Sustainability In The Bay Newletter | PCGS May 2016

May 18, 2016

Alumni News

Latest News

Congratulations to the following alum on their recent accomplishments:

Exploring Sustainability in Space

●​ ​ Brian Pullen, a 2015 Patel College graduate with a concentration in Entrepreneurship​ , was recently hired as the sustainability planner at University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus. Brian is a PCGS Ambassador.

Brian Pullen

Brian shares some comments about his new position…..“I would have to say the thing I'm most excited about this position is the ability to implement

When you think of the space industry, what comes to mind?

Rockets, shuttles and satellites are probably the first visions you have, but can you visualize cabbage growing on the International Space Station? Or landing rockets on barges so they can be re­used? These are the experiences that Patel College of Global Sustainability’s Internship Coordinator, Rhiannon Roberts, saw first­hand as a NASA Social participant prior to joining the PCGS team in August 2015.

“NASA Social changed my life and opened up my eyes to how sustainability and the space industry are merging together. My experience with the space industry was so inspirational that I wanted to share this same inspiration with our students,” Roberts explained, “As a Mass Communications alumni of USF, I wish I had known about these opportunities within the space industry. You don’t have to be an engineer to get involved in their initiatives. You just need passion, drive, and the awareness that these opportunities exist.”

Roberts’ first immediate collaboration effort was when she connected the PCGS students with the Sustainability Team at Johnson Space Center on the “Next Generation Kitchens: Closing the Loops in the Kitchen Workshop” during fall 2015. This was a two­day workshop between NASA, Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and Rice University. Nine PCGS students and two faculty members, Dr. David Randle, Director of the PCGS Sustainable Tourism program, and Dr. T.H. Culhane, National Geographic explorer and founder and director of Solar CITIES, participated in their collaboration efforts to formulate ideas that lead to the development of sustainable technological innovations for the kitchen.

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sustainable practices on a large operational level.

In other words, USFSP looks to me towards developing sustainable projects that are not only more environmentally sound, but also are long­term cost­efficient. As an example, I'm developing an Energy Management System project where each campus building will be individually metered and energy data will be displayed on campus dashboards so students and staff can see how much energy is being used per building.

This will not only help educate us to be more conservative with energy usage but also help us discover inefficiencies and help us reach our goal of net neutrality. PCGS definitely impacted my decision for this role.

Following grad school, I knew I wanted to pursue a career around sustainability.

PCGS prepared me with a diverse and holistic understanding just what sustainability entails, which seems to fit perfect with this role because I get to work on such diverse and different projects ranging from energy efficiency, waste management, transportation, food security, and education.”

“In the initial day of the two­day workshop, NASA presented ‘The Next Space Kitchen’ and ‘Space Kitchen: Design and Technology,’” said Jennifer Delio, Patel College’s student team leader of the PCGS team. “Both presentations offered information on NASA’s current sustainable practices and future goals. The students that were able to participate have gained knowledge on space sustainability applications.

This [Next Generation Kitchen] workshop is to be the first of many collaborations with NASA and PCGS,” said Delio.

“This workshop is a wonderful opportunity for our students to collaborate with real NASA technology and issues to help them develop sustainable solutions that will apply not only for the international space station, but also technologies that can be used in everyday life here on this spaceship Earth,” said Dr. Randle, faculty advisor for the project.

The second collaboration effort was to develop internship opportunities. After several visits to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, Director Berman, Randall Pape, Dr. Joseph Dorsey, and Roberts met with the Delaware North Companies (DNC) Environmental Health and Safety team and discussed internship opportunities within their company.

“Since DNC is a hospitality company that is contracted by NASA, it was an ideal fit for one of our students in our tourism concentration,” Roberts explained. After a competitive interview process, PCGS student, Miriah Ekus, was ultimately the one who landed the internship at Kennedy Space Center.

"I couldn't have asked for a more amazing internship experience, it was truly out of this world,” said Ekus. “I met so many great people who inspired me to reach for the stars and I gained valuable knowledge that I can apply in my future endeavors."

●​ ​ Eve Spengler, a 2013 Patel College graduate with a dual Masters in Global Sustainability with a concentration in Energy Innovations and

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Entrepreneurship in Applied Technologies​ recently received the “Sustainable Business Award” from the Sustany Foundation. Eve is the Director of Marketing and Environmental Advocacy at Bay Mulch Organics Recycling and a PCGS Ambassador.

Eve shares the following about Bay Mulch Organics…..“In 2016, we are especially proud to have started a brand new partnership with USF Dining Services, and together have already recycled thousands of pounds of food waste from Juniper Hall on the Tampa campus. This food is composted at our farm in Plant City, using special microbial technology that transforms it into high quality soil, which is then used by local farmers, nursery growers, landscapers and community gardeners.

The beauty of our business model is that no matter how rotten food gets, it makes great soil, and that this growing medium can be used to produce more food. It’s a great example of a closed loop system, and a healthy food lifecycle. Also, since we began collecting food two years ago, Bay Mulch has diverted over 9 tons of food out of the waste stream, and into productive use by converting it into USDA Certified Organic Soil. It’s a win­win for everyone

From L ­ R: Ch​ arlie Venuto, Director of Environmental, Health and Safety at Delaware North Companies; Louis Zunguze, Director of Environmental, Health and Safety at Delaware North Companies; Miriah Ekus, environmental intern; Rhiannon Roberts; Dr. David Randle

Miriah’s internship with DNC opened sever​ al new doors for the college., t​ he first being PCGS’s participation in Kennedy Space Center’s Earth Day event during spring 2016, where numerous vendors within sustainability and conservation were in attendance at​ ​ the two­day event.​ ​ “This was an excellent networking opportunity for the college and for our students,” Roberts exclaimed. “We hope that these new connections develop into additional collaborative opportunities for our students.”

Recently, DNC connected PCGS with Kennedy Space Center’s partnering research facility, The Space Life Sciences Laboratory, based at the space center. The Lab holds weekly Lunch Break seminars during which informal presentations are given by guest speakers with expertise in various disciplines.

Dr. Randle and PCGS faculty members Louis Zunguze were th​ recently invited to speak about coastal sustainability on June 8​ . This also happens to be World Oceans Day, so Dr. Randle and Zunguze are collaborating with The Space Life Sciences Laboratory team to create an ocean theme for the day’s events.

The Kennedy Space Center coastal management team stands to benefit from this presentation, since a mixture of the rising oceans and hurricanes have thinned the space center’s beach width by over 50 yards since they began tracking the erosion in 1943.

This is a critical concern for the center. Experiencing additional sand dune loss could affect future space exploration projects as the coastline

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involved.​ ”

erosion is getting closer to their launch facilities. Ideally, the Patel College would like to get involved with their coastal management mitigation projects.

Roberts continued, ​ “This is only the beginning. The goal is to

Eve Spengler, “Sustainable Business Award” recipient

eventually connect with all 10 NASA field centers, SpaceX, Jacobs Engineering group, and as many other opportunities t​ hat we can become involved in. ​ We need to look at​ the future of sustainability.

Here at PCGS, we’re connecting students with opportunities that didn’t exist before, and it’s incredible to see their lives literally change as a result of those experiences.”

Faculty News Professor George Philippidis was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship​ ​ (Specialist) by the US Department of State in recognition of his​ ​ international leadership in environmental sustainability through renewable​ ​ energy. He is currently conducting his first Fulbright assignment at the​ ​ invitation of McGill University in Montreal Canada, where he is​ ​ collaborating with Dr. Donald Smith, James McGill Professor at the Plant​ ​ Science Department and Director and CEO of BioFuelNet Canada. This​ ​ collaboration aims at building an educational and research relationship​ ​ between the United States and Canada in general and more specifically​ ​ between USF's Patel College of Global Sustainability (PCGS) and Canada's​ ​ biofuels program.

Activities include seminars on sustainable agriculture and the energy­food­water nexus, faculty and student exchanges, joint​ ​ online sustainability workshops, and joint proposals for externally funded research. Dr. Philippidis directs PCGS's academic and research programs,​ ​ teaches courses in renewable energy and sustainability economics &​ ​ finance, and leads applied research in biofuels and bioproducts from​ ​ algae, biomass, and vegetable oils​ .

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Ioannis Dogaris, a postdoctoral fellow for Dr. Philippidis, working in the Biofuels and Bioproducts Lab

Patel College of Global Sustainability 813­974­9694 ● pcgs@usf.edu ● www.usf.edu/pcgs 4202 E. Fowler Ave, CGS101 Tampa, FL 33620

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