Sophia is an Environmental Engineering major with certificates in Sustainability and Engineering for Humanity. Sophia interns for the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and the Frederick Honor’s College joint organization, ScholarCHEF, which works to connect and educate people on their food community and systems. Sophia hopes to work in the water sector to provide and protect clean water systems as an engineer.  

(Environmental Engineering ’23)

Drew is graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies and certificates in GIS and Sustainability. During his time at Pitt he has been a Project Liaison and Director for the Pitt Green Fund, Business Manager for Free The Planet and Risk Management in Epsilon Eta Delta. He has also TA’ed GEOL 1333 for four semesters and worked in the Capo/Stewart Geochemistry Lab.   

(Environmental Studies ’23)

Elaina is a senior Environmental Engineering student with a certificate in Sustainability who is passionate about being involved with the sustainability scene at Pitt. She holds the Sustainability Committee Chair position in Epsilon Eta, Delta Chapter, for the second semester in a row, and is a Sustainability intern with MCSI. In the future, Elaina will be attending the University of Pennsylvania for Sustainable Urban Planning to continue pursuing her passion for sustainability.  

(Environmental Engineering ’23)

Dahlia is a senior Environmental Studies major with an English Literature minor. She works in the Student Office of Sustainability as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program Associate. In her time at Pitt, she has helped create a DEIJ internship, an Environmental Justice class, an educational zine that is distributed around campus, and a resource fund for Environmental Studies students. Intersecting environmental justice with academic, she has worked with faculty and Epsilon Eta to lead DEIJ-sustainability education.  

(Environmental Studies and English Literature ’23)

Cameron is graduating with a B.A in Environmental Studies, minor in Economics, and certificate in Sustainability. During her first semester at Pitt, Cameron participated in Green Team, which led her to pursue involvement in campus sustainability as an Eco-Rep and eventually other leadership roles. Since 2021, Cameron has worked as the Managing Director of the Student Office of Sustainability to oversee the student team and lead various projects and programs around campus. Cameron is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with so many talented and passionate students and staff.

(Environmental Studies ’23)

Gal Yovel is a sophomore Nordenberg Scholar majoring in Neuroscience on the pre-med track. He is the president of Food Recovery Heroes, an organization that fights food waste and hunger at Pitt and the local Pittsburgh community. 

(Neuroscience ’25)

Claire is a senior studying environmental science with a minor in architecture. Claire has worked for the Student Office of Sustainability for the past two years as the Program Associate for Affiliated Organizations and Member Outreach, where she started an alumni project database. Outside of the SOOS, Claire is a longtime member of Epsilon Eta and she studies river surface reflectance data in comparison to gross primary productivity in riverine systems.  

(Environmental Science ’23)

Nori is graduating this year with a degree in Environmental Science. During her time at Pitt, she has worked as a research assistant with the Richards-Zawacki lab investigating nonnative invasive plant species’ impacts on native plant communities. Nori works at the Center for Creativity where she enjoys incorporating sustainable practices into art by using upcycled and reworked materials. She is also Vice President of Epsilon Eta, Pitt’s Environmental Honors Fraternity. 

(Environmental Science ’23)

Grace Fanning is a senior pursuing two majors in Environmental Studies and Urban Studies, as well as achieving the Sustainability Certificate. They are a Sustainability Intern with MCSI, as well as a part-time Natural History Interpreter at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Grace is co-captain of the rugby team, and they also volunteer with the Plant2Plate garden on campus. 

(Environmental Studies ’23)

Danny is a senior environmental engineering student and undergraduate researcher in the Gilbertson group. As a board member of student organizations Free the Planet and Engineers for a Sustainable World, Danny helps to lead projects centered around environmental and climate justice. 

(Environmental Engineering)

Amanda Latowsky is a senior double majoring in Environmental Studies and Anthropology. She has spent the last four semesters as a TA for Ward Allebach’s Sustainability class, where she guides students through their creation of sustainability initiatives on campus and plans the Sustainability Symposium each semester. In addition, she is President of Free the Planet, the oldest environmental advocacy/justice club on Pitt’s campus. 

(Anthropology ’23)

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. 
(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. Anfernee 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.