Independent person

FILE PHOTO Wendy Schmidt If she is not now, it is likely that she will soon be recognized as the woman who is both putting the Nantucket back into Nantucket and gently helping the island toward a more sustainable future.

A force of positive change, community preservation and downtown identity for the island, Wendy Schmidt, the face of the Schmidt Family Foundation, was busy in 2009.

When a collaborative of the high school student group, Students for Sustainability, National Grid and the Energy Study Committee spawned the idea of erecting a 140-foot, 100- kilowatt wind turbine on high school property for energy savings and curriculum enhancement, Schmidt jumped at the chance to be a part of this effort. Once the group exhausts all of its grant avenues toward covering as much of the half-million-dollar cost of the project, Schmidt said she would gladly pick up the tab for the remaining balance.

With Schmidt working behind the scenes, ReMain Nantucket orchestrated a public transit study focusing on Nantucketers' thoughts about the Nantucket Regional Transit Authority's system, how well it serves Nantucket and what can be done to improve it. I