Pitt Students to Host Sustainability Symposium April 6

PITTSBURGH—Students from the University of Pittsburgh will present the work they’ve accomplished during the University’s Year of Sustainability at the eighth annual Student Sustainability Symposium from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 6 in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room, 3959 Fifth Ave., Oakland. The event is free and open to the public. 

Highlights include keynote speaker Joel Salatin. Salatin, from Virginia, farms in the Shenandoah Valley using sustainable methods. He is the author of several books, including You Can Farm, Salad Bar Beef, and Folks, This Ain’t Normal. His farm, Polyface Farm, has been featured in Smithsonian magazine, National Geographic, and Gourmet, as well as Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Pitt students will deliver presentations on their efforts to eliminate paper receipts on campus, manage stormwater runoff, encourage children to make sustainable choices, add a second vegetable garden to campus, and add healthier choices to campus vending machines.

The event schedule follows: 

* 11:00 a.m., Opening Remarks: Year of Sustainability

* 11:15 a.m., Sustainability Class: Student Presentations

* Noon, WPTS-FM Sustainability Table Competition with 25-30 student and community group tables touting sustainable practices

* 12:30 p.m., Lunch/Dean’s Hour with Kenyon Bonner, interim vice provost and dean of students

* 1:30 p.m., Sustainability Fellows Panel

* 2:15 p.m., Sustainable Solutions Competition Presentations, including 2014 winner “Project Towers”

* 3:15 p.m., Keynote Speaker Joel Salatin, in William Pitt Union ballroom

* 4:30 p.m., Announcement of student sustainability table contest winner

The symposium is sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program in the Department of Geology and Planetary Science, PittServes, Students for Sustainability, and WPTS-FM with support from the Green Fund Advisory Board, Outside the Classroom Curriculum program, Office of the Provost, and the Swanson School of Engineering’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation. The annual student symposium was initiated in 2007 in response to the Rachel Carson Legacy Challenge issued by the Rachel Carson Homestead Association.