Profile » Summer Montacute

An unlikely pair ultimately led to Summer Montacute’s career in environmentalism — her parents and the many sheep that outnumber people in her native land.

“Growing up in New Zealand, I was surrounded by nature,” said Montacute. “My parents helped me understand that we are a part of [nature] and not separate from it.”

Montacute, a green specialist working to make the House more environmentally-friendly as part of the Green the Capitol Initiative, has spent the better part of her life protecting nature.

Her passion for conservation began early.

“I would put together posters about saving the forests of New Zealand and organize little protests at recess,” she said.

At age 10, Montacute moved to Seattle and continued to learn about the environment and her place in it.

She spent one of her summers working for a non-profit called the Washington Public Interest Group, where she lobbied for stricter emissions standards and tested for pollutants in the water of Puget Sound.

Her interest grew into a passion and she decided to pursue an environmental science and public policy degree at Harvard University.

There, Montacute educated the students in her dormitory on the environment as part of the Harvard Resource Efficiency program.

Breaks from college were spent in a slew of eco-friendly adventures, including: working with elephants, planting native Hawaiian plants and studying some of the oldest trees in the world, to name a few.

During the summer of her freshman year, she studied 13 extremely dangerous elephants at a wildlife sanctuary in Arkansas. Many of the elephants were former circus performers that had been abused and had either killed or injured people.

The sanctuary even housed superstar Michael Jackson’s elephant.

Summer not only learned about how to conduct research, but also how to do some more hands on work.

“A significant part of my work was shoveling elephant dung. They produced several hundred pounds every day, so that was hard work.” she said with a laugh.

Conservation was also on the menu for the following summer, where she ventured to Hawaii to plant indigenous plants that were being destroyed by lava flows.

"The work is two-fold: we were preserving very unique, native plants and ensuring that fewer non-native plants, which can impact the ecosystem negatively, sprung up in their place,” said Montacute. “It’s a way to conserve the natural beauty and character of a place.”

Her passion for conservation took her to Chile the next summer, where she researched the trade and politics of a prized, and threatened, native tree.

For her thesis, Montacute researched the rich red, durable Alerce tree, which is among the oldest of trees in the world.

"I was most interested to see how the unique problem was dealt with and to find solutions by comparing their issues with other conservation issues,” she said.

Because of poorly crafted and enforced laws, the rare trees were being cut down illegally and sold on the black market throughout the world.  

“It’s devastating to see,” Montacute said. “Some trees have been dated back more than three thousand years.”

While Montacute was in Chile, the Alerce was added to a list of protected specifies under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a distinction that gave it added protection from logging.

Montacute’s research led her to the conclusion that the prized trees were cut down by locals who had little money. The problem could be largely remedied by bringing lucrative eco-tourism to the area, she concluded.

After returning from Chile, Montacute returned to Hawaii to pen a “Let’s Go” travel guide for the islands of Molokai and Kauai. She made sure to include eco-friendly messages. “I would add things like, ‘Don’t step on the coral.’”

After graduation, visits to countries with profound environmental issues, such as China and Panama, gave her a new perspective on how America deals with climate change.

"Traveling really emphasized for me the need for us to take action here in the United States, where we are privileged to be able to make environmental concerns a priority and also have the resources to address them,” she said.

As part of the Green the Capitol team, Montacute is certainly not abandoning her dream of protecting the environment.

Her mission is to green the House offices, CAO business units and the Congressional Transition through outreach and education.

"I’ve learned so much here,” she said. “It’s exactly what I envisioned doing with my degree.”

Montacute also works toward green goals in her personal life, riding her bike to work, not using plastic bags and often shopping for second hand or eco-friendly goods.

The tact fits into Montacute’s vision of green living.

"It is my vision that going green isn't seen as a special interest or side issue, but rather something that can be incorporated into our everyday lives; where we won't even have to think about our actions because the choices before us will all be sustainable,” she said.

Trying to grow our own food is one of the most important steps we can each take to reduce our carbon footprint and get back in touch with nature. Want to start a community garden? Visit www.communitygarden.org for tips.

The Architect of the Capitol recently launched an energy savings campaign called “Power to Save.” They’re asking the Green Team to provide feedback and help spread the word. Read below for details on their program and how you can get involved!

“During October, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) will launch its new energy awareness program – Power to Save.  We believe we should be leaders in the national effort to conserve energy, and as stewards of the Capitol complex, we will continue to do our part to make this goal a reality in our facilities.  You can help us make a difference.  We’ll be providing tools and tips on our new Power to Save Web site and using other communications vehicles to encourage Capitol Hill offices to select and operate the most efficient office equipment; to switch out old technology for new; and to work together to do small tasks that can add up to big results. Additional information will be delivered via electronic newsletters, Web videos, graphic animations, and downloadable fact sheets and brochures. To learn more about our Power to Save program, please take a moment to read through the attached presentation, which provides a “sneak peak” of our program’s home page, previews our program themes and schedule, and highlights some of our program materials now in development.  Each and every day the AOC is working to make the Capitol complex more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. We believe our Power to Save program will help us continue to meet the energy and environmental goals set by Congress.  We look forward to working with the House “Green Team” as we spread the word about the importance of energy efficient practices and products.  We welcome your ideas and recommendations to make our collective efforts even more productive and successful.  If you have comments or suggestions, please send them to Shalley Kim at shkim@aoc.gov. We have the Power to Save Energy!”