Durga Raja ’25 is an environmental and resource economics and sustainability dual major from Nashua, New Hampshire. She is currently completing a Sustainability Fellowship, awarded by UNH’s Sustainability Institute, at Placework. She is helping the architecture firm understand the environmental impact of the buildings they design.
Durga Raja: I applied for the Sustainability Fellowship program because it is a great way to get hands-on experience with sustainability work and connect with organizations and businesses that want to make a positive impact.
Durga: This summer I am working with Placework, a small architecture firm based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to calculate the total carbon emissions of their building designs. My focus is calculating embodied carbon emissions for three of Placework’s building designs to show the impact embodied carbon has on the built environment, and to give them a baseline of the environmental impact of their buildings.
Durga: During this fellowship, I hope to help Placework advance their sustainability goals by giving them a baseline to work from, which would allow them to have the tools and methodology to incorporate both embodied and operational carbon accounting into all their future building designs.
Also, I am hoping this project shows the importance of measuring and calculating embodied carbon emissions. The built environment is responsible for roughly half of global greenhouse gas emissions, so it is important to reduce those emissions, and I hope my work highlights that importance.
Durga: This experience is showing me how big of an impact organizations and businesses have on climate change and how much positive impact they can have by doing this work and reducing their emissions. Through this fellowship, I get to work with Placework and gain insight into the architecture industry, in which I have very little prior knowledge on, and apply the skills I am learning in classes and internships at UNH.
"The built environment is responsible for roughly half of global greenhouse gas emissions, so it is important to reduce those emissions, and I hope my work highlights that importance."
Durga: The classes I have taken at UNH have allowed me to explore my interests in economics, environmental science, policy and sustainability, and my internship through the UNH Sustainability Institute has allowed me to delve deeper into greenhouse gas accounting and the impact carbon emissions have on the environment. Almost all my classes and experiences have been rooted in sustainable, social, and environmental good and they have taught me the importance of finding sustainable solutions that benefit both people and the planet.
Durga: UNH gives students the opportunity to do a dual major that can add aspects to your primary major that you never even considered before. These dual majors give a different perspective to various topics and allow you to meet other students outside of your college /major. I highly recommend the Sustainability Dual Major!
Durga: I love being outdoors and I have been able to take classes like Wilderness Navigation and Top Rope Rock Climbing at UNH!
