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Do you want to make a real world impact in the field of sustainability? The UT Office of Sustainability operates one of the largest on-campus composting operations in the country. Composting diverts plant, agricultural, and food waste away from the landfill, and is a vital component of sustainability at the University of Tennessee. The Compost Operations Student Assistant will be responsible for helping the Compost Supervisor and Operations Specialist maintain the daily operations of a two acre Compost Facility. They will be expected to run and maintain heavy equipment, turn compost windrows, make compost deliveries as needed, and keep proper records of collected data. This position will be expected to help direct the compost and manure drivers to dump raw materials to the site and ensure safe driving practices are adhered to. Students will gain experience with commercial-scale composting and learn the benefits of diverting organic material from landfills. Experience in an outdoor industrial/construction/landscaping environment is preferred, but not required! We are willing to train you if you're willing to learn. Reliable transportation is required, UT Compost Facility is not on main campus. Responsibilities include: - Works to improve efficiency of compost operations and high quality output
- Maintains cleanliness of the site, workspaces, and equipment/vehicles
- Assists with preventative maintenance on heavy equipment
- Uses field equipment to measure compost quality metrics and accurately record data
- Operates heavy equipment to help process organic waste into finished compost and maintain facility operations
- Haul organic materials from campus to the Compost Facility via trucks/trailers
- Assists in the delivery of compost to locations on campus
- Cleaning compost bins and removing contamination from organic materials
- Other duties as assigned
Schedule: Flexible, but needs to occur during regular work day hours. 10-20 hours available per week for the entirety of the academic school year, with availability for the assistant to work 40 hours per week during the summer, if available. These hours will be Monday-Friday between 7am-5pm, but our department is also expected to work during most home football games late at night on weekends. Skills/competencies you will learn on the job: - Science and art of composting.
- The benefits of diverting organic material from landfills.
- Heavy equipment operation and preventative maintenance skills.
- Problem solving skills.
- In-the-field data collection.
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