Major: Civil Engineering
Minor: Sustainability
Hometown: Traverse City, Michigan

Sage Brown loves the world. A rising senior civil engineering major from Traverse City, Michigan, Brown is passionate about preserving the world's resources for several reasons, not least of which being so that they can continue to explore it. While at Rose, the Noblitt Scholar has had the opportunity to study sustainability in Ecuador, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Peru. Brown applied learnings gained while studying in Ireland during the Fall 2024 quarter, completing an integrated design project that involved planning an office building for a development project. Brown’s travels have also taken them to France, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Denmark.

They also completed an internship in highway design and water resources with Lochmueller Group.

"I have always had an interest in sustainability, but my [Introduction to Sustainability] class is what really drove me to pursue a career in it," Brown said. "After this class, I wanted to continue pursuing my interests in sustainability while traveling, so I spent the summer in Ecuador, where I took classes about ecosystems and environmental policy."

Brown appreciated the opportunity to understand the infusion of sustainability into cultures, exploring the impact of climate change on Ecuadorian ecosystems and air quality substitutes in Irish cities that lack space for natural trees.

"Something I noticed everywhere during this program [in Ecuador] was how much sustainability was engrained into the culture in Ecuador, and how even people with very little background in it were still very conscious of the impact they left on our planet," Brown said. "This is something that I have carried with me since and that I hope to bring to my future work as an engineer."

This summer, Brown is interning with Ecoswell, a nongovermental organization (NGO) in Lobitos, Peru, on their water and sanitation projects. They are currently working on a project to drill a borehole and build a pump system for a community without access to groundwater, resolving challenges from 2023 El Niño flooding that wiped out the water infrastructure.

“Ecoswell has interns from all over the world, which has been really cool to work with a diverse set of people,” Brown said. “The community here is really small, so I’ve been able to get to know people really well and improve my Spanish skills from when I was in Ecuador.”

The interns plant trees in local communities every Wednesday, in addition to performing their own recreational water “tests.”

“Lobitos is famous around the world for surfing, so I’ve taken the opportunity to learn to surf in my free time,” Brown said. “It’s definitely a challenge, but you learn really fast here because the waves are so difficult.”

 Brown also advanced their passion for sustainability through projects in the Noblitt leadership seminars. "My group chose to focus on improving accessibility of biking in Terre Haute, with the goal of reducing overall transport by cars," Brown said. "I created a comprehensive plan to increase the number of people commuting to Rose-Hulman by bicycle. This project was a huge passion of mine, and I hope to see aspects of it implemented in the future."

Brown also works as a student assistant in the Student Activities office and as part of the social media team for Communications & Marketing. They previously served as a Sophomore Adviser in Scharpenberg Hall. They hope to use their passion for sustainability to create a clean, safe world for all to explore.