graduated from the University of Kentucky in May 2022 with Bachelor degrees in Biology and Environmental and Sustainability Studies. During my time at the University of Kentucky, I was involved in many student organizations and positions focused on sustainability. I was on the Student Sustainability Council, was an ECO-Rep, and served as the Built Environment Intern in the Sustainability Internship Program for two years. Since graduating, I have also earned my Master of Business Administration from Northern Kentucky University and my LEED Green Associate Certification.
Sustainability has been the basis of my career since graduating. I began my professional career at the University of Cincinnati where I served as a Landscape Designer. There I designed outdoor classrooms to provide spaces for students to learn and connect with their natural environment, developed a hardscape materials reuse program, created a Tree Campus Care Plan, and even applied on the University of Cincinnati’s behalf for Tree Campus USA certification, which they were awarded. From this experience I realized how unique of an opportunity educational institutions have to serve as a testing site for sustainable concepts, schemes, and designs that can be learned from and applied to local and regional communities moving forward in an effort to create a more sustainable planet.
I have also seen the impact of your work environment serving as a microcosm for new ideas in sustainability through my current work at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. I have been at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for the past year and a half developing public programs to educate visitors on sustainability efforts at the zoo and now serve as a Sustainability Coordinator/Hydroponics Assistant.
In this role I help the zoo grow over 250 pounds of kale and lettuce each week in a vertical hydroponic system. In the month of July alone this project produced over 1300 pounds of food for animals like giraffes, hippos, manatees, and elephants. All of the food waste and growth substrate in the hydroponic system is fully compostable and is turned into usable compost with the help of our on-site aerobic digester. The zoo is a perfect example of multiple systems working together. From our 4300 mWatt solar panel array, over one million gallons of rainwater collection, and biodigester system the hydroponics system plays a part in use or production within each of these systems and helps make the organization as a whole more sustainable.
Due to my time at the University of Kentucky I learned the many broad fundamentals of sustainability and how each can play a role in the work I do professionally each day. The thing I find most crucial to success in implementing sustainable practices is collaboration. My best projects and ideas have come as a result of working with others because without other people and all the other aspects of sustainability, these efforts would not have been as impactful.
