Student Presentations, Keynote to Highlight Annual Sustainability Symposium

Pitt’s 14th annual Student Sustainability Symposium is set for Friday, April 23, this year in a virtual format.

Student presentations are the focus of the daylong event, starting with a morning session starting at 8:30 a.m., featuring 13 teams from the Sustainability Capstone course taught by Swanson School of Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty member David Sanchez, associate director of the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation.

The afternoon session begins at 12:45 p.m. with a video honoring the 2021 Pitt Sustainability Champions—25 faculty, staff and student members of the University community who are being recognized for their leadership and commitment to sustainability at Pitt.

From 1-2:30 p.m., student teams from Department of Geology and Environmental Science instructor Ward Allebach’s undergraduate Sustainability and Sustainability Flash Lab courses will present the following projects, followed by an hourlong virtual poster and Q&A session.

• Sustainability Flash Lab: No Impact Week
• Plant Power Pals: Increasing accessibility and quality of plant-based foods throughout campus
• B.E.E.: Creating an accountable space that uplifts underserved communities and BIPOC at Pitt
• Pitt Plant Wall: Creating indoor green spaces on the Pitt campus
• Food Fighters: Reducing the burden of basic needs insecurity within the Pitt community
• Rot and Roll: Making composting more accessible to students of the Pitt community
• Food for Thought: Creating opportunities to make local food more accessible on campus
• B’s in the Burgh: Protecting pollinators and enhancing the native plant cover of Pitt
• PittSWM: Advocating for zero-waste projects at Pitt
• Plogging for Health: Improving mental health at Pitt through fitness initiatives
   

The symposium wraps up with a 4 p.m. keynote talk, "Pittsburgh is America’s Apartheid City," by Pitt Law faculty member Jerry Dickinson.

Dickinson is a human rights advocate and a former Fulbright Scholar to South Africa. His recent work has emphasized racial and environmental justice, affordable housing, and criminal justice and healthcare reforms.

Register online to attend.