Julie Raskin hails from Chicago, but has enjoyed studying and living in New York for the past several years. She graduated from Columbia in 2008 with a degree in Urban Studies, but also spent a good deal of time studying environmental science and policy at Columbia. For the past two years she has served as president of CoreFoods—a student-run organic food grocery store/ co-op. She has also been involved with various other student groups, including the Columbia Eco-Reps, and Students for Environmental and Economic Justice. At Columbia she lives in a special interest community called “Potluck House”—a co-operative-type community that specializes in sharing delicious food, hosting quirky events, and weekly potluck dinners. In her free time she enjoys biking around the city. Last summer she worked for Transportation Alternatives—a bike-advocacy group—and wrote her senior thesis about bicycle policy in New York City. She is excited about Mayor Bloomberg’s recent PlaNYC initiatives to promote environmentally sensible transportation and is hopeful that bicycling in NYC will become safer and more