Sustainability

Sustainability Spotlight

Sustainability Spotlight

Across the College of the Liberal Arts, faculty and staff members are incorporating sustainability into work in meaningful, measurable ways. The Sustainability Council recognizes these contributions with the Sustainability Awards.

Faculty Sustainability Awards

This award provides recognition to a faculty member in the College of the Liberal Arts whose commitment to sustainability in their teaching, research or service is exceptional and best exemplifies professionalism and dedication to the mission of the College and the University. Faculty awardees have displayed exceptional commitment to sustainability in their teaching, research, or service or through an initiative that has enhanced sustainability in the College of the Liberal Arts. We seek self-nominations as well as nominations from department and program heads, supervisors, and coworkers for all types of work. The winner(s) will receive an engraved Nittany Lion statue and a one-time monetary award.

Eligibility

Nominations are open from September 1, 2023 to January 29, 2024

All full and part time faculty in the College of the Liberal Arts are eligible to apply for this award. Past recipients of the award are eligible for nomination in the same category after three years.

  • Employed by the College for a minimum of one year as of the nomination deadline
  • Demonstrated exemplary commitment to sustainability and impact of actions on advancing sustainability in the College
  • Dedicated to the College and unit mission

Faculty Sustainability Spotlight

Laurel Pearson
Associate Teaching Professor of Anthropology

Laurel has advanced student learning on sustainability through various impactful initiatives. In 2021, she arranged the showing of "Land and Water Revisited" and formed a panel for it. Additionally, Laurel collaborated with the CLA Office of Digital Pedagogy and Scholarship and the Sustainability Institute to design a sustainability module for CLA's First-year Seminar course. In the fall of 2022, she successfully led a pilot of this module. Furthermore, Laurel actively participates in the College of the Liberal Arts theme of Moments of Change: Creating a Living Planet, contributing to the design of a roundtable discussion on “Historical Contexts of Humans Shaping their Environment.

To further support students, Laurel spearheaded the Liberal Arts Student Award for Research on Sustainability (LASARS). This award provides funds for graduate and undergraduate students engaged in sustainability-focused research within the College of the Liberal Arts. Last year, four students received funding, and an additional four students received support this year.

Laurel's dedication extends to enhancing teaching on sustainability as well. In August 2022, she co-led a CLA-focused teaching workshop, and she has been instrumental in establishing a sustainability teaching community. This community aims to offer continuing education and mutual support among faculty members.

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Our Past Winners

2022 – Richard Mbih, African Studies

2021 – Mark Sentesy, Philosophy

2020 - Nancy Tuana, Philosophy

2019 - Janet K. Swim, Psychology

2018 - Robert Burkholder, English

2017 - Bryan McDonald, History

Student Sustainability Awards

The Liberal Arts Student Award for Research on Sustainability (LASARS) supports students performing sustainability-focused research in the College of Liberal Arts. All types of sustainability-focused research or creative project is considered including work in the lab, field, or archives.

All undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts are eligible to apply for the award with the assistance of a faculty sponsor.

Please go to the following web page to submit a proposal.

You will need to a) describe your objectives and motives (250 words), b) the contribution to your educational and professional goals (100 words), c) your budget for up to $1000). After you submit it you will need to submit your mentor’s name so they can send a recommendation letter.  

Our Winners

2022-2023

Alison Axtman (International and Global Studies and French): Pennsylvania Residents’ Perceptions and Support for Climate Change Policies

Rachel Palkovitz, M. Phill (Anthropology): How “wild” is American wild Ginseng?  Investigating the role of human cultivation in shaping morphological and genetic diversity of a valuable non-timber forest resource.

Danielle Buffa, M.S. (Anthropology)

Casey Tilley, B.A. (Comparative Literature

2021-2022

Staff Sustainability Awards

This award provides recognition to staff in the College of the Liberal Arts whose commitment to sustainability is exceptional and best exemplifies professionalism and dedication to the sustainability mission of the College and the University. Awardees are individual staff members, or a team of staff members, with an exceptional commitment to sustainability in their daily activities or through an initiative that has enhanced sustainability in the College of the Liberal Arts.

Nominations are open from September 1, 2023 to January 29, 2024

Staff Sustainability Spotlight

Mary Price
Administrative Support Assistant, School of Global Languages, Literatures and Cultures

The School of Global Languages, Literatures and Cultures feels Mary embodies the true spirit of this award as she works tirelessly to support and expand the processes associated with this initiative (recycling, use of reusable items, repurposing resources.) Through her continuing efforts, Mary has worked to “sustain” every aspect of the lives of those who have the pleasure of working and interacting with her. A prime example is reflected in her work with the Non-credit Proficiency Certification Exams as she worked with the Chinese language examiners, whose students take the largest numbers of these exams, to create a paperless process, saving close to four cases of paper each semester. Congratulations, Mary!

Mary Price

Our Past Winners

2021 – Kelly Confer, Psychology

2020 – Chris Hort, Office of the Dean

2019 – Ned Balzer, ITLA

2018 – Allison Haas, Political Science

2017 – Jessica Fatica, Human Resources