2019 Campus Sustainability Champions
PERC's Campus Sustainability Champions (CSC) have been announced by the Executive Committee. (Download PDF 2019 Designees here.) The CSC designation is awarded to students, faculty, administrators, and staff of Pennsylvania colleges and universities who have made meaningful contributions benefiting social, economic and/or environmental sustainability on their campus, in their community, or in society at large. Contributions can be in areas of teaching, research, co-curricular programs, campus culture, community service, and campus operations, including food recovery.
Student Designees
Kristian Fox & Abbie Winter, Bucknell University
As the Office of Campus Sustainability student intern team, Kristian Fox and Abbie Winter have been very involved in Bucknell’s campus sustainability on a large variety of fronts. Kristian, Electrical Engineering ‘19, started with his involvement with the Bucknell Renewable Energy Scholars, and his passion for sustainability has continued to grow within his current internship with the Office of Campus Sustainability. As the Sustainability Student Fellow, Kristian has been working with Environmental Club President and Sustainability Intern Abbie Winter, Biology and Environmental Science '19, to orchestrate Bucknell's 2019 STARS report, including greenhouse gas reporting, and to organize sustainability events for the Sustainability Outreach Team, a group of 20 student volunteers, who work to direct campus culture towards embracing sustainability. Abbie has been the driving force for visibility of sustainable initiatives on and around Bucknell's campus with her development of a regular sustainability newsletter, as well as a strong social media presence for the Office of Campus Sustainability. As student interns in the Office, Kristian and Abbie have influenced sustainability through numerous campus initiatives and have been creating many programs that will continue past their graduation. Kristian and Abbie have also attended the AASHE Conference, are active members of Bucknell University's President's Sustainability Council, and have worked hard to build a strong connection between Bucknell's students, faculty, and staff to create a strong community around sustainability.
Mira Lerner, Franklin and Marshall College
Mira Lerner has dedicated her time at F&M to improving sustainability on campus. In the three years she has been here, she has chaired the student Sustainability Committee in Diplomatic Congress, been a member of the all-campus Sustainability Committee, and worked at the Center for the Sustainable Environment. There, she has spent a great deal of time gathering data for the Real Food Challenge, as well as searching through the purchases of our food service provider to find products that contain palm oil or its derivatives in an attempt to make our food purchasing more sustainable. She instituted the first campus farmers’ market, which provides local, organic food for students and staff to purchase weekly. She also led a successful campaign to eliminate plastic straws on campus. Last year, Mira received the Ehleiter Sustainability Award from the campus Sustainability Committee for her contributions."
Gabrielle Cressman, Lebanon Valley College
Gabrielle Cressman, an Economics major and Business Administration minor, has participated as a student representative to the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC) since September of 2017. (Prior to joining the committee, Gabrielle won First Place in the annual Sustainability Oratorical Contest.)
Gabrielle’s research interests are extensive. As an E.A.T. (Engage, Analyze, Transform) Group Researcher she researched “The Ecological Footprints of Metz Culinary at Lebanon Valley College and a Critique of Ecological Footprints.” Her Honor’s Thesis is “The Nitrogen Footprint of Lebanon Valley College and Mitigation Strategies.”
Gabrielle has fulfilled many roles within the ESAC and participated extensively in the planning and execution of several special projects. She is a founding organizer of LVC’s First Annual Community Yard Sale and First Annual “Goodwill but Free” Clothing Exchange. Gabrielle is also a member of the College’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) committee.
As a senior data intern, Gabrielle is responsible for leading the collection and review of data for the College’s annual GHG inventory. She coordinated data entry using several reporting tools, including, the Sustainability Indicator Management & Analysis Platform (SIMAP) and Sustainability Tracking and Reporting System (STARS). Gabrielle’s impact on sustainability at LVC will be felt for many years!
Abbey Ford, Millersville University
Abbey is a Millersville University campus and community leader at promoting sustainability. She is a sustainability ambassador for the Office of Sustainability where she has led outreach events to raise awareness of the Global Goals, energy conservation and waste diversion, among other topics. She chaired the Student Sustainability Committee and is the University's community ambassador for Millersville Borough where she raises awareness of sustainability issues. Abbey is a constant source of inspiration for other students--guiding them on ways to be more sustainable in their own lives.
Non-Student (Faculty & Staff) Designees
Jen Schneidman Partica, Bucknell University
Jen has been a tireless advocate for sustainability both on and off-campus throughout her time at Bucknell. As the first Farm and Garden Coordinator, Jen was instrumental in launching the new Bucknell University Farm (BUF) in 2018. In this role, she has leveraged BUF to support campus sustainability initiatives. She has been heavily involved in research and planning to broaden campus composting to include both pre-and-post-consumer food waste, and is working closely with Bucknell Dining to incorporate food produced at the BUF into Bucknell Dining. Jen has forged a partnership with the Center for Sustainability and the Environment, co-sponsoring the 2018 Fall Sustainability Fest and the 2019 Sustainability Symposium. She has also connected faculty, staff and students involved in sustainability research to the BUF, through programs such as the Renewable Energy Scholars.
In addition to her work on the Farm, Jen continues her role as part-time coordinator of the Lewisburg Community Garden (LCG), an initiative of Bucknell University to engage the off-campus community. In recent years, she has instituted a composting system, including a vermiculture component. The LCG now produces its own compost, eliminating the need to haul organic waste and compost to and from the garden, and improving soil quality, which boosts production for our food access efforts. Jen also plans and leads community education sessions and youth summer camps that focus on sustainable techniques. Because of her work, all aspects of the LCG now employ organic practices.
Climate Action Plan (CAP) Committee, Lebanon Valley College
"The Climate Action Plan (CAP) Committee, a subcommittee of the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC), has been constituted to assist the College in developing a Climate Action Plan to: 1) reduce the College’s direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gases to zero and 2) to develop the administrative infrastructure and on-campus attitudes necessary to maintain a long-term commitment to environmental sustainability.
The Committee held symposia to gather input from the community and sustainability experts to develop a CAP framework. The Committee has worked to fill in the details of the plan, which has now received the endorsement of the faculty, student government and senior administration. The Board of Trustees is considering the adoption of the plan in the spring of 2019.
The CAP committee consists of:
Students: Gabrielle Cressman (’20) Emilie Vicario (’19)
Faculty: Michael Schroeder, Kshama Harpankar, Michelle Rasmussen, Rebecca Urban, John Hinshaw
College staff and administrators: Michael Mumper, Dan Nye, Michael Zeigler
Vendor: Metz Culinary Management: Kymberly Wentsler, Timothy Hartlieb
Local community members: Owen Moe (Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Committee Chair), Dan Brickley (LVC Alumnus, Lebanon Country Club).
This all-volunteer group has been instrumental in bringing forth a flexible Plan that will accommodate the changing sustainability landscape and achieve carbon neutrality."
Len Litowitz, Millersville University
Dr. Len Litowitz has integrated sustainability into the curriculum, through his perspectives course ITEC 304: Energy, Sustainability and the Environment. This course discusses energy sustainability, energy resources and conservation, and the effects of energy use on our environment within a global education framework (with trips to Iceland and Costa Rica). Additionally, Dr. Litowitz champions the use of sustainability on campus and particularly in Osburn Hall where he is the department chair for Millersville's Applied Engineering, Safety and Technology department. He continually advocates for, and manages to gain progress with, replacing outdated systems with newer, energy-efficient technologies.