dreamgreen  Iowans making a greener tomorrow... today.

This week Dream Green spotlights green policy with featured guests David Osterberg, founder and executive director of the Iowa Policy Project, and John Collins, associate chair of MUM's Sustainable Living Department.

Former Iowa state representative David Osterberg was chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee as well as the Agriculture Committee. In 1983 he was instrumental in getting the first green legislation passed in the country under then governor Terry Branstad. He ran as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 1998 and worked for one year as a consultant to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. David holds an M.S. in water resources management and another in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa. [Read more below.]

John Collins’ career began in the Hong Kong government, writing policy in the fields of marine, agriculture, fisheries, and United Nations. He then founded/directed a development and construction company that built houses, apartments, and community and office buildings which included many eco features — such as high-spec insulation, passive solar, and rammed earth. John was also engaged in politics and national campaigning on GMOs and waste management issues and served as an elected local councilor in the U.K.

John joined MUM’s Sustainable Living faculty in 2008 and has developed a range of courses related to state, national, and international policy and governance to address sustainability issues. He has a joint honors degree from Bristol University, England, in Philosophy and Economics.