Get to Know the Florida Tech Environmental Club

When I came in as a freshman, Florida Tech did not have an Environmental Club. During the fall semester of my freshman year, a friend of mine, Zach Eichholz, came to me with an idea to start one. I loved the idea, so we began the process of establishing a new club. We spent the next few weeks finding potential club members, locating an advisor and filling out the paperwork. In mid-October, we were approved to start the club. We held our first meeting the following spring.

Fast forward two years later, our club has grown. We have a full executive board and we meet biweekly. We hold trash and beach cleanups, have guest speakers, attend local community events and organize environmental awareness events. We also participate in Florida Tech’s Relay for Life.

We have come a long way since our first meeting. We now collaborate with a number of local environmental organizations such as the Marine Resources Council and Keep Brevard Beautiful. We attend many local events both on and off-campus including Recycle Brevard and  the Ron Jon Beach ‘n Boards Fest. Our club is primarily a service organization, so if you’re an incoming freshman, we can help you out with your service hour requirements whether or not you choose to be a member of the club.

Additionally, we are also an academically diverse organization. We have members from a number of fields. I am an environmental science major. Zach, our vice-president, is a sustainability major. Our treasurer, Nancy, is a business major, our secretary and Relay for Life chair, Diego, a mechanical engineering major, and our historian/webmaster, Heather, is a computer science major. Environmental issues are relevant to students of all majors and we welcome and embrace diversity among our members.

If you are looking for a good club to get involved with, I’d encourage you to consider FTEC during your search. A full listing and description of clubs at Florida Tech can be found here.