Kevin Hahn

Kevin joined us for the summer while on break from working toward a Masters of Energy, Environment, and Society at the University of Stavanger in Norway. We asked him a few questions about what makes him so awesome and so highly motivated.

What drew you to intern at Trailnet?
I was attracted to Trailnet’s mission and work to get more people riding bikes, especially its system-wide focus to advocate for infrastructure and policy improvements.

Do you have a specific area of sustainable development and/or government you want to focus on upon graduating?
I’d like my future work to focus on the intersection energy, user behavior and government, specifically incentivizing the use of renewables or decreasing demand for fossil fuels.

What about your time at Trailnet was valuable to your career trajectory?
I value the ability to work with and learn from community advocates focused on steady, incremental, and impactful improvements.

What has been the most fun trailnet project to work on?
Helping during the Women in the Arts Community Ride was a fun, amazing experience to see so many people on bikes, learning about and engaging with our city.

What do you think about Trailnet’s Connecting St. Louis plan?
I think it’s the most important work Trailnet is doing right now. It is an evidence and community input-based plan that could have an incredible impact on our city.

What do you do for fun?
I’m up for most outdoor activities. I enjoy reading, performing improv, and of course I love riding my bike.

Sam McCrory

Sam joined us after completing his Bachelor of Science at the University of Iowa. He majored in Environmental Policy and Planning, with a minor in Cinema, and a certificate in Sustainability. Read on for a Q&A about how great he is!

What drew you to intern at Trailnet?
I knew after I finished college, I wanted to work for a nonprofit or a municipality doing active transportation work in a larger city. I looked around the country for active transportation nonprofits and Trailnet stood out the most. I was really fascinated with the Connecting St. Louis plan, the numerous different programs they had completed, and the different types of rides they did throughout the year. All those things, combined with the opportunity to work in St. Louis, a city that I believe is going through a lot of good change, drew me toward Trailnet.

Can you tell us about your bicycle encouragement involvement at University of Iowa?
I helped out with a lot of the big biking events the University of Iowa put on. We did bike challenges in the winter months and in April, as an effort to get students and Iowa City residents on their bikes and moving, whether that was to work, school, or community events.
Iowa also put on bike tune-up events, where local bike shops would tune-up students’ bikes for free. I helped put these events on and was able to tell other students about the great trails and resources available to them.

Can you talk about your involvement with film and climate change?
At University of Iowa, I was a part of a student film organization called Bijou Film Board. During my time in that organization, I always pushed to screen documentaries that had environmentalism as a theme. Our natural world has so much beauty and chaos in it, I really think it is important to show those things on screen. One of the movies I was able to screen was a documentary called Grizzly Man, which has some great commentary on human interaction in the natural world and is worth checking out for so many reasons.

What about your time at Trailnet was valuable to your career trajectory?
My time at Trailnet was incredibly valuable for my career trajectory. Working here taught me about all the details that go into being an advocate for better streets for all. I loved talking to passionate people about biking, walking, and how their communities can be improved by better biking/walking facilities. I hope to take the knowledge I’ve learned, and the recommendations given to me by powerful community voices and look to make bike/pedestrian improvements in the next community I may be in.

What do you think about Trailnet’s Connecting St. Louis plan?
The Connecting St. Louis plan is great not only for proposing protected bikeways in key areas of the city but addressing a need for transportation equity across St. Louis. Other plans across the city are focused on connecting east-west (Forest Park to downtown). Connecting St. Louis does a tremendous job of looking to connect north-south St. Louis. These areas often aren’t serviced by Metro and areas where people have less access to vehicles. Focusing on these connections is crucial for getting people to the places they love, without a car, no matter where in St. Louis.

Where do you hope to guide your career in the future?
I’d love to keep working in active transportation in any form possible, whether that’s a nonprofit, municipality, or outdoor shop. Being around people who care about biking, walking, and general outdoor living would be amazing and it’s something I want to continue doing. I’m eventually going to go to graduate school, however I only have a few more states in the U.S. to visit before I’ve been to all 50, so that’s something I’d love to do first.

What do you do for fun?
Typically, during my free time I’m riding my bike, going to movies, and watching soccer. I’m an avid bike rider (as are most people at Trailnet) and I encourage everyone to check out the different trails the St. Louis region has to offer. As for movies, check out Booksmart and Blockers, those are the best two movies I’ve seen recently. And concerning soccer, I support PSG and Everton, and am frequently up early Saturday and Sunday mornings to watch them play.