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Our Nature, Penn State Sustainability’s Blog

Our Nature, Penn State Sustainability’s Blog2023-12-20T11:06:27-05:00

We all have a role to play in addressing today’s sustainability challenges. As a Penn Stater, it’s in “our nature” to work collaboratively towards these much-needed solutions. Nittany Lions have a long history of positive climate impact and “Our Nature” chronicles trustworthy environmental news, stories, and perspectives from throughout the Penn State community.

Hear firsthand how faculty, staff, alumni, and students are making an impact each day, what their successes and challenges have been, and what’s fueling their passion for progress. By following these stories or submitting your own, we hope you’ll find inspiration and hope for our shared sustainable future.

Both our choices and our voices are powerful tools that can be leveraged to improve conditions for our planet, wildlife, and selves.

Hannah Gadpaille, Sustainability Scholar: Pre-departure blog – Kenya

The Global Sustainability Scholars program, managed by Penn State Global and Penn State Sustainability, selects 10-15 students annually who will use their study abroad experience to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Scholars engage with the sustainability community at Penn State before departure, build global sustainability knowledge abroad, and apply these skills upon return. Applications are due in mid-September each year; please check the website for details! As I prepare for my upcoming journey to Kenya's Masai Mara, I am filled with [...]

February 6, 2025|

Matias Moreno, Sustainability Scholar: Pre Departure Blog – Singapore

Diving into Belize’s haunting reefs, I felt the weight of environmental responsibility settle on me like never before. In the spring of 2024, I joined an embedded study abroad program in Belize that exposed me to the stark realities of climate change. Diving down to reefs that should have been teeming with life, I instead saw bleached corals, barren and pale, where vibrant ecosystems once thrived. This landscape left a profound impact on me, activating a sense of responsibility to [...]

December 17, 2024|

Hannah Kline, Sustainability Scholar

The Penn State Global Sustainability Scholars program is a competitive scholarship program managed by Penn State Global in partnership with Penn State Sustainability. Each fall, a cohort of 10-15 students is selected who are eager to use their education abroad experience in the coming year to develop the skills and knowledge they need to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). These students commit to meaningful engagement with the sustainability community at Penn State before departure, building global sustainability [...]

September 10, 2024|

Penn State Behrend alum empowers new beekeepers in Nepal with the Peace Corps

By Pearl Patterson ('21) with Tomoe Matsumoto-Hervol I am Pearl Patterson, a Penn State Behrend alum ('21) working as an agriculture-based Peace Corps volunteer in rural Nepal for two years (June 2023 through August 2025). While at Behrend, I interned with the Sustainable Food Systems Program and Sustainable Behrend, and following graduation, I served for two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA member working to build the capacity of Erie’s Food Policy Advisory Council.  In my current position as a Peace [...]

June 6, 2024|

Becoming an Educated Climate Warrior

By Ava Blansfield A Note from Dr. Lucy R. McClain, Associate Teaching Professor of Sust 200: Foundations of Leadership in Sustainability: When I first began teaching SUST 200 at Penn State in the fall of 2018, the weight of the climate crisis was something I truthfully hadn’t acknowledged or felt on a personal level–or maybe I did. Still, because it feels so amplified in my current state, I could be minimizing how I felt six years ago. Regardless, as I [...]

April 22, 2024|

Becoming a Creative Climate Warrior

By Ava Blansfield A Note from Dr. Lucy R. McClain, Associate Teaching Professor of Sust 200: Foundations of Leadership in Sustainability: When I first began teaching SUST 200 at Penn State in the fall of 2018, the weight of the climate crisis was something I truthfully hadn’t acknowledged or felt on a personal level–or maybe I did. Still, because it feels so amplified in my current state, I could be minimizing how I felt six years ago. Regardless, as I [...]

February 27, 2024|
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