Who We Are

Established in 2003, the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) is the University of Pittsburgh’s university-wide sustainability center focused on catalyzing sustainability research and education. MCSI leads Pitt’s faculty sustainability engagement via strategy and programs focused on integrating sustainability into the curriculum, groundbreaking sustainability research, and community outreach and innovation. MCSI's various student opportunities focus on exploring and experiencing sustainability in research, practice, and performance. MCSI’s Faculty Sustainability Task Force brings together representatives from every Pitt school to advance sustainability through the integration of a multidisciplinary curriculum, groundbreaking research, innovation, community engagement, and partnership. MCSI also creates opportunities to coordinate academic collaborations across campus with Pitt’s other sustainability-focused and -related research centers.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Environmental Justice

Pitt’s sustainability work has spanned decades, working to advance efforts of equity, environment, and economics so current and future generations can thrive. Defined differently by many, environmental justice is focused on maintaining healthy environments, especially for individuals and communities who have traditionally lived, worked, and played closest to sources of pollution or negative environmental impacts.

The Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation commits to making diversity, equity, and inclusion a part of its research and education by emphasizing the key role that environmental justice plays in sustainability. The Mascaro Center will continue to work with communities faced with systemic environmental racism to make a positive change and strive to reach environmental justice.

The Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation aims to foster and achieve the University’s sustainability vision through the development and integration of curriculum, groundbreaking research, community outreach and innovation.

MCSI Leadership

Melissa Bilec Appointed Co-Director

Dr. Melissa Bilec is a triple-alumna of Pitt, having earned her Bachelor’s (magna cum laude), Master’s, and PhD from Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, where MCSI got its start. She is nationally and internationally recognized for her expertise in circular economy, life cycle assessment, energy assessment (especially within underserved communities), high performance buildings, and experiential learning. Bilec has secured approximately $10 million in research funding as PI or Co-PI (including 15 NSF grants) and has worked closely with the City of Pittsburgh, Green Building Alliance, and the Larimer community. She also worked with extensively with Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens on published research of its Center for Sustainable Landscapes, considered one of the greenest buildings in the world. Read full announcement.

David Sanchez promoted to Associate Director

When the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) was established in 2003, its co-founders – Distinguished Service Professor Eric Beckman and alumnus John C. “Jack” Mascaro – believed that

encouraging innovation and global engagement would secure the advancement of sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh. Since 2016, Dr. David Sanchez has taken that mission to heart by establishing signature programs, sustainability courses, and research initiatives. Recognizing his efforts to advance the original vision of Beckman and Mascaro, Sanchez was promoted to MCSI’s Associate Director. Read full announcement.