Brandon Brewster was a senior Environmental Science major with minors in Environmental Engineering and Studio Arts, and certificates in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Sustainability. In 2020, he led the U.S. EPA-award winning “Team PreciPITTation” Campus Rainworks Challenge submission, alongside 7 other undergraduates developing a holistic green stormwater plan. Brandon served on the Campus Tree Advisory Committee, loves rock climbing, slacklining, trees, and spending time outdoors!   Read Brandon’s Pitt News 2022 Silhouette!
(Environmental Science ’22)

Aaron Carr was an Environmental Science major pursuing two certificates in GIS and Sustainability. Aaron served as an EcoRep for 3 years (since the program began in Fall 2019) and defined the role and the team. As Lead EcoRep, Aaron designed a multitude of educational programs, created a well-researched building waste audit methodology, established a successful social media brand for the Pitt EcoReps, and sustained progress through the pandemic.  He also evolved the Pitt Green Resident Program, growing its participation, influence, and measurable outcomes. He created a Pitt Sustainability Dashboard to share Healthy Ride Bike Share Utilization at Pitt. Aaron was also a member of Epsilon Eta and the Transportation Coordinator of Food Recovery Heroes. 
(Environmental Science ’22)

Felicity has been the Sustainability Communications Intern for the Office of Sustainability for 2 years, where she is co-leading the development of the 2022 Pitt Sustainability Progress Report that will detail progress on the 61 goals outlined in the Pitt Sustainability Plan. She creates collaborative social media that helps Pitt community members engage with sustainability on-campus and was the chair of the 2022 Earth Month Planning Committee.  Felicity is also a teaching assistant for GEOL:1333 Sustainability (taught by Ward Allebach) and the Secretary of Plant2Plate, Pitt’s student-run garden. Felicity has actively changed Sustainability at Pitt by creating the University’s Sustainability Living Learning Community (launching in Fall 2022), developing and executing the post-COVID Student Sustainability Showcase, and using her skills to promote sustainable living and learning on Pitt’s campus.
(Environmental Studies ’22)

Hannah Chen served as the Thriftsburgh Board Director and was the driving force in Thriftsburgh’s efforts to create the online Thriftsburgh store. Hannah worked tirelessly to keep the project on track, has worked closely with the University stores to troubleshoot, and created manuals and processes for the other store associates to follow. She was the lynchpin to the process of creating the e-commerce site!
(Health Information Management ’21)

Anna led the peer training, coordination and execution of First Year Sustainability Presentations that expose thousands of first year students to sustainability in their seminar courses. Anna was critical in Pitt’s 2021 AASHE STARS reporting, specifically the Academic portions. Anna was a fantastic student sustainability leader in MCSI, SOOS, Global Studies, and her organizations like Fossil Free Pitt.
(Global Studies ’21)

Julianna was actively involved in sustainability since she was a freshman on Pitt Green Team. Her sophomore year, Jules was one of the first Pitt EcoReps and helped develop the position. In 2021, she was Student Office of Sustainability Program Associate, Communications Chair for Plant2Plate, and the Service Chair for Epsilon Eta. Jules is also involved in sustainability in every aspect of her life.
(Geology and Environmental Science + Political Science ’21)

Zach was truly a student sustainability powerhouse! In his 4 years at Pitt, Zach accomplished an extraordinary amount of work. Some of those accomplishments: – Being the student team leader on the environmental justice alternative break in Washington. Greene and Beaver counties,
– Chairing the student coalition that advocated for the broad availability of disposable period products campus wide AND the Zero Waste Period campaign,
– Serving as Co-Director of the Student Office of Sustainability and co-chairing the SOOS council through an extraordinary year,
– Managing the student-facing Pitt Green programs (including events) and shepherding the program through a massive re-visioning.

As the sustainability and wellness RPT, Sydney was committed to including sustainability in her work programming for all students. Her collaborations with the EcoReps have led to improvements in RA access to ready-made sustainability programs.

Maya began her journey as the Green Fund Allocations Board Director this year after serving on the board for the past two years. She has done a wonderful job this year leading the board through a tumultuous year. Given the difficulties of granting project based funding during a pandemic, Maya has kept board motivated and enthusiastic about long term projects. As a member of the Student Office of Sustainability council she plays an active role and lends her calm and practical voice to discussions about SOOS programs and initiatives. Maya will be missed by the Green Fund and the SOOS council when she graduates this year, but she has put both in a good place to continue and expand their work through her leadership and tenacity this year.

Anfernee has been involved in Pitt sustainability from his first year on campus! He joined the Pitt Green Team as an incoming first year and he has been an integral part of the SOOS ever since. In his time with SOOS his accomplishments have been many- here are just a few: 1) managed the Green Events program, 2) assisted with the development of the Green Resident program, 3) grew the Pitt Green Team from a simple first year volunteer program to a dedicated pipeline for future student sustainability student leaders, 4) managed and coordinated endless service events for SOOS and PittServes in the past three years. Perhaps Anfernee’s most important achievement is that he has always made mentoring students particularly younger students his core goal.

As a sustainability intern for BAS Liz has supported the Stores as they explore innovative ways to reduce waste and source more sustainable products. Liz worked closely with Nick Goodfe to rewrite the Bike Pitt website and promote the Healthy Ride at Pitt program on social media.

Gabby has devoted her time at Pitt to service and has been an asset to Pitt Sustainability since joining us in the fall. She crafted two comprehensive Year of Engagement grant proposals – leading one on indoor air quality. She laid the foundation for the future outreach. She has also been crucial in developing content for our new social media accounts!

Lou currently serves as the Coordinator of Affiliate Organizations for the Student Office of Sustainability and he serves as a member of the Student Office of Sustainability Council. In light of the pandemic, Lou worked to adjust his priorities and to advocate for the needs of SOOS affiliate orgs. He worked to continue the First Thursday tradition in an engaging, if virtual format. The SOOS has consistently had very good turn out for virtual programs this semester owing in large part to Lou’s determination and enthusiasm. He advocated that we needed to alter our expectations of affiliate organizations given current circumstances- and created a “hibernation” policy for affiliates, allowing them to prioritize their members needs.

Eric came to Pitt/GSPIA with the goal of working with the DEP and local governments to develop climate action plans. His community engagement through CONNECT has led to 6 new local Climate Action Plans produced through his internship and creating more pathways for other Panthers to engage their Pitt sustainability work for real world impact. Because of his work, now all 40+ governments within CONNECT are working with other partners across campus on a Regional Climate Action Plan, aligning people and processes with the Marshall Plan and other big sustainability initiatives in our region.

Jessica performed this year’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the University of Pittsburgh, which has been a critical analysis for future planning and the Pitt Climate Action Plan. Her research around environmental justice, indoor air quality, and using engineering solutions to improve the quality of life in the local community embodies the triple bottom line and she is a true leader in this field.

In her role as the Pitt Pantry’s graduate student intern, Kelsey has gone above and beyond to ensure that they Pantry continues to support students despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. She also planned and coordinated Pitt’s first year participating in National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, and the Pantry’s first time participating in Pitt Make a Difference Day.