All posts by islandschoolblog

Alumni Spotlight: Dominique Keefe (S’07)!

We love hearing from our alumni, especially when they fill us in on all the interesting things they are doing in their lives post-Island School! Dominique Keefe, alumna of Spring 2007, began working at a clean energy investment start-up in Montreal in July 2012 called Inerjys. As soon as the company’s current fundraising phase is complete, they will be investing in two asset classes–growth equity in clean energy technology companies, and project finance in infrastructure projects that actually use those technologies, globally. Dominique explains that the basic idea behind it is that “cleantech investing has been pretty fraught with poor returns and bankruptcies in the last decade, and so we’re taking a new approach that we hope will really facilitate the movement of renewable energy into the mainstream market.  The purpose of the two asset classes is to give our growth equity portfolio companies revenues and references when they sell their product to a project we are investing in.  This helps “de-risk” the technology and makes other investors comfortable with it, leading the way to more projects and deployments, etc.”

Although Dominique graduated from Barnard College with a degree in biology Continue reading

Fall 2012 Lunch in Boston!

Although it has been just over a week since the Fall 2012 students returned home from their semester The Island School, that did not stop a group of them from getting together for lunch in Boston this Saturday. Nine members of the F’12 semester from the greater Boston area met up in Harvard Square with Island School’s Cam Powel and Hannah Mauck to see some familiar faces and also have the opportunity to talk about all things Island School. Welcome back! We hope to see you all at the January 5th reunion! Make sure to RSVP by emailing alumni@islandschool.org.

Maggie Bland, Chapin Atwood, Phoebe Shaw, Eunna Oh, Hadley Edie, Korinna Garfield, Jake Varsano, Campbell Peck, and Nathaneal Matlack
Maggie Bland, Chapin Atwood, Phoebe Shaw, Eunna Oh, Hadley Edie, Korinna Garfield, Jake Varsano, Campbell Peck, and Nathaneal Matlack

First Bio-Gas Stove in The Bahamas Installed at The Island School!

Check out the press release in The Eleutheran about the first bio-gas stove in The Bahamas installed at The Island School!

Screen shot 2012-12-14 at 3.38.16 PMThe Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) are eager to celebrate the implementation of an innovative technology with the potential to revolutionize regional waste management, while enhancing energy independence and agricultural development. Last week, members of the facilities department teamed up with Island School students to install the first bio-gas burning stove in The Bahamas

Bio-gas is the usable energy created during the process of biodigestion, which processes organic waste into usable gas and nutrient rich fertilizer, uniquely addressing a number of local issues. With deep thanks to Derek Francis General Manager and Daron Lloyd, Sales Manager at Master Technicians in Nassau who donated the stove, Founder Chris Maxey proudly declared “Now we will literally be taking human waste and processing it into a safe and inexpensive form of energy that we can use to cook our food. And, we will be doing it all on-site, on our campus. What is more energy-independent than that?”

The organization’s renewable energy portfolio also Continue reading

Support New York Sun Work’s Newest Rooftop Hydroponic Greenhouse Classroom!

New York Sun Works, friend of both Chris Maxey and The Island School, is having a fundraiser for Williamsburg’s PS 84 Rooftop Hydroponic Greenhouse Classroom and they need our support! The fundraiser is at 6:30pm on December 15th at Saints Peter & Paul Theater -Williamsburg . To learn more about NY Sun Works, you can visit their website here. If you are interested in attending the fundraiser, you can buy your tickets here. We hope you are able to come out and support this great effort!