MCSI BROADENS INFLUENCE THROUGH CAMPUS ENGAGEMENT

MCSI engages the University community via a number of mechanisms, including events, collaborations, employee professional development courses,

Events

MCSI brings together faculty, staff, students, and external friends to engage in dialogue on a wide variety of sustainability topics.

Pitt Employee Professional Development Courses

Ellie Cadden (MCSI) and Samantha Chan (Office of Sustainability) co-taught two required workshops for Pitt Human Resources’ Sustainability Certificate as part of the Faculty and Staff Professional Development Program.

The first workshop, “Sustainability Foundations: Balancing the Three Es,” had 71 employee attendees (58 in Fall and 13 in Spring). The Spring class was the first in-person course offering. The second class, “Sustainability: Environment, Ecosystems, and You,” had 83 attendees (60 in Fall and 23 in Spring)

The certificate is available to all Pitt faculty and staff, with 10 different workshops offered each semester.

Pitt Day of Giving

For the 2023 Pitt Day of Giving in February, the Pitt Sustainability team partnered to direct all donations to Pitt Green Fund to support student-led sustainability projects across campus. Collectively, over $2,345 was raised from 35 donors.

Collaborations Across Campus

The MCSI team collaborates and partners across campus on a variety of student facing engagement opportunities including events such as:

• Clean and Swap

• Clutter for a Cause

• Frederick Honors CollegeOrientation

• Farmers’ Markets @ Pitt

• Student Office of Sustainability -

First Thursdays

• Sustainability Activities Fair

Food Ecosystem Scholar Community: Student Programs

In Fall 2022, MCSI partnered with the Frederick Honors College’s Food Ecosystems Scholar Community (ScholarCHEF). Faculty lead Dr. David Sanchez worked with Corey Flynn (John C. Mascaro Faculty) and David Fraser (Frederick Honors College) to present multiple awareness-raising events for students, including engagement with the ScholarCHEF Community. In addition to a formal “Sustainable Food System” course, events provided opportunities for students to learn about how food systems operate and balance meeting environmental, economic, and social needs.

To grow the community, students from the ScholarCHEF Community held several dinner and discussion events that also raised awareness about food-related topics; these dinners included an on-campus “Carbon Tracked Dinner” where each food item was served with information on the emissions associated, the “Chancellor’s Scholar Seminar,” and a “Build Your Own Zero Waste Meal Kit” night. The community also participated in a service project at Hilltop Urban Farm and visited Triple B Farms’ Harvest Festival in the Monongahela Valley. During finals week, MCSI provided the ScholarCHEF Community comfort food and healthy snacks.

In Spring 2023, the ScholarCHEF Community and MCSI hosted a screening and discussion of Kiss the Ground, a documentary focused on soil remediation methods in the face of climate change. Spring also included the first annual CSA Signup and Food Fair, which provided students an opportunity to learn about local urban farms and community supported agriculture from organizations directly, including Blackberry Meadows Farm, Craft Chatham, Farmer Girl Eb, Feed the Hood, Food Recovery Network, Haffey Family Farm, Harvie, Hilltop Urban Farm, ReImagine Food Systems, and Soil Sisters

The Spring semester also included three cooking classes in collaboration Phipps Conservatory’s Teaching Kitchen and Pitt Pantry. Students cooked their own healthy ramen, vegan chili, and chana masala meals, which they took home in their zero waste kits. At the end of the semester, an Food Justice Seminar and Awards Ceremony was held in collaboration with the United Way Food Solution Steering Committee and a “Food Justice in Interdisciplinary Perspective” course. Guest speaker, Pascale Jossart-Marcelli discussed her book, The $16 Taco, which sheds light on the impacts that gentrification and displacement can have on the food landscape of a region.