Student Profile

Name: Gerby Marks. AKA Gerbitron

Age: 25

Major/minor: Master's of Science in Historic Preservation and (fingers-crossed) Sustainable Design

Year in program: third

Where are you from(hometown): ) then: Fuentes de Andalucia, Spain. now: Austinite at heart.

First Concert You EVER went to: BEACH BOYS. I was six. heck yes.

Hobbies: Caulking, puttying, nail-gunning, drilling, and wishing I could wear my pink camo pants on the job site. Also: ridiculous silliness, surreal dreaming, spiritual enlightening, frolicking, chataranga-ing and crow-posing, and oh!!! grooming my Spanish Water Dog, Altivo, so he looks like a champion Baby Buffalo.

Why you're a part of UTSolarD: ? I heard Alex Miller was a real charmer on the construction site. Also, the heat and humidity of the Flag Hangar was massively appealing.

What do you bring to the team: Cute calamities, darling disasters, and merry mishaps.

Your role on this team? Provider of spunk-zip-gerbiness, exquisite levels of entertainment and hilarity, muscle power, adorably effective persuasion tactics for professional sponsors and mohawked-teenagers alike, and fingers of steel. "Creative director" of solar moon towers and whatnot.

What do you want to gain during this experience: Now: sustainable design saviness to launch me towards a Masters of Science in SD, hard-core construction skills and a hard core. Future: I wish to regain use of my two smashed fingers, Bruiser and Crusher... and investigate the inevitable link between Architectural Preservation and Sustainability, especially in developing countries. and useful SKILLS that Harvard did not teach me.

What is the most important part of this project to you: The intimate friendships forged through sweat, grime, sawdust, crushed fingers, hideous red overalls with broad salmon-colored straps, and steel-toe boot shopping.

Tell me your favorite solar d story so far: I think they all involve ME. How about Victoria Secret's indigo colored undies in full exposure while sawing warmboard? ummm that was definitely NOT me :-) !