At the encouragement and behest of Penn State's former Sustainability Officer, Paul Shrivastava, the college initiated a formal sustainability effort. Tim White, research professor in the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, was appointed the Sustainability Officer for the college in July 2019. He is responsible for advancing environmental sustainability as a foundational principle in all we do in the college: education, research, outreach and operations. He also serves as our liaison to the University’s Sustainability Institute.
EMS Sustainability Action Plan
Sustainability Council
White's first challenge was to form a college Sustainability Council and subcommittees, who were tasked with developing a unified vision and strategy for enhancing sustainability and to present that to the college community for implementation. This vision and strategy contributed to the college's 2020-2025 Strategic Plan.
Committees
The four committees are:
- Curriculum
- Operations
- Outreach
- Research
Committee Goals
The immediate goals of each committee were to:
- Assess existing and ongoing college resources and activities related to environmental sustainability in order to create a list of those resources and activities along with any funding source (if applicable) and a contact name, by spring Break 2020;
- Present simple actions the college community can take to expand and broaden our environmental sustainability profile, in a similar time frame; and
- Propose innovative and bold actions that the college can take that may require additional resources to accomplish those actions by summer 2020. These actions will be submitted to the college's Strategic Planning committee for consideration in the new college 5-year strategic plan.
Committee Members
Curriculum
- Brandi Robinson (chair)
- Karen Marosi
- Yvette Richardson
- Haley Sankey
- Annie Taylor
- Susan Lechtanski (GEMS '97 GEOG)
- Wendy Zeller Zigaitis (GEMS '99 GEOG)
Operations
- Ron Wasco (chair)
- Matt Fantle
- Liz Long
- Ray Najjar
- Dave Archacki (GEMS '91 PNGE)
- Scott Billingsley (GEMS '81 GEOSCI)
- John Lease (GEMS '76 EARTH SCIENCE)
Outreach
- Patty Craig (chair)
- Barb Arnold
- Cindy Fleagle
- Megan Kohler
- David Kubarek
- Linda Musser
- Kevin Cei (GEMS '07 METEO)
- John Lease (GEMS '76 EARTH SCIENCE)
- Emily Mercurio (GEMS '96 GEOSCI)
Outreach: Ex-officio
- Cindy Fleagle (web)
- David Kubarek (video)
Research
- Chair (OPEN)
- Natasha Miles
- Louisa Holmes
- Hilal Ezgi Toraman
- Andy Armpriester (GEMS '98 PNGE)
- Emily Connor (GEMS '12 GEOG)
- Greg Devoir (GEMS '92 METEO)
- Joe Frantz (GEMS '81 PNGE)
Sustainability Council Members
The chairs of each committee are on the college Sustainability Council along with Tim White and the at-large members.
At-large members
- Richard Alley
- Ken Davis
- Liz Hajek
- Karen Marosi
- Joel Morrison
- Victoria Sanchez
- Erica Smithwick
Graduates of Earth and Mineral Sciences (GEMS) Board Representative
- John Lease (GEMS '76 EARTH SCIENCE)
Student Committee Members
- Harman Singh (Gradute student in Geography and Climate Science) - email: hxs5376@psu.edu
Undergraduate student members
- Gabby Olson (Meteorology and Atmospheric Science)
- Jaeden Mayzel (Environmental Systems Engineering)
- Tsunami Sharmba (Environmental Systems Engineering)
- Westin Boyd (Meteorology and Atmospheric Science)
Graduate student members
- Emma Cheriegate (Geography)
- Ifeanyi Samson Nwankwo (Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Energy and Mineral Engineering)
- Olivia Spencer (Geography)