Welcome to the Spring 2021
Newsletter for Pitt Sustainability alumni & friends!
|
|
Pitt Receives AASHE Gold Designation
We are proud to announce that the University of Pittsburgh has been recognized with an AASHE STARS Gold rating for our sustainability accomplishments over the last three years!
AASHE’s STARS is a transparent framework for colleges and universities to measure and benchmark their sustainability performance across all aspects of higher education.
Pitt’s STARS Gold rating is based on strong achievements from 2018 to 2021 in academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership. |
|
|
|
MCSI Year of Engagement Grant
The Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation received a Year of Engagement Grant to provide a greenhouse for the Oasis Project. Pitt's Hydroponics Club works closely with the Oasis Project to bring locally grown, sustainable produce to Homewood. The greenhouse will allow them to extend their growing season and provide more educational programs.
The project is supported by MCSI Sustainability Engagement Assistant, Ellie Cadden and interns Anna Coleman and Gabby Sampson
|
|
|
Michelle Najera
Ph.D Chemical Engineering, 2008
I work for a technology company called Just-Evotec Biologics that is focused on driving down the cost of biotherapeutics in order to improve access to medicine. A lot of what we do is figuring out ways to use fewer raw materials to produce drugs, and sustainability is a big part of that.
|
|
|
MCSI was great at empowering us all to ask plenty of questions about where things come from and where they go. In many cases, when we ask those types of questions we realize that (with a little extra effort) we can do something to ameliorate the impact of a given action.
I'm incredibly appreciative of MCSI's mission and especially thankful for the support they provided me. More than anything, with support from MCSI I felt like I was given freedom to explore new ideas and to break beyond the mold of my own discipline to ask new questions to take me outside of my comfort zone and into other fields. I also gained so much insight from the cross-functional nature of the students within the Department of Education GAANN grant and it's been wonderful to see the many diverse contributions of those I shared an office with in Benedum so many years ago.
|
|
Circular Economy Eco-Village Team
Student teams partnered with industry, government and non-profit groups on a variety of projects in the spring 2021 Sustainability Capstone Course. One group in particular worked on a design for Pittsburgh's first Eco Park. In conjunction with the City, students designed the park to aid Pittsburgh in its goal of zero waste by 2030. The park design offers plenty of new green space in the city while also serving as a community gathering space, educational center and waste management facility. Learn more about this innovative circular economy design in the video below. Student group members included Dana Vidic, Delia Mercer, Melissa Marciesky, & Darien Strickler.
|
|
2021 Pitt Sustainability Champions
We are happy to announce the 2021 Pitt Sustainability Champions! This group of 25 students, staff and faculty has gone above and beyond to promote sustainability on campus. They've worked on everything from purchasing and sustainable food to equity and inclusion.
"We see you, we appreciate you. This has been an incredibly challenging year. So everything you have done to increase the culture of sustainability on the Pitt campus is seen, is appreciated. And we thank you."
-- Erika Ninos, Sustainability, Student Affairs
Read about this cohort''s accomplishments and/or watch the video below.
|
|
Summer Undergraduate Sustainability Research
MCSI's Undergraduate Research Program commenced on Monday, May 10 with 25 outstanding student researchers and projects. Summer 2021 research projects range from teaching environmental justice to expanding zero waste processes to renewable energy. Read about this year's faculty / student pairs and check in this summer to see the great work these students will be doing.
|
|
2021 John C. Mascaro Faculty Awards in Sustainability
The John C. Mascaro Faculty program is designed to enhance the University’s mission of interdisciplinary excellence in sustainability research and education. Our 2021 cohort is tackling a broad range of topics including international development policy, sustainable electricity generation, sustainable food systems, and writing techniques for sustainability.
Read about these projects and the incredible faculty working on them.
|
|
Spring Green Speakeasies
Two Spring 2021 Green Speakeasy events highlighted an outstanding group of Pitt Sustainability faculty and another included new Pitt Deans from Public Health and the Graduate School of Policy and International Affairs (GSPIA). Videos of both sessions are provided below.
|
|
|
Earth Month Teach In: Leveraging Research to Inform Calls to Action
(April 2021)
|
|
|
Pitt Deans Talk Sustainability (March 2021)
|
|
Finally, check out Pitt Sustainability's Youtube channel for fun videos, including our May 2021 Creative Gardening for Any Space with guest speaker Heather Manzo.
|
|
|
|