Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville

Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville, better known as SPEAK, works to raise awareness of environmental issues.

SPEAK strives to help students get involved in environmental action and wants to grow in its impact.

SPEAK has weekly garden days and public events. In the past, SPEAK has hosted a compost coalition and sustainable confetti initiative.

Madelyn Osburn is a junior studying evolutionary and ecology biology and a SPEAK member.

“We work in our garden, keeping the weeds down, putting compost down and cleaning up the garden in other ways,” Osburn said. “We also try to have a cleanup once a month, where we either clean up our section of Third Creek or organize a cleanup in some other part of Knoxville.”

Environmental Law

The Environmental Law Organization works to build future leaders of the community by allowing members to learn more about policy issues and broader environmental law.

Hunter Carr is a graduate student studying law and the president of ELO.

“Much of ELO’s programming focuses on bringing speakers to campus who can provide information about current environmental law topics as well as potential job opportunities for law students to work in the environmental field,” Carr said. “Outside of that, we promote fellowship among our members by hosting social events such as hikes and trash pickups.”

One of their biggest events is the Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.

The Appalachian Studies Club

The Appalachian Studies Club is dedicated to building a community of students looking to engage with Appalachia.

The club engages with Appalachian history and culture through various lectures. The club also focuses on community service and various field trips and events, giving its members the opportunity to learn more about this area and its rich history.

Emma Patterson, a senior majoring in history, is the president of the organization.

“One really cool project we started last year is selling stickers for Hurricane Helene relief,” Patterson said. “After selling them all, we ended up raising around $500 and donated the proceeds to the East Tennessee Foundation and AIDNET of Greene County.”

The Pulsera Project

The Pulsera Project is a nationwide nonprofit organization that works closely with artists of Central America to bring culture and education to schools across the country.

One of the main impacts of the Pulsera Project is the sale of hand-woven pulseras from these Central American artists to schools. The word “pulsera” is Spanish for bracelet. With each sale, artisans in Central America are offered continued employment.