Hello Morris Model community,
My name is Talitha Anderson and I am thrilled to be the new Morris Model Coordinator. Since starting last month, I have already met so many people and am in love with this community. It is such an honor to be able to work with and serve Morris!
I graduated this past May with my B.S. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and a double minor in Climatology and Sustainability Studies. I believe that real change starts at the ground level, in small, local communities like Morris, and that community engagement and involvement is key to successful initiatives. During my studies, I learned a lot about clean energy, environmental justice, and how sustainability goes beyond rain gardens and composting (though these are super important!). Sustainability starts with addressing community needs and that is what I hope to do in my new role. I also got to study abroad for a couple of weeks in Germany with Troy Goodnough, Sustainability Director at the University of Minnesota Morris, and had the chance to visit Saerbeck, Morris’s sister city. I am excited to use the lessons we learned in Saerbeck to further the rural sustainable model community we have here in Morris.
Before coming to Morris, I was the Program Coordinator for the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability, an organization that works to advance a more just and sustainable Upper Midwest (University of Minnesota Morris is a member campus!), and interned with the City of La Crescent, Minnesota on sustainability initiatives and community engagement around energy efficiency, solar incentives, and heat pumps through the Clean Energy Leader & Sustainability Corps programs at the UMN Institute on the Environment.
While I am not originally from Minnesota, I have lived in the Twin Cities suburbs for more than a decade now. Before that, I lived from coast to coast, and up in northern North Dakota for three years. I’m not the only one excited about the opportunity to be in Morris – my great-grandma lived here her whole life and is buried here, my grandpa grew up here, and my dad lived here until third grade – so I think my family might be more thrilled that I have returned to their old stomping grounds than I am. When I am not at the Met Lounge on Wednesday nights for trivia or meeting with people on the job, you can probably find me playing Quadball (Quidditch from Harry Potter) with the summer Quadball league in Minneapolis, curled up on the couch with my roommate’s dog and cat watching a show, or baking lemon bars.
Want to connect or get involved with the Morris Model work? Feel free to email me at talitha@ci.morris.mn.us or stop by my current office at the University of Minnesota Morris Welcome Center, Room 213.
Morris Model 