Scholar Stories: Tishman Thinking Green as Part of Maize and Blue
3/13/2019 10:57:00 AM | Men's Tennis, Features
Continuing the popular series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Brad Rudner
We only have one planet, and Gabe Tishman is learning how best to save it.
A senior on the University of Michigan men's tennis team, Tishman will graduate this spring with a degree from PitE (Program in the Environment) and a minor at the Ross School of Business. Though he wears Maize and Blue on the court, he thinks green.
He comes from a family with a deep love for the outdoors. All his vacations, ever since he was a little boy, would be to remote places, not resorts. He's been to parts of Alaska above the Arctic Circle and ascended to Mount Kilimanjaro when he was just 11 years old.
Before departing for Florida with the tennis team for spring break last week, Tishman talked about his many passions inside the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center.
"Ever since I can remember, I've had this appreciation for our planet and where we live," he said. "At the same time, there's an understanding that if we don't do something, our grandchildren won't have a place to live."
Initially, Michigan wasn't one of his college choices, instead choosing to focus on smaller schools during the recruiting process. His grandfather was a manger for the football team from 1941-43 and completed a four-year program in two years before going off to fight in World War II. His aunt also attended U-M.
Nevertheless, he decided to take a visit. Like so many others before him, he fell in love, recalling that the sprawling campus "blew my mind away."
"I remember driving away thinking, 'I'm committing here,'" he said. "I was at the M Den buying gear knowing I would commit. I didn't have anything at the time."
He made it official two days later.
Tishman had an interest in Ross, but heard of PitE and shifted gears, choosing that as his major and Ross as his minor as a way to get the best of both. PitE's mission statement reads: "… to develop environmentally informed citizens and leaders through an undergraduate program that balances rigorous environmental studies in many disciplines, hones practical problem-solving skills, and fosters intellectual risk taking."
Once passing the prerequisites and core courses, students must choose a specialization -- topics ranging from environmental business & economics to urban planning to agriculture/food. Tishman chose environmental law & policy.
"It's interesting to learn about environmental law, how you create and implement them," he explained. "The most interesting things for me have to do with public policy. I took a gas and oil policy class in the Ford School. We learned about all the oil wars in the Middle East, gas and oil policies through importing and exporting. I didn't know much about it, but it's huge in our world."
PitE also requires students to pick between one of three "practical experiences." Students can do an approved residential field course (such as the U-M Bio Station in northern Michigan or the Camp Davis Field Station in Jackson Hole, Wyoming), a study abroad program, or an internship.
Because of his commitments to tennis, Tishman could not do the first two. He instead landed an internship with an environmental non-profit called the National Resource Defense Council in New York City. That, combined with his studies, opened his eyes to what's going on around the world.
"Our planet isn't doing great, but we can make a difference if we come together as a people and understand that we need to change," he said. "The bottom two percent of people are getting effected the most, and it's the top one percent who are causing the most damage.
"The bottom line is education and people understanding the severity of the situation. Our grandchildren won't have the resources we have if this keeps up. It's the most important issue we face. This is our future. This is the planet we live on. I don't see anything much more important than that.
"If a bunch of people come together and do something -- just little things each day -- that stacks up. Over a 10-year span, that matters. If enough people do it, it'll make a difference."
After graduating this spring, Tishman will spend the summer and fall seasons (roughly June through September) as a remote wilderness adventure guide at the Agulowak Lodge, located in southwestern Alaska near the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. It's a tough place to find on a map and it's even tougher to get there.
Behind tennis, his No. 2 hobby is fly-fishing, something he'll be doing a lot of out there.
"I love that part of the world," he said. "I'll have WiFi via the lodge, but the idea of not having to look at your phone, it's pretty awesome. You're pretty cut off from society. Not a lot of people get to do that."
Following that, he'll go back home to New York where he intends to work -- perhaps a second run with the NRDC -- and study for his MBA. Using what he's learned at Michigan, Tishman wants to figure out a way to make city skyscrapers more sustainable and energy-efficient.
"Someone who lives in a New York City skyscraper is technically more environmentally-friendly than someone living in the suburbs. Your carbon footprint is lower," he said. "As a whole, it's not great, but individually, it's amazing. You're building up, not building out. All these new technologies -- battery-powered, solar, wind, thermal -- those are all things you can implement with a greener, energy-efficient building."
But before all of that, he's got the spring tennis season to complete. The Wolverines are currently 8-2 and are rolling heading into the meat of their Big Ten schedule, winners of their last seven heading into this weekend's BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge in Indian Wells, California. Tishman has fought injuries throughout his career, always seeming to be dealt a setback at the wrong time. But he's healthy now and contributing, going 9-6 this season in singles and 7-6 in doubles.
Last year, U-M made the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 years. After losing four seniors off that team, Tishman and classmate Myles Schalet have big plans as co-captains, but the weight of that responsibility hasn't been lost in the shuffle. If anything, it's energized him.
"Getting to lead this team on and off the court has been awesome," Tishman said. "We have even higher goals (this year) than last year. Nobody is expecting too much from us, but this is a group with a huge amount of confidence. We think we can beat anyone on any day."
It's been a full four years for Tishman, but it's not over yet.
"I'm going to have a place in my heart for this place forever," he said. "I've made friendships and had experiences that I never would've had elsewhere. It's been the best four years of my life. Tough to think it's coming to an end, but no matter where I go from here, I'll always be a Wolverine."
Players Mentioned
