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PERC Campus Sustainability Champions 2013

(listed in alphabetical order by institution with links to jump to each Champions' profile)


Allegheny College Food for Sustainability Project, Allegheny College

Stephen Durfee, Bucknell University

Scott Perkins, Bucknell Univresity

Bob Iodice, Cabrini College

Justin McCarty, Dickinson College

Alyssa Windholtz, Dickinson College

Bryttani Craigle, Lebanon Valley College

Michelle Krall, Lebanon Valley College

Ryan Adams, Lycoming College

Student Senate, Lycoming College

Jessica Holtzapple, Millersville University

Nadine Garner, Millersville University

Greener Behrend Student Club, Penn State Erie: The Behrend College

Ann Bolla Quinn, Penn State Erie: The Behrend College

Alex Stanish, Penn State Mont Alto

Sustainability Committee, Penn State Mont Alto

Steve Maruszewski, Penn State University Park

Rachel Passmore, Penn State University Park 

Campus Organic Farm, Shippensburg University

Sarah Komisar, Shippensburg University

Kathy Straub, Susquehanna University

Michelle Velez, Villanova University

Kaloni Baylor, West Chester University

Paul Morgan, West Chester University


STUDENT CHAMPIONS

West Chester University

Campus Sustainability Champion: Ms. Kaloni Baylor

Nominated by: Kurt Kolasinski; KKolasinski@wcupa.edu

Category: Student

Email: KB750268@wcupa.edu

Description of accomplishments:

Ms. Baylor is an Environmental Health major at West Chester University in her senior year.  She has worked effectively as our greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory intern. She was instrumental in collecting and assimilating data for WCU's GHG inventory performing research in collaboration with Dr. Timothy Lutz. Kaloni attended the 2011 American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) Fall Regional Collaborative Symposium at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts.  She has been involved with the Sustainability Advisory Council over the past three years providing an important and consistent voice for student concerns.


Villanova University

Campus Sustainability Champion: Michelle Velez

Nominated by: Liesel Schwartz, Sustainability Manager; liesel.schwarz@villanova.edu

Office: 610.519.7988; Mobile: 484.432.9962

Category: Student

Email: mvelez03@villanova.edu

Description of accomplishments:

Michelle Velez has dynamically led student sustainability efforts on the Villanova campus since her freshman year, when she founded our student chapter of Citizen’s Climate Lobby, which she continues to lead as a senior.  This Environmental Science major additionally has spent three years as an active member of our President’s Committee on Environmental Sustainability, mentoring other students on the committee, interfacing with student leaders in other groups, and leading projects related to sustainability awareness among students.  As founder and chair of Villanova’s Community Garden group, she has spent over two years advocating across campus for the installation of an organic vegetable garden, presenting her proposals to our President, faculty, staff, and students, and leading an enthusiastic group of students in volunteering on local farms to gain experience.  At the Sustainability Improves Student Learning Conference at the National Academy of Sciences in September of 2013, Michelle sat on a student panel to discuss the impact of Villanova’s humanities and ecology courses on her development.  After conducting research in tropical ecology in Panama in the spring of 2013, in her senior year Michelle continues her fervent commitment to contributing her energy and insight to furthering sustainability awareness and action on our campus. 

 

Shippensburg University

Campus Sustainability Champion: Sarah Komisar

Nominated by: Tim Hawkins; twhawk@ship.edu

Category: Student

Email: sk0454@ship.edu

Description of accomplishments:  Sarah Komisar is the president of the Environmental Club and the student co-chair of the campus Environmental Steering Committee.  She was instrumental in planning the Environmental Club’s annual Earth Day event, where she not only more than doubled the number of participating on-campus groups, but also brought in a variety of community organizations to showcase environmental initiatives taking place throughout the state and country. Sarah also organized campus participation in the national Recyclemania contest.  She collaborated with others to increase signage about what can be recycled on campus and doubled battery recycling on campus by creating battery recycling bins for all residence halls.  Under Sarah’s leadership, the Environmental Club organized the first End of Year Recycling Campaign, diverting 4,112 pounds of material bound for the landfill. Finally, Sarah and the Environmental Club implemented an 8-week recycling program at two off-campus apartment complexes, during which time 5,440 gallons of materials were recycled.  This resulted in a permanent recycling program for residents at one apartment complex and Sarah is working with the other complex to get them to commit to providing recycling for their residents. Sarah’s creativity and dedication to increasing campus sustainability has made her stand out as a sustainability champion.


Millersville University

Campus Sustainability Champion:  Jessica M. Holtzapple

Nominated by: Joseph Revelt, joseph.revelt@millersville.edu, Director, Institutional Research

Category:  student

Jessica M. Holtzapple graduated May 2013 with a BA in environmental Geography and minors in Anthropology and Sociology from Millersville University. During her tenure on campus, her love of environmental stewardship was manifested in a myriad of campus sustainability endeavors. First, she served on the MU Campus Sustainability Committee, where she was frequently heard voicing creative ideas for addressing campus environmental concerns. As a woman of opinion, she was clearly the most vocal student the committee ever had!

Jessica also served as a campus Peer Health Educator, where she regularly promoted campus sustainability awareness among MU students. In key leadership roles in student environmental organizations, she participated in river trail cleanups and campus cleanups, and organized events for the campus 2012 Earth Day.

As the conclusion to her studies in environmental geography, Jessica interned with the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium. With them, she took on a number of tasks including conference organization and presentation, and development of PERC websites. Her most significant role was with the expansion and updating of the campus sustainability database covering some ninety PA universities and colleges. Thanks to Jessica, the organization has a significant measure to track Pennsylvania’s campus sustainability progress! Now out in the work world, Jessica’s  present aspirations center around her continuing commitment to environmental protection and social justice.


Bucknell University

Campus Sustainability Champion: Scott Perkins 

Nominated by: Dina El-Mogazi; dina.el-mogazi@bucknell.edu

Director, Campus Greening Initiative

Bucknell University Environmental Center

Adjunct Professor, Environmental Studies Program

Category:  Student

Email:  scott.perkins@bucknell.edu

Description of accomplishments:  Scott Perkins, a senior in Mechanical Engineering, demonstrated extraordinary drive and determination when in he led efforts to install Bucknell’s first wind turbine.  In order to accomplish this lofty goal, Scott guided Bucknell’s Wind Scholars group through the permitting and approval process, organized and motivated his peers through the wind tower construction process, and devoted many hours to countless details of preparing and erecting the turbine.   Scott achieved all of this during the spring semester of 2013 while managing a full course load.  He consistently maintained a cooperative and positive outlook throughout a journey that involved constant hurdles and set-backs.  In the end, Scott ensured that the wind turbine was erected on schedule, just two weeks prior to final exams, and the installation served as an important educational demonstration in the university’s annual Renewable Energy Workshop.


Penn State Erie: The Behrend College

Campus Sustainability Champion:  Greener Behrend Student Club

Nominated by: Ann Bolla Quinn; abq1@psu.edu

Category:  Student

Email:   Danielle Stanko, President drs5475@psu.edu . Danielle will not be able to attend the conference, but our club secretary, Taylor Minkus will be there tam5362@psu.edu

The Greener Behrend Student Club has grown exponentially in the past two years. The student presence has been active on campus and in our community. On campus the group has helped promote Single Stream Recycling, bring in speakers, and conserve energy especially through one of the greener Behrend Club’s signature events, Friday Night Lights Out. Students meet on Friday evening to turn off any lights or projectors that were left on so that energy is not wasted over the weekend. They organize regular campus clean ups that include our extensive wooded trail system on campus. They work with our compost program and rain gardens at Behrend. Generally, they are promoting a culture of Sustainability on campus. In the community they are equally active. We have students who have developed a walking tour of Penn State Erie - The Behrend College’s Arboretum. Our outreach begins with our Early Learning Center and extends to our community City Mission for both nonperishable food collections and a program that donates food from our dining hall seven days a week. Lastly, Greener Behrend students had led the way in sustainable research on campus. They are a perfect example of a PERC Campus Sustainability Champion.


Lebanon Valley College

Campus Sustainability Champion: Bryttani Craigle

Category: Student

Email:  bjc002@lvc.edu

Description of accomplishments: Bryttani Craigle is a senior economics and actuarial science major from Hazelton, PA.  When one of our sustainability leaders left for the land down under, the college’s carbon footprint was nearly erased.  Bryttani made a brilliant archeological save.   She used guile, creativity, wit and determination (with the help of another unsung hero Mike Ziegler, head of IT at LVC) to resurrect the old records and get LVC up to date.  In addition she is creating procedures and networks to make sure that we can pass it on and be able to keep a reliable record of our shrinking carbon footprint.  Without her and Mike’s efforts we would be back in the old carbon age.  I believe that the carbon footprint has also led to positive developments such as the college’s move to purchasing all of our electric energy through wind.


 Dickinson College

Campus Sustainability Champion: Justin McCarty 

Nominated by:  Neil Leary; learyn@dickinson.edu

Category:Student

Description of accomplishments:  Justin is a dynamic student leader and sustainability champion.  He has played leadership roles in several organizations, including Dickinson’s Biodiesel Shop, The Student Handiwork for Organized Projects (SHOP), and the Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Climate Change.  He tackles projects head on and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.  A small sampling of his projects include mini anaerobic digesters for an environmental studies lab and rebuilt bicycles in our campus bicycle co-op.  Justin sees the world as a big workshop waiting to be tinkered with.  He takes his passion for solving problems and extends them to addressing global issues, creating a more sustainable world.  Never one to seek recognition, Justin inspires others with his unflagging energy. Justin thrives when he’s fixing, building, and solving.  He’s currently planning and coordinating the installation of a solar charging station for campus and designing a renewable energy workshop series to educate fellow students.  In summary, Justin isn’t simply a dreamer with good intentions.  He’s a doer gets things done.


Lycoming College

Campus Sustainability Champion: Student Senate of Lycoming College

Nominated by:  Ryan Thomas Adams; adamsr@lycoming.edu

Category: Student

Description of accomplishments: The Lycoming College Sustainability Office nominates the Student Senate of Lycoming College for our student group Sustainability Champion. The Student Senate here at Lycoming is pushing for major sustainable initiatives to take place. They are extremely supportive of all the ideas presented by the Sustainability Office, and are bringing many of their own great ideas to the table. We hope to work closely with them this academic year to institute new “green” items on campus, as well as getting new students excited about sustainability.

                Having a partnership such as this is essential to our student-run Sustainability Office. Their prominent presence on campus, along with their strong influence over important decisions will be important for us to accomplish some of our larger projects anticipated for this year. They are willing to help fund anything that we might need extra resources for, which we are greatly appreciative of. We believe that they are a perfect nomination due to their enthusiasm about sustainability, and what they can help us succeed on our campus.


 Penn State University, Sustainability Institute  

Campus Sustainability Champion: Rachel Passmore

Category: Student

Rachel Passmore, a Penn State senior majoring  in Human Geography, is interested in the intricacies of economic poverty and related health issues, and the complexities of sustainable development.  A native of Vienna, Virginia, Rachel has conducted fieldwork in Japan and South Africa, receiving the E. Willard Miller award for her year-long research project comparing food access in the United States and Japan.  Rachel is a research intern for NEWBio, which investigates biomass as an alternative energy source.  For the past three years the President of Penn State has appointed her to the university's Student Sustainability Advisory Council (SSAC), where she currently serves as co-chair.  As service director of Omega Phi Alpha, a national service sorority, she is charged with organizing and carrying out the group's community service projects.  After graduating from Penn State, Rachel plans to work on community health and development projects, and may go on to graduate work in international studies with a focus on sustainable development.


Penn State Mont Alto

Campus Sustainability Champion:  Alex Stanish, Environmental Club President

Nominated by: Grace Rockwell, Exec Assistant, Office of the Chancellor. gjr12@psu.edu

Category:  student

Mr. Alex Stanish is a sophomore majoring in horticultural science major and minoring in sustainability management.  He is the president of the Environmental Club and a member of Gamma Sigma Delta, the Honor Society of Agriculture. Alex is interested in doing post-graduate research to develop new methods of sustainable industrial agricultural fertilization and irrigation. 



NON-STUDENT Campus Sustainability Champions

Lycoming College

  Campus Sustainability Champion: Dr. Ryan Adams

Category: Non-Student

Email: adamsr@lycoming.edu

Description of accomplishments: The Lycoming College Sustainability Office would like to nominate Dr. Ryan Adams for our non-student Sustainability Champion. Although he is a new addition to the sustainability office, Dr. Adams has been a driving force for sustainability on campus since his arrival in 2010.  Not only is he pushing for a campus garden, he is also teaching a plethora of classes for the Sustainability Minor here at Lycoming, which include: Cultural Anthropology, Environmental Anthropology, and Food and Culture.

Those that understand and strive to obtain sustainability in their workplace are rare gems in this time period. Those who show this mindset on and off the job are even rarer yet. We feel that Dr. Adams is well rounded in his understanding; instead of just looking at issues and ideas from an anthropological or environmental stance, he is one of those few gifted souls that is able to see the entire picture. The sustainable realm is in great need of superpowers such as this, and we are lucky to have him on our team.  Ryan’s ability to pinpoint attainable goals that will truly affect how our school ranks on the sustainability scale is what makes him the perfect candidate to be a Sustainability Champion!


Allegheny College

Campus Sustainability Champion: Allegheny College Food for Sustainability Project 

(Contact is TJ Eatmon, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science; teatmon@allegheny.edu

Category:Non-Student

Description of accomplishments:   The goal of the Food for Sustainability project at Allegheny College is to increase public understanding of sustainable systems by promoting sustainable values, attitudes, and practices. The project utilizes aquaponic systems that combine aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (soilless plant growth) for indoor, year round tilapia and lettuce production.  Each week, 25 to 50 heads of lettuce produced in this system are sold to Parkhurst Dining Services, and approximately 50 tilapia are harvested annually for activities such as a local foods dinner hosted by the campus. The revenue from the sale of tilapia and lettuce is used to supporting activities that utilize aquaponics to increase interactions and partnerships across the campus and community. Allegheny College students enrolled in “ENVSC 250: Environmental Education” currently work with seven classrooms of 6th graders in Crawford Central School District to address Ecology and Environment state academic standards.  This whole systems approach to sustainability has empowered students, faculty, administrators, and community members to pursue innovations in campus operations, teaching, research, and service-learning practices.

- A link to a webpage that provides additional information may be included: www.foodforsustainability.com

Nominated by:  Rich Bowden; rbowden@allegheny.edu

Professor of Environmental Science, Department of Environmental Science
Allegheny College, 520 N. Main Street, Meadville, PA 16335

Phone: 814-332-2869


Millersville University

Campus Sustainability Champion: Dr. Nadine Garner

Nadine.Garner@millersville.edu

Category:  Non- student

Dr. Nadine Garner is the founder and Director of Millersville University’s Center for Sustainability and Chair of the Sustainability Committee. Her commitment to sustainability runs deep: she originated the idea for MU’s Sustainability Committee and co-chaired the Stewards of Sustainability Conference. Her recent brainchild – the Center for Sustainability – adds a new dimension, by educating MU about all 3 pillars of sustainability (environmental protection, social justice, and economic equity). Dr. Garner introduced the TerraCycle program to campus and has engaged thousands of students. Calling herself the “Pied Piper of Garbage” she enthusiastically demonstrates how money generated from upcycling common household waste can save a child’s life, when MU provides cleft lip and palate surgeries through the SmileTrain. MU has responded so well to her program, entitled, “It Takes a ‘Ville-age to Save a Child,” that 2 surgeries have already been funded. MU has earned the distinction of being one of the top TerraCycle collecting sites nationwide. Dr. Garner is campus coordinator for PHE’s Food Recovery Challenge, has created an organic campus garden, and will host a harvest lunch in the ‘Ville-age Garden for national Food Day. Dr. Garner is an Associate Professor of Psychology and passionately infuses sustainability into her courses.

Please click on the link for Millersville University’s Center for Sustainability.


Penn State Mont Alto

Campus Sustainability Champion:  Sustainability Committee

sustainability@ma.psu.edu

Category: Non-Student

Committee co-chairs:

Dr. Beth Brantley, Faculty, Co-Chair, Eab8@psu.edu

Mr. Mike Ray, Staff, Co-Chair, Qmr1@psu.edu

Co-Chairs Beth Brantley and Mike Ray have lead the Penn State Mont Alto’s Sustainability Committee since its inception in 2010.  The committee has been researching ways for the campus to cut electricity, fuel, water, and materials use. In addition, the committee has developed strategies to increase campus recycling, educate the campus community about sustainability, infuse sustainability into the curriculum and reduce the campus carbon footprint.  The campus has also increased “green” campus purchasing, reduced what the campus sends to the landfill and waste in general, and publicized campus efforts.  The committee has identified funding sources to support campus sustainability efforts.  In 2012, the committee developed a Strategic Plan that has a vision and three separate goals.  The vision is to have Penn State Mont Alto be ecologically sound, socially responsible, and financially strong serving as a living laboratory for global sustainability.  The goals are to ensure that all Penn State Mont Alto students develop a deep understanding of and commitment to sustainability, engage the Penn State Mont Alto community in learning about and pursuing sustainability, and inform the greater community about the sustainability initiatives on the Mont Alto campus.


Cabrini College

Campus Sustainability Champion: Bob Iodice

bi722@cabrini.edu

Nominated by: Dr. Eric Malm, Associate Professor of Business, Cabrini College, eric.malm@cabrini.edu

Category: non-student
Cabrini College

As the Chief Engineer at Cabrini College, Bob Iodice helped make the college a leader in energy efficiency and sustainability.  Under Bob’s leadership the college reduced energy expenses by 47.7%. Major initiatives included the installation of high performance lighting in over half the occupied space, installation of condensing boilers, re-use of cooking oil for residential heat, and the installation of building automation and control systems.  Bob actively promoted sustainability to stakeholders across campus. He worked with student and alumni groups to help them understand the role of sustainability on campus, including education on green roof, solar, and dining hall projects. Bob was named Energy Manager of the Year for 2011 by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) / Greater Philadelphia chapter and helped the college achieve recognition for being in the top 10% of colleges across the country for energy performance.


Penn State University, University Park

Campus Sustainability Champion: Steve Maruszewski

sxm37@psu.edu

Nominated by: Sustainability Institute, PSU.  sbarsom@engr.psu.edu

Category: Non-student

Steve Maruszewski has led the Finance and Business Environmental Stewardship initiative since 2005.  Under Steve's leadership, Penn State achieved a 15% decrease in energy use over five years (even while it was adding over a million square feet of building space).   Steve also co-chaired the PSU Sustainability Council, tasked with writing the first University-wide Sustainability Strategic Plan; his work was foundational to the creation of the Penn State Sustainability Institute, which unites the University's academic, operations, research, outreach and co-curricular efforts in sustainability.   As the person responsible for the Office of Physical Plant (OPP) operations at University Park, Steve has been instrumental in the significant reductions in solid waste and increases in recycling rates, and has been a key supporter of the rapidly growing Green Teams program.  As important as these contributions, are the sincerity and generosity that Steve brings to the work of sustainability; he has developed a network of both usual suspects and unlikely allies in the effort to make all activities at Penn State more sustainable.


Susquehanna University

Campus Sustainability Champion: Kathy Straub

straubk@susqu.edu

Nominated by: Mark Heuer, heuer@susqu.edu

Category: non-student

Dr. Kathy Straub (straubk@susqu.edu) has dedicated her professional life to sustainability and serves as a professor of environmental science at Susquehanna University.  She started the sustainability program at SU and served as the chair of the committee for several years.  This entailed developing a culture of sustainability at SU where very little existed before.  She was able to implement several sustainability efforts, such as a "trayless" dining service, bicycle program, energy audit and implementation of energy conservation, and a focus on using local growers as food suppliers in the campus dining service.  Recently, she has sponsored a community wide program on environmentally conscious approaches to food.  She also presented a lecture last summer on global warming and its impact.


Penn State Erie: The Behrend College

Campus Sustainability Champion: Ann Bolla Quinn

Email: abq1@psu.edu

Nominated by: Robert W. Light, Ph.D.; rwl2@psu.edu

Senior Associate Dean for Research and Outreach & COO and Director Pennsylvania Sea Granthttp://www.pserie.psu.edu/research.htm
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College; 4701 College Drive, Erie PA 16563
Phone: 814-898-6160
Category: Non-Student

Description of accomplishments: In the five years since Ann Bolla Quinn was asked to spearhead sustainability efforts (Greener Behrend) at Penn State  Behrend, she has worked extensively with faculty members, staff, and students on many initiatives that have improved our campus.  Ann received a grant to install and maintain a green roof and plant two rain gardens, a grant to redesign our pathway system, and two TreeVitalize grants which added more than 200 trees on campus.  Through her leadership, tremendous strides have been made to deal with waste on campus with projects ranging from recycling batteries, to new compost and single-stream all-waste recycling initiatives in which more 15,000 pounds of food waste have been composted, to a program that donates leftover campus food to the local mission. Many of Ann’s efforts have reached beyond our campus, such as the Solid Waste Advisory Committee which allows students to partner with the local community to promote recycling and waste reduction and she oversees nearly 150 student volunteers for International Coastal Clean Up.  The annual Trash-to-Treasure sale raises money for the United Way and provides a sustainable way for departing students to leave unneeded items behind.

http://greencampus.psu.edu/index.htm


West Chester University

Campus Sustainability Champion: Dr. Paul Morgan

Email: PMORGAN@WCUPA.EDU

Category: Non-student

Description of accomplishments:

Dr. Morgan is a Professor of Professional and Secondary Education and has done it all in terms of sustainability efforts at WCU. After years of service with the Sustainability Advisory Council at WCU, he took over as Sustainability Coordinator. Paul’s relentless work has brought to fruition an ambitious Climate Action Plan for the university, which was just published on the ACUPCC website. He has organized the sustainability mission at WCU over the past two years and kept it focused on moving forward with meaningful action in the face of sometimes stiff institutional inertia.

 Details of some of both Kaloni's and Paul's accomplishments can be found herehttp://www.wcupa.edu/sustainability/history.aspand even more importantly in the Climate Action Plan found athttp://rs.acupcc.org/site_media/uploads/cap/1175-cap.pdf.



Shippensburg University

Campus Sustainability Champion:  Shippensburg University Campus Organic Farm

Heather Sahli (lead faculty), Theo Light (faculty), Cindy Murray (faculty), Sean Cornell (faculty), Sarah Komisar (student), Brian Schilling (student), Julia Russell (student), Julia Saintz (student), Lindsey Wayland (student), and Joshua Levitsky (student)

Email: hfsahli@ship.edu

Category: Non-Student

Description of accomplishments: Heather Sahli, along with other interested faculty and students worked through numerous barriers to site and establish the Shippensburg University Campus Organic Farm in Fall 2012.  The mission of the campus farm is to provide students with experiential learning opportunities, to provide students with research opportunities in sustainable agriculture, to increase campus and community sustainability, and to involve students in community efforts to provide those in need with fresh produce.  To date, the farm has produced over 350 pounds of produce, half of which was donated to the Shippensburg Produce Outreach, providing fresh, local produce to community members in need. The other half was sold to the Dining Services on campus, serving as the most local provider of food for our campus.  Through service learning projects, experiential learning class projects, and independent research projects over 150 students have participated in activities at the campus farm. Based on the success of farm, the university has provided funding through the newly established student Farm Club and through a Graduate Assistant position and two student worker positions that assist with day-to-day operations of the farm.  Dining Services has also partnered with the farm to provide volunteer workers during the summer. 


Bucknell University

Campus Sustainability Champion:  Stephen Durfee

Category:  Non-student

email:  stephen.durfee@bucknell.edu

Description of accomplishments:  Although Stephen Durfee, Bucknell’s first energy manager, joined the university less than two years ago, and has already made a significant impact on the sustainability of the campus.  Steve has spear-headed several high profile energy conservation projects, including lighting retrofits, HVAC upgrades, and full building assessments.   Under Steve’s watch, the overall consumption of energy has declined at Bucknell, even though three new buildings have been added.  But Steve’s greatest contribution has been his devotion to working with students.  In his spare time he has patiently advised students in energy and water conservation research, provided leadership to the Flex Your Power energy conservation competition, and cheerfully provided data for countless surveys and class projects.  Furthermore, Steve has helped expand the Bucknell Green Fund through the completion of two projects that have resulted significant paybacks.  In addition to his thoughtful service, Steve is friendly, collaborative, and a pleasure to work with. 


Dickinson College

Nominee: Alyssa Windholtz, Assistant Director of Alumni & Parent Engagement

Category: Non-Student 

Email: windhola@dickinson.edu

Description of accomplishments: Alyssa Windholtz is the Assistant Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement, a position that does not have direct responsibility for implementing sustainability initiatives at Dickinson. Alyssa went above and beyond to implement a "Striving for Zero Waste" initiative as part of our Homecoming and Parent's Weekend events on September 27-29, 2013. Various departments at the College expressed interest in supporting such an effort, but Alyssa's passion, attention to detail, creative thinking, and organization brought these groups together for a successful next step in waste management at Dickinson. She is inspiring change not just for this event, but more widely in operations and in the work of the office of Alumni & Parent Engagement. Homecoming, Alumni Weekend and Parent's Weekend typically bring large numbers of people together at Dickinson. Small changes in the operations of these events can scale up to huge impacts. Having support from Alyssa, a voice outside the typical sustainability representatives, brought new people to the conversation, a sign that we are continuing to progress as an institution committed to sustainability. Her willingness to change the way things have always been done, celebrate alternatives, and involve new partners led to positive, long-lasting changes. Outcomes included creation of new educational signage, changes in the catering process with dining services to include only compostable and recyclable items in all their services, and elimination of waste products (balloons, non-sustainable giveaways, wristbands etc.). Alyssa's leadership was key to the lasting changes and new partnerships as Dickinson continues its creative waste reduction strategies.


Lebanon Valley College

Campus Sustainability Champion: Michelle Krall

Email:  mkrall@lvc.edu

Nominated by: Will Delavan; delavan@lvc.edu

Department of Business and Economics, Lebanon Valley College

101 North College Avenue, Annville, PA 17003

Office: 717-867-6495; Cell: 717-343-7552

Category: Non-Student

Description of accomplishments:  Michelle Krall a graduate of Juniata College works in the development office at LVC.  She spent most of her free time over the last three years organizing and keeping The Sustainability Committee formerly known as the Sustainability task force alive.   She was the lifeblood of the organization.  A one-time intern in environmental education at the Pennsylvania DCNR her commitment was through her actions.  She cajoled, pulled strings, lobbied, and took care of all the mundane details of keeping the committee going.  Michelle also organized Earth Day events for the past two years.  She was also responsible for ensuring that LVC remained an active pagreencolleges.org member by persuading the decision makers of the value of this commitment.

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