Molly Holt, Class of 2012
Environmental Leadership with Howard Ernst
Molly Holt is a senior at Gettysburg College and is currently participating in the Eisenhower Institute program, Environmental Leadership. Molly is from Lancaster, PA just about an hour away from Gettysburg. She is an English major with a writing concentration, with a particular love for creative writing. Molly is very active on the Gettysburg campus, she is a member of the Gettysburg Women’s Cross Country team, she enjoys being formal social chair for Chi Omega Sorority, being a member of the Senior Gift Committee, and working for the Eisenhower Institute as the Social Media Co-Director.
Below is a Q & A with Molly Holt about her experience with the Eisenhower Institute program, Environmental Leadership.
Molly, how did you learn about the Eisenhower Institute, Environmental Leadership program?
Molly: I learned about the program through the Student Digest, which I followed semi-regularly when I was abroad. The environmental program stood out to me because I had just taken an energy economics course that focused a lot on sustainable energy sources. This program seemed like a great opportunity to continue my education on sustainable energy, as well as broaden my knowledge on the environment. After being abroad, I became even more interested in the idea because of the stark difference in the European energy market and the American energy market. Even outside of the economics, the everyday person was much more aware of their impact on the environment in Europe as compared to the United States. I want to understand why, and how we can change that. This program seemed to be a great opportunity to engage with these ideas.
What do you hope to learn from your participation?
Molly: I hope to focus my research topic on a sector of sustainable energy, both the economics and the marketability of sustainable energy. I want to gain an understanding about the populations’ opinion on sustainable energy. Our world is dying, but people are not willing to pay extra to save it. Does this resistance revolve around an uneducated viewpoint or simply a stubborn one? I want to gather research on the most frequent sustainable practices in Europe and the most economically smart sustainable practices, then compare the two to see which practices would be smartest to try to implement in America. That’s just the beginning of an idea though!
Emily Hamilton
Co-Director of Social Media
Eisenhower Institute Gettysburg College
Interested in participating in an Eisenhower Institute Program? Check out www.eisenhowerinstitute.org
