A well-known Lincoln alumnus was on campus recently to honour a second-year planning student’s commitment to the environment.
Athol McCully and fellow Southern Environmental Trust Committee members, Alan McKinnon and Kim Tanner, presented Max Lichtenstein with the trust’s annual scholarship.
Max is in his second year of a Bachelor of Environmental Policy and Planning (Hons) degree and was delighted to receive the $1500 award, which the trust established 10 years ago.
Scholarships Advisor Sue Smart said they “couldn’t have chosen a better person”, as Max has participated in a number of Lincoln University projects that aim to raise awareness of environmental issues.
Last year, he was involved in a project known as Count Your Chickens, which involved providing Springston Primary School with its own chicken coop.
“The idea was to educate kids about not wasting food and getting them to bring food scraps from home to feed the hens,” Max said. “Then people from the school and wider community can enjoy the eggs that the hens provide.”
Max is now working with a group of other students on developing a community garden for the University.
“The ultimate goal would be if Lincoln grew its own food and served it on campus, but we’re starting small with herbs that people can use in cooking,” he said. “We’d ideally like the garden to be centrally located on campus and people could work on it, as well as take produce to use at home.”
The Southern Environmental Trust members were unanimous in their selection of Max as this year’s scholarship recipient.
“We’re really pleased to be able to do this, because as a Lincoln alumnus, the ability to give back is really important,” said Mr McCully.
The Southern Environmental Trust began in 1995 through the Rotary Club of Christchurch South. It holds annual forums to encourage education and discussion about environmental issues.
Ms Smart said the trust’s work linked closely with Lincoln’s environment-related programmes.
As part of his scholarship, Max will speak at a Rotary Club meeting in the next few months.