Graduate Student Aims to Put Green Shuttle on the Road

Christine Clark | April 14, 2008

Melanie Zauscher speaks during a press conference on sustainability.

Melanie Zauscher’s graduate work in the department of mechanical engineering at UC San Diego is time-consuming, but she still has managed to serve as the graduate representative of the Advisory Committee on Sustainability and is the co-lead of the Greenline Biodiesel Shuttle Project on campus.

Through her work with the project, Zauscher is helping catapult an ambitious initiative to cut the campus’s CO2 emissions. The project was thought through by students who pushed to have campus shuttles operate on 100 percent biodiesel fuel. “We found out the buses have been using 20 percent biodiesel fuel, but we thought we could do more,” Zauscher said.

She and other students secured an agreement with Caterpillar, Inc. to donate an engine designed to be used in a new shuttle, which will arrive on campus in June. “We just want to show the campus it can work and I hope the bus is a model for other fleets,” Zauscher said.

Zauscher also established last year the Sustainability Awards program to recognize students, staff, faculty, departments and community members, who have demonstrated a commitment to sustainability. The awards will be part of this year’s Earth Week celebrations and take place at 4 p.m., April 22 at Eucalyptus Point.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox attended the 2007 ceremony and will be present this year as well. “I hope these awards become institutionalized because individuals committed to sustainability should be recognized and encouraged,” she said.

Zauscher transferred to UCSD as an undergraduate in fall 2001 and graduated in 2003 with a degree in environmental chemistry. She returned to UCSD in fall 2005 to enroll in the mechanical engineering doctoral program, where her research focuses on the environmental and health impacts of particulate matter.

She said she has seen an improvement in UCSD’s sustainability efforts and is amazed at the dedication of some students on campus. “Students are much more aware of sustainability now,” Zauscher said. “It seems to be growing movement.”

Zauscher is a committed environmentalist and vegetarian who recycles, takes the shuttle, uses biodiesel in her vehicle and buys local products when possible.  “Helping the environment is a part of my values,” she said. “I can’t not do it.”