Welcome to the Winter 2021 Sustainability Newsletter
for University of Pittsburgh alumni & friends.
Pitt Day of Giving
MARK YOUR CALENDARS & HELP ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES ON PITT'S CAMPUS
On February 23, your gift goes further than any other day of the year.
Pitt Day of Giving is a 24-hour online fundraising event when alumni, students, faculty, staff, family, and friends come together to make a gift to the area that means the most to them. On PDoG, your gift to Pitt goes further than any other day because Challenge Funds are awarded to those areas that receive the most support from friends and alumni. Please consider a gift to help advance sustainability at Pitt.
This year you can give directly to the offices and centers working to make Pitt Sustainability a progressive and and meaningful component of our campus culture.Under the umbrella of Pitt Sustainability you can give to the following areas:
Divya Nawale (GSPIA '16) works as a Projects Coordinator for Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Indonesia. Prior to her work at ADB, Divya was a Sustainability Fellow in the City of Pittsburgh. She then went on to work in places as remote as Antarctica before starting her position at ADB. In 2020, Divya was named one of Asia's top 20 women in sustainability.
We are fortunate to be hosting Divya at our February Green Speakeasy. Join us on February 16 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.to learn about Divya's work in Asia and around the world. Register now.
Dr. Eric Beckman Honored by National Academy of Inventors Eric Beckman, Co-Director of the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and Distinguished Service Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors 2020 cohort. Dr. Beckman’s research group examines the use of molecular design to solve problems in green product formulation and in the design of materials for use in tissue engineering. He is currently leading a grant from the MacArthur Foundation and NineSigma in collaboration with Think Beyond Plastic to develop innovations to reduce the amount of plastics that end up being burned, buried in landfills, or make their way into the world’s waterways and oceans.
Student Sustainability Leadership
In Fall 2020, 3 Pitt students developed a pilot Greener Minds Modules program to help students learn about sustainability and how to get involved on campus. Created as a project for Ward Allebach's "Sustainability" course, the draft modules coverrecycling, energy and water conservation, and transportation. Check out the linked videos and keep an eye out for more of these informative efforts on Pitt's sustainability websites!
Angela Moriarity, Junior, "It's really exciting to see our idea come to life and all of our hard work shared with the Pitt community. I hope our project will encourage and inspire other students to become more involved in sustainability."
Campus Updates
America is All In In December 2020, Pitt joined more than 1,500 signatories in signing the “America is Still In” declaration on climate action to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. Learn more.
Local Renewables Commitment
As a part of Pitt's efforts to become carbon neutral by 2037, the University signed a second commitment to local renewables with a 20-year agreement to purchase all solar energy produced by the future Gaucho Solar facility, which will generate ~13% of the annual electricity used by the Pittsburgh campus.
Operating by mid-2022, the new solar facility also presents an opportunity for students to learn and conduct hands-on research about energy and sustainability. Read more about Pitt's solar commitment.
Pitt's Hydropower Commitment Sparks Allegheny County's ICYMI, Allegheny County recently announced its commitment to purchase local renewables from a future low-impact hydro facility in the Pittsburgh region. The facility will be build by Rye Development. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald cited Pitt’s 2018 commitment to local hydropower in announcing the county’s decision to follow suit. The University of Pittsburgh was thefirst in the region to partner with Rye on a plan to harness the flow of Pittsburgh’s rivers to produce clean, reliable electric power. In 2018, Pitt committed to purchasing 100% of the power from a low-impact hydroelectric plant Rye is building on the Allegheny River at the existing Allegheny Lock and Dam No. 2 near the Highland Park Bridge.
Year of Engagement Funding A Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation team led by Sustainability Engagement Assistant, Ellie Cadden and interns, Anna Coleman and Gabby Sampson have secured funding from the University's Year of Engagement funding initiative to buy a greenhouse to support the Oasis Project and the Pitt Hydroponics Club.
The Oasis Project is a branch of the Bible Center Church located in Homewood. It is home to an urban micro-farm that focuses on providing hyper-local produce and opportunities for urban farming education. The produce from these systems helps to feed Homewood neighbors, and is provided to The Pitt Pantry, which serves Pitt students. The greenhouse will allow for more winter growing and educational opportunities.
ICYMI: Pitt Sustainability News
Pitt released its Fiscal Year 2019 Greenhouse Gas Inventory results. Read more.
The Center for Sustainable Business's podcast Sustaining Sustainability is back! This podcast series explores sustainability lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic through 15-minute interviews with industry managers, academic experts, government officials, and civic leaders. Learn more & check out the podcast on your streaming service of choice.
Don't forget to register for our February 16 Green Speakeasy with Divya Nawale! Register now!
