ANNUAL REPORT 2020
Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Our Year in Summary ____________________________________________ 3 Our Team ______________________________________________________ 4 Sustainability Engagement Increasing Across the University _____________ 6 Catalyzing Sustainability Research _________________________________ 10 Advancing Faculty and Educational Excellence in Sustainability __________ 13 Bringing Sustainability to our Communities ___________________________ 17 Empowering Our students ________________________________________ 19 MCSI Leading Response to Global Challenges in Sustainability __________ 21 Media Report __________________________________________________ 23 Journal Articles ________________________________________________ 26 Conference Proceedings _________________________________________ 29 Appendix _____________________________________________________ 31
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OUR YEAR IN SUMMARY June 2020 It's our great pleasure to share with you the annual report from the University of Pittsburgh’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) for the 2019-2020 academic year. While the report provides extensive detail as to our operations and outcomes, we’d like to highlight some of the key developments from MCSI over the past year. First, MCSI has made strong moves to support research into design for a circular economy; this new thrust dates from late 2018, upon awarding of an Ellen MacArthur Challenge grant to a Swanson School of Engineering (SSOE) team (PI: Eric J. Beckman), regarding redesign of currently unrecyclable multi-layer packaging. This work then led to one of the first NSF Convergence Grants on Design for a Circular Economy, where Pitt was the lead institution (PI: Melissa Bilec, CEE and MCSI Deputy Director) and partnered with faculty from the University of Illinois, University of Maine, and Rochester Institute of Technology. Given this pathbreaking grant, MCSI was recently asked by a group of NSF program directors to submit a proposal to support a workshop on design for a circular economy whose goal would be to create a research roadmap for the field in general. Finally, MCSI also led the Pitt team (SSOE, Chemistry, Law) that was awarded one of the first two University of Pittsburgh Momentum Scaling Grants to jump-start our work in attacking the global plastic waste problem. On the education side, David Sanchez (CEE and MCSI Assistant Director) was awarded a Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award recognizing his outstanding use of active project-based learning techniques. David has brought his unique and student engagement-driven teaching style to the two pillar courses that bookend the University-wide Undergraduate Sustainability Certificate. MCSI is also proud to have supported the early work that has resulted in Dr. Paul Leu’s selection for the AmericanMade Solar Prize, a U.S. Department of Energy competition designed to incentivize entrepreneurs toward U.S. solar energy innovation and manufacturing. The project is led by Leu, Sajad Haghanifar (Leu doctoral candidate), and Sooraj Sharma (senior studying materials science and engineering who began developing this project in 2018 through the MCSI Undergraduate Summer Research Program). The team is evaluating new methods to improve the top glass sheet in solar panels. Finally, we are especially proud of our team’s perseverance and flexibility despite the obstacles and challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Led by Gena Kovalcik and David Sanchez, MCSI quickly adapted our two signature summer programs (MCSI Undergraduate Summer Research and Teach-the-Teacher) to provide Pitt undergraduates and regional middle school teachers remote online programs. We are pleased to report a full cohort in both programs. MCSI remains committed to addressing global sustainability issues, connecting our domestic and international pursuits to create synergies locally, nationally, and internationally. We hope you enjoy this summary of the past year’s impacts, and we'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about the report's contents and MCSI's programs. Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Dr. Eric J. Beckman, PhD Co-Director
Gena M. Kovalcik, MPPM Co-Director
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.
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OUR TEAM Eric J. Beckman, Co-Director Eric sustains a strong research portfolio and works to develop new technologies that expand the frontiers of sustainability. He helps to develop mutually beneficial linkages with industry in order to develop partnerships and collaborative research and, where applicable, technology transfer, contract work, and commercialization of intellectual property. Gena M. Kovalcik, Co-Director Gena is responsible for providing administrative leadership, which includes supervising personnel, financial management, and operations. Gena represents the interests of the Center with academic administration, encouraging and supporting the raising of funds, and managing and ensuring regular communication of Center activities for faculty, students, and external partners. Gena is accountable for the smooth and successful development and implementation of all MCSI events and programs and provides support to the faculty leadership team on all initiatives. Melissa M. Bilec, Deputy Director Melissa is responsible for providing research leadership, which includes developing new programs and promoting and facilitating leading-edge collaborative research. Melissa helps to build and provide support for a community of innovative researchers to enhance research capacity at the University and increase internal and external research opportunities for faculty and students. She works to develop networks between the Center and partners, acting as the nexus between the University and the community developing strong linkages with appropriate departments and programs. David Sanchez, Assistant Director, Education and Community Engagement David is responsible for all of the Center’s education, community engagement, and outreach programs, including directing the undergraduate certificate in sustainability, the Master’s in Sustainable Engineering, and the John C. Mascaro Faculty program. He is responsible for building strong, positive working relationships with faculty, administration, students, and external partners. This includes overseeing the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, K-12 programming, and overseeing outreach programs that benefit our broad education and research agenda. Ellie Cadden, Sustainability Engagement Assistant Ellie manages all office activities including scheduling meetings, maintaining the appointment calendar, travel, proofreading and editing correspondence and budget management. She assists with educational programs, marketing, and logistics. Ellie also manages the design and content of the MCSI website, e-newsletter, and social media communications. Anna Coleman, Sustainability Intern Anna joined MCSI as an intern in 2018 and supports the entire leadership team on all of our programs and initiatives. In particular, Anna leads website updates and e-newsletter efforts.
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OUR YEAR IN NUMBERS $3.6M+
Seed Grant Follow-on Funding
50
4,200
First Year Student Gifts
28 Journal Articles
2
COVID altered programs
40+ Media Mentions
10 Faculty Awards
100+ Community Partners
EARTH DAY 2020
Figure 1: University of Pittsburgh Earth Day Timeline, 1970 to 2020, Reference: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/pitt-earth-day-history/
Speakeasy Attendees
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SUSTAINABILITY ENGAGEMENT INCREASING ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY The Mascaro Center serves as a key partner and contributor to sustainability initiatives throughout campus, helping to raise sustainability as a foundational strength for the University. All of our programs and initiatives aim to create a productive and supportive environment that elevates the impact of our efforts within Pitt and the broader community. -
Gena Kovalcik, Co-Director
PITT COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS The University of Pittsburgh boasts 16 sustainability-related centers across campus. The Mascaro Center is one of the oldest of these programs and serves as a collaborator and convener for a broad range of sustainability initiatives throughout campus and our community. FIRST YEAR STUDENTS In collaboration with Residence Life, PittServes, and the Office of Sustainability, the Mascaro Center is helping to ensure that first year students understand the University’s deep culture and commitment to sustainability. Initiatives include adding a sustainability module the Pitt First Year Online Orientation for the first time in 2019. In Fall 2019, a sustainability gift was also distributed to all 4,200+ first year students upon their arrival.
MCSI is also leading University efforts to infuse sustainability into undergraduate education. Partnering with PittServes, the Office of Sustainability, and Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, MCSI has trained student volunteers to provide sustainability presentations within first year seminars. Last year, our team of student leaders provided 30 presentations impacting over 900 Pitt first year students. In Fall 2020, Danielle AndrewsBrown (MCSI Len Peters Fellow), also created and taught a new First-Year Programs’ Academic Community entitled Nature / Cities / Humans in Fall 2020. This course was designed to give first-year students an academic orientation on sustainability.
7 UNIVERSITY-WIDE GRADUATE PROGRAMS Dr. Leslie Marshall, Associate Director of the Center for Sustainable Business, and Gena Kovalcik are leading a team to assess the possibility of implementing an interdisciplinary graduate or professional program in sustainability that draws on Pitt’s existing expertise across multiple schools and centers. Consisting of faculty from 5 Schools and 3 Centers, the team submitted a Chancellors Seed Grant in Spring 2020. If approved, we will generate a scan of similar programs at other institutions, assess the market demand, identify topical gaps, and points of intersection across disciplines and evaluate our competitive advantage. The grant would also enable us to assess the potential for revenue generation; ranking improvements; and student, staff, and faculty recruitment and retention, given different program types. SUSTAINABILITY ALUMNI NEWSLETTER
In Winter 2019, the Mascaro Center and Office of Sustainability collaborated to create a quarterly newsletter highlighting campus-wide sustainability achievements. The third edition was distributed in mid-June to a growing network of nearly 800 alumni and friends. MCSI intern, Anna Coleman, has conducted interviews with over a dozen Pitt sustainability-related alumni and is gathering their personal journeys and stories for highlights in future newsletters and other mediums. PITT SUSTAINBILITY CHALLENGE The Pitt Sustainability Challenge is a collaboration between
the
Mascaro
Center
and
Pitt
Office
of
Sustainability to develop a publicly accessible competition that will solicit proposals for project-based solutions that will advance goals articulated in the Pitt Sustainability Plan. The Challenge will focus on solutions for carbon neutrality, water, and zero waste.
Delivered in partnership with
Common Pool, the planning team has developed the following Challenge framework pieces to-date: competition basis and rules, web design, online application, scoring rubric, and pertinent legal and information technology questions and requirements. Next steps include recruiting competition judges and securing internal and external implementation funding. Originally anticipated to be launched in Fall 2020, the competition has been temporarily delayed due to COVID-19; the new launch date is expected to be in 2021, though exact timing has yet to be determined.
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2020 SUSTAINABILITY AWARD WINNERS Since 2015, MCSI has led the Pitt’s campus-wide awards program recognizing faculty, staff, students, and groups who are making an extraordinary impact on campus
FACULTY Dr. Danielle Andrews-Brown, Geology & Environmental Science Dr. Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs STAFF Liza Allison, Industrial Engineering Tiara Arnold, Housing, Housekeeping STUDENTS Ellie Cadden, Environmental Studies, ’20 Sarah Hart, Environmental Studies, ’20 GROUPS Business Staff Collaboration led by Chris Driscoll, Greg Guzewicz, and Karri Rogers Zero Waste Period Initiative led by Pitt Planned Parenthood and SOOS
GREEN SPEAKEASY MCSI’s Green Speakeasy events exemplify our commitment to inspiring
networking
and
collaboration
among
sustainability-minded faculty, students, and staff.
Pitt’s
Our FY20
events highlighted faculty expertise and sustainability leadership throughout campus, including a mock “debate” on federal environmental policy between GSPIA and Law. The most recent Speakeasy event spotlighted the newer Pittsburgh Water
Collaboratory.
Approximately 50 faculty, staff and students
participate in each event. PITT DAY OF GIVING For two years running, MCSI has been the only sustainability Center invited to participate in Pitt’s Day of Giving.
Located in the “Places,
Experiences + More” category, MCSI doubled support in its second participation year, gaining increased visibility and support for one of our priority initiatives: the Living Lab for Sustainable Solutions (more below).
MCSI and the Office of Sustainability have also been working with PAE to develop a more defined fundraising agenda for Pitt Sustainability. A 2020 accomplishment included being asked to provide a Telefund Information Sheet to guide student callers on sustainability progress at Pitt and potential fundraising opportunities.
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MCSI
sponsored
the
2020
Community
Engaged
Scholarship Forum; Gena Kovalcik also served as a member
of
the
event’s
University-wide
steering
committee, led by the Office of Community and Government Relations and the Office of the Provost. The event celebrates the diversity of community-engaged work across the University of Pittsburgh where faculty, students, staff, and community members present their community-engaged work; discover new avenues of partnership; network with those who do similar work; and celebrate Pitt's commitment to community engagement.
As part of the Forum Dr. Michael Blackhurst (MCSI Len Peters Fellow) and Barbara Granito led a workshop titled "Using Science to Improve Science Communication." Participants learned about known cognition barriers inhibiting communication between experts and audiences -- and practiced skills aimed at overcoming these barriers by designing science communication related to climate change.
2025 PLAN FOR PITT While the Plan for Pitt team is still in the early stages of analyzing survey and workshop input from more than 1,100 stakeholders, a set of four common themes have emerged. The themes include 1) Improving collaboration across the University and with external partners, 2) Focusing on health and wellness, 3) Integrating sustainability, and 4) Leveraging data and analytics. The MCSI leadership team attended several of the Planning Workshops and is optimistic that sustainability will become a core attribute of the 2025 Plan.
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CATALYZING SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH Although we support faculty research and endeavors on a broad range of topics related to sustainability, the Center has always had core focus areas in which we have an interdisciplinary and highly regarded group of faculty leaders. Our three research thrusts include: Circular Economy; Sustainable Cities and Urban Systems; and Water Critical Design and EcoDistricts. -
Dr. Melissa Bilec, Deputy Director
2020-2021 MCSI Research Seed Grant Awards A Circular Chemical Industry: Closing the Anthropogenic Carbon Cycle with Biomimetic Reactors James McKone, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Mapping the Landscape of Seafood in Pittsburgh Markets: Do Safe, Sustainable and Accessible Meet? Carla Ng, Civil & Environmental Engineering Optimization of Traffic Signals on Pitt's Campus Road Network to Reduce Fuel Consumption and Green House Gas Emissions from Vehicular Traffic Aleksandar Stevanovic, Civil & Environmental Engineering Upcycling of Machining Scrap via Mechano-Chemical Attrition Enhanced Hydride-Dehydride Processing for Sustainable Ti-Powder Fabrication Jorg Wiezorek, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science Ravi Shankar, Industrial Engineering
The goal of the MCSI Research Seed Grant Program is to catalyze the formation of convergent research teams focused on sustainability and associated solutions. Since 2004, MCSI has supported over 113 faculty research projects, resulting in over $27 Million in federal follow-on funding -a 4:1 return on investment.
Chemical Recycling of Polyethylene to Ethylene (Renewal) Eric Beckman, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
LARGE GROUP GRANTS
A 5-university team led by Dr. Melissa Bilec, will address the complex challenge of global waste through
circular
economy
design.
Their
proposal received a 2-year, $1.3 million award from the National Science Foundation's new Growing Convergence Research program, with the potential for an extension to 5 years and $3.6 million.
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Follow-on Grants (Dollars)
MCSI RESEARCH SEED GRANT FOLLOW-ON FUNDING (FY20 TOTALING $3,680,515) Five Year Summary of MCSI Seed Grant Follow-On Funding [$28MM total over 11 years] $4,000,000
$3,700,000
$2,800,000
$3,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,280,000
$1,130,000
$1,230,000
$1,000,000
$0
FY16
FY17
FY18
Fiscal Year
FY19
FY20
FY2020 GRANTS Aurora Sharrard, Melissa Bilec, and Gena Kovalcik (Office of Sustainability and MCSI), L2S2: Pitt Living Laboratory for Sustainable Solutions, West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, $35,000, 2 years
Eric Beckman (Chemical Engineering), Pitt-internal “Momentum fund scaling grant”; title: “Attacking the Global Plastics Waste Problem”, 06/01/20 - 05/31/22, $400,000
Kent Harries (Civil Engineering), PITT Hewlett International Travel Award: IC-NOCMAT, Nairobi, 9/2019, $3,440
Kent Harries (Civil Engineering), NSF: REU Supplement to Collaborative Research: “Full-culm Bamboo as a Full-fledged Engineering Material”, Summer 2019, $16,000
Katherine Hornbostel (Mechanical Engineering), NOAA & EERE, Ocean Observing Prize: DISCOVER Competition, Summer 2020, $10,000,
Justin Kitzes (Biological Sciences), NSF: Division of Biological Infrastructure: “Locating and counting terrestrial wildlife with an open source, automated acoustic survey platform”, 10/1/2019 to 09/30/2022, $643,272
Pau Leu (Industrial Engineering and A. Gomez, NSF, “EAGER: Transforming Additive Nanomanufacturing with Machine Learning,” 09/01/2019 – 08/31/2021, $300,121.
Paul Leu and S. B. W. Melbs LeMieux, DOE, “Sttr Phase II: Microfluidic Printing of High Performance Microgrids for High Efficiency, Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diodes,” , 08/19/2019 – 08/18/2021, $1,000,000.
David Sanchez (Civil Engineering) and Seok Hoon Hong, Illinois Institute of Technology, NSF: Chem, BioEng, Env and Transportation Systems “ Collaborative Research: Engineering Biofilm-Electrode for Organic Contaminant Degradation”, 3 years, $420,000
Sachin Velankar (Chemical Engineering) and Tara Meyer (Chemistry), NSF-CBET; “Fundamentals of CoCrystallization of Polyoxacyclobutane and Water”, three years, $352,682
Feng Xiong (Electrical Engineering), NSF, “CAREER: Scalable Ionic Gated 2D Synapse (IG-2DS) with Programmable Spatio-Temporal Dynamics for Spiking Neural Networks”, 03/01/2020 to 02/28/2025, $500,000.
INVENTION DISCLOSURES, PATENT APPLICATIONS AND LICENSES Minhee Yun, David Schwartzman, Jiyong Huang, “A Wireless BNP Monitoring System with Singel Nanowire Sensor at Home”, filed on April 25, 2016, approved on April 9, 2020 (under payment) Eric Beckman, Susan Fullerton, Samantha Bunke, Jonathan Bingaman, “Gradient Cross-Linked Polymer with Triggerable Decomposition into Benign Byproducts, disclosure filed May 7, 2020.
12 LIVING LAB
Our vision is for every University of Pittsburgh student, visitor, staff, and faculty member to be positively impacted by sustainability on a daily basis. Creating a sustainability ethos at the University of Pittsburgh requires strategic and tactical approaches, including the incorporation of living laboratories throughout campus at various scales. To create an important
foundational piece of this vision, we are proposing to create the Pitt Living Lab for Sustainable Solutions (L2S2), a physical space where students and faculty learn about and create live sustainable products and technologies. Fundraising for the L2S2 is underway with funds secured through the West Penn Power Foundation and through Pitt Day of Giving. Talks continue with the Hillman Foundation and with Pitt’s Office of Philanthropic & Alumni Engagement to secure the remaining funds to advance this effort.
CONFERENCE GRANTS In order to provide opportunities for MCSI-associated students to learn about cutting edge research and educational programs nationally and globally, MCSI supports undergraduate and graduate student participation at conferences. This year MCSI supported 7 students. Student
Conference
Eli Brock
IEEE Green Technologies Conference
Electrical and Computer Engineering
(Oklahoma City, OK)
Mikhail Gordon
INFORMS Annual Meeting
Katz Graduate School of Business
(Seattle, WA)
Anna Coleman Statistics
Penn State University’s Drawdown Conference- Research to Action:
Zhenge Jia
Int’l Conf on Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis
Electrical and Computer Engineering
(New York, NY)
Sabrina Nguyen
IEEE Green Technologies Conference
Electrical and Computer Engineering
(Oklahoma City, OK)
Clara Weibel
AASHE Conference: Co-Creating a Sustainable Economy
Urban/Environmental Studies
(Spokane, WA)
Yawen Wu
Int’l Conf on Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis
Electrical and Computer Engineering
(New York, NY)
The Science of Drawdown (State College, PA)
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ADVANCING FACULTY AND EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY “The Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability continues to surpass our expectations engaging students from a broad range of disciplines. Using our new sustainability course attribute codes, all Pitt students will be better able to find and target courses with sustainability content.” -
Dr. David Sanchez, Assistant Director
UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATE ENROLLMENT BEYOND CAPACITY Since its creation in 2016, interest in the Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability continues to grow; enrollment has not leveled-off. In Spring 2020, we certified 26 students across Pitt to receive the certificate upon graduation. The two bookend courses “Current Issues and Sustainability” and “Sustainability Capstone” are at peak capacity . Our Fall 2020 enrollment is over 60 students (initial limit of 25), creating the need to add an additional section of “Current Issues and Sustainability,” to cover student interest and need. Because each bookend course is currently offered only once per academic year, student participation has been limited by annual offerings. We would like to remove these barriers to participation by adding a section of each course in its opposite semester.
SUSTAINABILITY DISTINCTION A collaborative team of faculty, staff, and students are working together to create one of Pitt’s five inaugural
DISTINCTION COMMITTEE
distinctions (alongside Civic Engagement, Creativity, Global Studies, and Honors). The “Sustainability Distinction” aims to provide students with a mechanism to gain recognition and “credit” for their out-of-theclassroom endeavors, thus broadening the number of undergraduate students participating in sustainability activities throughout campus and our community. The Sustainability Distinction team has developed a list of requirements for students alongside an evaluation mechanism -- and is currently working to develop the online infrastructure to track and support student attainment.
Danielle Andrews-Brown, Undergraduate Advisor & Coordinator, Environmental Studies Program Zach Delaney, Undergraduate Student Shenay Jeffrey, Assistant Director, Student Affairs Chaz Kellem, Director, Student Affairs Gena Kovalcik, Co-Director, MCSI Anfernee La Cruz, Undergraduate Student Alyssa Martinec, Sustainability Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Business Erika Ninos, Sustainability Coordinator, PittServes David Sanchez, Assistant Director, MCSI Aurora Sharrard, Director of Sustainability
14 SUSTAINABILITY COURSE ATTRIBUTE CODES Course attribute codes provide a way for pairing Pitt courses and Faculty expertise with student interest in Sustainability. Specifically, these new course attribute codes allow students to quickly identify Sustainability courses as they select their classes each semester. In Fall 2019, the Provost’s Office approved TWO (2) course attribute codes for to Sustainability-focused and Sustainability-related course offerings. This important step enables students to easily filter and identify classes with sustainability content. The Mascaro Center is actively working to create a broad and complete listing of sustainability course options available university-wide. These attributes and course map will serve our students, celebrate faculty expertise, and better represent our impact externally through higher education rankings including AASHE STARS (from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education). UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SUMMER PROGRAM
“The Mascaro Summer Research Program has been fantastic in bringing exceptionally motivated and intellectually curious students into my labs. Clearly, this program is extremely effective in engaging students and pulling them in to the fascination with research on sustainable engineering. For my lab, these students also often have been the ‘scouts; to explore new research ideas, which, in some instances, has resulted in new research projects.” -
Goetz Veser, Professor, Chemical Engineering
Since 2004, MCSI has supported 274 students through our Summer Research Program. In response to COVID-19, Gena Kovalcik and David Sanchez re-created the URP experience so it could still operate virtually. In Summer 2020, 19 students are working remotely on sustainability-related research projects. They engage in virtual Lunch and Learns through a weekly seminar series on a broad range of topics aimed at broadening their understanding of sustainability on topics including Corporate Sustainability, Sustainability Through a Social Justice Lens, Communicating the Science of Sustainability, and Community Engaged Research. Another core requirement of the program is service. This year’s URP participants will be serving as mentors for the Swanson School of Engineering Pre-College summer enrichment program, where they will spend four weeks mentoring young people on engineering projects.
15 MASTER’S IN SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING
“I was, and continue to be a strong champion of this program, as industry leaders need graduates who can identify and solve sustainability issues using systems approaches in the context of the triple bottom line of environmental, societal, and economic problems.” -
John C. Mascaro, Chairman, Mascaro Construction
Our MS program continues to gain interest among young college graduates and industry professionals. Current MSSE students are interning at the State Department; 3R Sustainability; continuing research here at Pitt; and working full-time. In response to COVID-19, we accelerated our efforts to increase our engagement with prospective students both internally and externally through the following programs: Pitt2Pitt (Pitt 2020 graduates), EaGr (Pitt SSOE juniors and seniors), and Compass (non-engineering students). Additionally, we are shifting our admissions system to provide a better user experience for prospective students nationally and internationally. Current Students examples include: Michael Gross
Renewable Energy Project Manager, Partner Engineering and Science Sustainability Track: Energy under advisor Dr. David Sanchez MSSE ‘21
Sabrina Nguyen Pursuing a dual MS in Electrical Engineering and Sustainable Engineering.
Sustainability Track: Smart Grids under advisor Dr. Bob Kerestes MSSE ‘21
Joseph Zappitelli Graduated with MSSE; currently pursuing PhD at Pitt
Sustainability Track: Water under advisor Dr. David Sanchez MSSE ‘20
16 INCREASINGLY DIVERSE DEPARTMENTS AND CAMPUSES ADDED TO FACULTY PROGRAM “It has been a real privilege to continue Len's commitment to sustainability as a Leonard Peters Fellow. When teaching sustainability topics to students, my goal is to empower students to be the agents of change society will demand of them. I want them to be steadfast in their commitment to sustainability when faced with new intellectual and ethical challenges over their careers. The Leonard Peters Fellowship has helped me continue developing and improving the educational resources I use in the classroom.” – Mike Blackhurst, Len Peters Fellow and Professor, UCSUR
FACULTY PROGRAMS The John C. Mascaro and Len Peters Faculty Programs were created in 2016 and 2019 respectively to enhance the University’s mission of interdisciplinary excellence in research and education. Awardees are expected to contribute to the intra- and interdisciplinary sustainability research and education. Through this effort we have supported 23 faculty. In 2020, we supported 10 faculty with awards to individuals ranging from Ecomusicology at the Bradford Campus to Anthropology, Engineering, Biological Sciences, and the Graduate School of Public Health at our Pittsburgh campus.
2020 FACULTY AWARDEES Len Peters Faculty Fellows in Sustainability
Mike Blackhurst, University Center for Social and Urban Research Danielle Andrews-Brown, Environmental Studies John C. Mascaro Faculty Fellows in Sustainability David Finegold, Graduate School of Public Health
John C. Mascaro Faculty Scholars in Sustainability Tony Kerzmann, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Sara Kuebbing, Department of Biological Sciences John C. Mascaro Faculty Lecturers in Sustainability Joshua Groffman, Division of Communication and the Arts, Pitt Bradford Katherine Hornbostel, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Robert Kerestes, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Pamela Stewart, Department of Anthropology Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology
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BRINGING SUSTAINABILITY TO OUR COMMUNITIES “My education and understanding of sustainability was very different and from a totally different perspective. …. this enables me to really look at my classroom and what I teach through a different lens. In doing this, growth can only naturally occur. Thank you.” -
2019 MCSI Teach-the-Teacher participant
TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES FOR THE VIRTUAL MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM Program Leads: David Sanchez, MCSI and Jon Kovach, UCLA Center X
Due to COVID-19, the Teach-the-Teacher program has been reimagined into an online, two-day workshop for regional middle school teachers. Adapting the program has provided unique opportunities to expand our reach and engages more deeply in the new challenge of hybrid teaching in the K-12 science classroom. The program reached its capacity of 22 teachers in under one week of promotion.
MCSI and Japanese Studies are working to develop a Teacher program centered around Japan, the 2021 Summer Olympics. and Sustainability. Originally planned for 2020, this program has been deferred to Summer 2021.
Figure 2: Map shows broad range of Teach-the-Teacher participants and school districts throughout the Pittsburgh region.
18 COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
“Beyond the impact that our projects have had on the young people with whom we work, the student projects and student club installations of hydroponic and aquaponic systems have increased our agricultural capacity for both fish and greens and also helped to positively impact perceptions of the Homewood community. In fact, the work with Dr. Sanchez, his students, and colleagues has helped to draw people from around the country to visit and learn from the work our partnership around urban agriculture and youth STEM education.” -
Cynthia M. Wallace, Executive Director, The Oasis Project
CREATIVITY IN TEACHING MCSI is helping faculty throughout the campus adapt and modify their courses to infuse sustainability content into their curriculum. In addition, we’ve supported unique sustainability course offerings including: Sustainability Capstone ENGR1907 David Sanchez and Faculty Fellow, Tony Kerzmann, have worked closely with a number of local organizations including: McCandless Township, New Sun Rising, Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania, CPower Energy, Green Building Alliance, Tree Pittsburgh, Phipps Conservatory, Clean Robotics, Allegheny Cleanways, Grow Pittsburgh, Passive House of Western Pennsylvania, Scalo Solar Solutions, Forbes Street Market, Operation Better Block, and Worm Return. All Capstone teams created 2-minute videos of their projects. Examples can be found at Pitt MCSI Capstone Community Solar video and Pitt MCSI Capstone Operation Better Block video Environmental Education for Social Change was a course created by Peters Faculty Fellow, Danielle Andrews-Brown for the 2019 Pitt in South Africa Study Abroad Program. This course seeks to use South Africa (one of the most culturally and environmentally diverse countries in the world) as an outdoor classroom to highlight the challenges, solutions, and negotiations that are central to sustaining life on Earth.
EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Engineering Sustainability in Island Nations: Dr. Tony Kerzmann received a donation of 18 solar panels from Scalo Solar Solutions for installation in Jamaica as a service learning project for the course. Scalo is also going to provide a certified NABCEP Installer to train Pitt students on solar installation. We are planning to schedule a training weekend in the Spring 2021 semester (COVID permitting).
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EMPOWERING OUR STUDENTS “Thank you so much for accepting our proposal! ESW HEAT is excited to be able to provide all of these supplies to people at the Pitt Pantry. ...Again, thank you for allowing us to be able to provide energy/water efficient devices to those in the Pitt community.” -
Adalee Jacobs, Pitt ‘20 & Co-President, ESW
PITT HYDROPONICS Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Sanchez
Pitt Hydroponics aims to educate Pitt students and community members about hydroponics, provide fresh, sustainably grown produce to food deserts in the surrounding area, and further university research in hydroponic systems. The club regularly offers hands-on “build a mini system” nights to teach students and community members how to grow their own lettuce or basil without soil — even on a dorm room windowsill. Members are exploring the potential for installing systems in prominent spots on campus to raise awareness and produce. In addition to their Homewood location, club members maintain a hydroponic system at Community Human Services in Pittsburgh’s South Oakland neighborhood. It provides fresh lettuce for the CHS food pantry, which serves more than 800 families. Dr. Sanchez’s students also are partnering with The Community Day School in Squirrel Hill, which serves PreK through 8th grade students. Club members teach the students about hydroponics and have helped 6th through 8th grade students design and build a system that can be moved among their classrooms. The Pitt volunteers helped brainstorm and fine-tune Community Day students’ own designs. Concomitantly, they have brought hydroponics demos and kits to STEAM days programs at Lincoln Elementary School, which serves the city’s Homewood and Larimer neighborhoods. The Pitt Hydroponics club was recently highlighted in Sustainable America; read the full profile.
20 ENGINEERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Sanchez In collaboration with the student-led Pitt Green Fund, MCSI supported Engineers for a Sustainable World’s Home Energy Assessment (HEAT) Team. HEAT members tabled at the Pitt Pantry during Produce and Food Recovery distribution days (Tuesdays and Fridays), providing energy efficient education and home improvement items to individuals in need.
ESW AT PARK(ING) DAY As part of the Year of Creativity, University groups transformed small urban spaces along Schenley Plaza into unique and creative areas of possibility. MCSI supported ESW students who showcased their Solar Cart (funded by MCSi) to power a blender to make smoothies for visitors.
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MCSI LEADING RESPONSE TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN SUSTAINABILITY “Sustainability problems are inherently global and multi-disciplinary. MCSI faculty have taken the lead in attacking the global plastics waste problem, leading to one of only six MacArthur Foundation Challenge Grants awarded globally, one of the first NSF Convergence grants (awarded in 2019), and one of the first two Pitt Momentum Challenge grants ever awarded. MCSI has created truly interdisciplinary teams to attack this significant problem, including faculty from multiple schools at Pitt and various universities.” -
Dr. Eric J. Beckman, Co-Director
INVITED LECTURES Dr. Melissa Bilec was invited by the Embassy of France in the US and the French Government to provide testimony on solutions to plastic pollution. Dr. Bilec presented her testimony to the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment (OPECST), who are leading a study on plastic pollution. Following the testimony to OPECST, she also spoke at the workshop, Responding to Plastic Pollution through Science: from research to
action, in Le Mans, France.
Eric Beckman
“Global Plastics Waste Problem”, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, August, 2019.
Green Chemistry Summer School, Golden, CO, July, 2019
Melissa Bilec
“Circular Economy and Converging on Solutions for Plastics.” French Parliamentary Office for Scientific
and Technological Assessment (OPECST): Study on plastic pollution. Presentation to Senator Angele Preville and Depute Philippe Bolo, Paris, France, December 12, 2019.
“A Tale of Two Cities: Exploring Sustainability and Resilience Opportunities and Challenges.” The
University of New Mexico, NSF Workshop. 4th Annual Resilience Colloquium, Exploring Connections Between Urban and Rural Communities and Environments, Albuquerque, New Mexico, August 6-7, 2019.
Invited Panelist for Ecodistricts Research Forum (National Conference). Eden Hall, Chatham University, November 3, 2019
“Convergence Around the Circular Economy.” Carnegie Mellon University, Civil and Environmental
Engineering, May 1, 2020, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Are We Using Buildings to Inspire and Motivate Health and Sustainability?” Virginia Tech, Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Blacksburg, Virginia, February 7, 2020.
22 INVITED LECTURES Con’t David Sanchez
MIT Water Summit – "Drowning in Waste,” Boston, MA, November 2019
“Triangulating Historical, Real-time, and Environmental Grab Sample Data to Track River Water Quality in the Western PA Rivershed,” Computational Sustainability Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, October 2019
“Emerging Trends: Environmentally Responsible Engineering Roadmap,” Deshpande Symposium, Lowell, MA, June 2019
Expert Roundtable Principles of Environmentally Responsible Engineering Washington D.C. - Lemelson
Foundation, 2019 (1 of 30 invited nationwide) FACULTY AWARDS MCSI Assistant Director. David Sanchez received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award for leading the innovation and entrepreneurship program in the Swanson School and various sustainability and study abroad programs, Dr. Sanchez also received an honorable mention in the Post-Secondary Educator category of the 2020 Carnegie Science Awards program. Mascaro Faculty Fellow. Shanti Gamper-Rabindran (GSPIA) was selected as an AugustWilhem Scheer Visiting Professor, summer 2019 at the Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy Technical University of Munich, Bavarian School of Public Policy.
Mascaro Faculty Fellow. Ruth Mostern (History), who studies the interaction of climate variation and anthropogenic impacts to understand the dynamics of erosion and flooding and the history of river engineering on the Yellow River in China over the past three thousand years, was selected for a Visitorship at Zhejiang University.
EXTERNAL BOARDS Gena Kovalcik,
Sustainable Pittsburgh, CEOs for Sustainability Advisory Board Allegheny County Green Action Team
23
MEDIA REPORT July 2, 2019: Preparing for a Sustainable Future
MCSI Undergraduate Summer Research Program Lets Students Contribute to Innovative Sustainability Research Before Graduation (news release)
Facebook: 1,000 people reached, 56 engagements (Reactions, Comments, Shares, and Clicks)
August 2, 2019: NSF Grant Funds Research at the University of Pittsburgh and Drexel University That Could Revolutionize Water Sanitation (John Keith; news release) 507 page views on Eurekalert Facebook: 1,326 people reached, 70 engagements August 14, 2019: Making a Sustainable Mark in Pittsburgh
Three from Swanson School of Engineering Selected for the Incline’s Who’s Next: Environment and Energy Class (Sharrard, Rabbat, Snyder; news release)
Facebook: 1,196 people reached, 69 engagements
August 19, 2019: MCSI Summer Research Symposium Showcases Undergrad Sustainability Research (news release) Facebook: 866 people reached, 20 engagements Twitter 1,370 impressions (times people saw tweet), 46 engagements (interactions) August 27, 2019: Using Nature to Protect Cities from Extreme Weather
Pitt and Northwestern Awarded $2 Million by NSF to Study Nature-Based Strategies to Prevent Urban Flooding (Akcakaya, Bain, Ng; news release)
1,220 page views on Eurekalert Facebook: 1,269 people reached, 82 engagements Twitter: 251 impressions, 5 engagements Additional media hits include NextPittsburgh
September 4, 2019: Compost Bins Introduced in Bid for Eco-Friendly Campus Published by The Pitt News September 4, 2019: Driving Down Emissions (Electric Trucks on Campus) Published by Pittwire Facebook: 668 people reached, 44 engagements September 25, 2019: Pittsburgh-Based Optimus Tech, Founded by MEMS Alumnus Colin Huwyler, Wins $1 Million 76West Clean Energy Competition (Huwyler; news release) Published by Office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Additional media hits include Pittsburgh Business Times, WBNG-TV Twitter: 1,112 impressions, 10 engagements September 25, 2019: Converging on a Global Waste Solution
University of Pittsburgh leads multidisciplinary $1.3 million NSF award to address global waste through circular economy design (Bilec et al; news release)
1,148 page views on Eurekalert Facebook: 843 people reached, 50 engagements. Cover story of Swanson School Research eNewsletter (David Vorp)
September 25, 2019: Modeling the Complexity of the World’s Water
Research Team Led by Pitt Receives More Than $1.3 Million to Develop “CyberWater” Modeling Framework (Liang; news release)
Facebook: 604 people reached, 22 engagements Twitter: 1,058 impressions, 13 engagements
October 2, 2019: Battling BPA with Biofilms (Sanchez; news release)
Pitt Researcher Awarded $420,000 NSF Grant to Study Growing Biofilms on Electrodes to Degrade Bisphenol A
683 page views on Eurekalert Facebook: 1,127 people reached, 78 engagements Twitter: 1,899 impressions, 43 engagements
October 16, 2019: Pitt paper shows parking spaces near East Liberty busway station are underutilized by 30 percent Published by Pittsburgh City Paper Twitter: 1,868 impressions, 29 engagements
24 October 21, 2019: Rallying the Algae Warriors on an International Stage
CEE and MCSI Student Kareem Rabbat and Team Reach Top 10 at Global Grand Challenges Summit in London (news release)
Facebook: 929 people reached, 36 engagements Twitter: 2,510 impressions, 63 engagements
November 21, 2019: Eight Receive Mascaro Faculty Program in Sustainability Awards (news release) Facebook: 1,171 people reached, 73 engagements Reprinted December 4, 2019 by University Times November 27, 2019: Hydroponics Club Grows Food for Those in Need, Teaches Methods to Local Kids Published in Pittwire December 5, 2019: CEE Professor Kent Harries Published Second Edition of NOCMAT Book (news release) Facebook: 1,141 people reached, 51 engagements Twitter: 1,305 impressions, 15 engagements December 12, 2019: Pitt Research Featured on December Cover of Environmental Science: Nano (news release) Twitter: 1,099 impressions, 9 engagements January 13, 2020: Neighbors’ solar panels can shift climate change beliefs (La Nauze) Published by Futurity and Pittwire Facebook: 493 people reached, 9 engagements Twitter: 1,286 impressions, 18 engagements January 16, 2020: Le Problème des Plastiques
French Government Invites Pitt Professor Melissa Bilec to Deliver Testimony on Plastic Pollution (news release)
1,904 page views on Eurekalert Facebook: 1,168 people reached, 85 engagements Twitter: 1,466 impressions, 40 engagements
February 19, 2020: Solar Glass Project Selected in Top 20 for Dept of Energy American-Made Solar Prize (news release) Facebook: 943 people reached, 83 engagements February 20, 2020: Hydroponics in Homewood
Pitt students at the farm next door Published by The Pitt News
February 28, 2020: Pitt Commits to Carbon Neutrality Published by Pittwire March 12, 2020: Four Members of the Swanson School Recognized by the Carnegie Science Awards (news release) March 18, 2020: Coronavirus & cleaning: Which green products are effective against viruses? Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer Facebook: 696 people reached, 36 engagements April 6, 2020: Two Swanson School Projects Win University of Pittsburgh Scaling Grants (Bilec et al; news release) Facebook: 1,322 people reached, 177 engagements April 21, 2020: In the Lead - Meet a few of the University’s many influential change-makers (Kirsten Lipsky, Kareem Rabbat) Published by Pitt Magazine May 13, 2020: Pitt Researchers Create Durable, Washable Textile Coating That Can Repel Viruses (news release) Facebook: 1,053 people reached, 87 engagements Additional media hits include: o Fast Company o Textile World o Futurity o WVTF (NPR Virginia) o Medical design and Outsourcing o ZME Science May 14, 2020: Which Cleaning Products are Best to Fight COVID-19? Broadcast by FOX 5 New York Facebook: 819 people reached, 50 engagements May 27, 2020: When Choosing Cleaners, It Helps to Know Your Chemistry
The chemical ingredients in cleaning products can seem like a foreign language. Professor Eric Beckman helps us translate. (news release)
26
JOURNAL ARTICLES ****AR Mullins, DJ Bain, ****EK Pfeil-McCullough, ****KG Hopkins, ****SM Lavin, EM Copeland (2020) “Seasonal Drivers of Chemical Flux from Roadside Infiltration-Based Green Infrastructure.” Science of the Total Environment 714, 136503 AL Hillman, MB Abbott, R O’Quinn, DJ Bain (2020) “A Holocene History of the Indian Monsoon from Qilu Lake, Southwestern China” Quaternary Science Reviews 227, 106051 SE Gillooly, DR Michanowicz, M Jackson, LK Cambal, JLC Shmool, BJ Tunno, S Tripathy, DJ Bain, JE Clougherty (2019) “Evaluating Deciduous Tree Leaves as Biomonitors for Ambient Particulate Matter Pollution in Pittsburgh, PA, USA” Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 191, 711 DJ Bain and GL Buckley (2019) “Historical Perspectives: Mercantile, Industrial, Sanitary Transformations and Legacies” Science for the Sustainable City: Insights from the Baltimore School of Urban Ecology (Baltimore Ecosystem Study Synthesis Volume, pp. 47-60) GS Brush and DJ Bain (2019) “Long Term Trends in Urban Forest Succession” Science for the Sustainable City: Insights from the Baltimore School of Urban Ecology (Baltimore Ecosystem Study Synthesis Volume, pp 236-250) T Cantlay, DJ Bain, JF Stolz (2019) “Determining Conventional and Unconventional Oil and Gas Well Brines in Natural Samples III: Mass Ratio Analyses Using Both Anions and Cations” Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2019.1666562 T Cantlay, DJ Bain, J Curet, RF Jack, BC Dickson, P Basu, JF Stolz (2019) “Determining Conventional and Unconventional Oil and Gas Well Brines in Natural Samples II: Cation analyses with ICP-MS and ICP-OES” Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2019.1666561 T Cantlay, JL Eastham, J Rutter, DJ Bain, BC Dickson, P Basu, JF Stolz (2019) “Determining Conventional and Unconventional Oil and Gas Well Brines in Natural Samples I: Anion analysis with Ion Chromatography” Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2019.1666560 Rodriguez, G., & Beckman, E. J. (2019). Modelling phase behavior of biodiesel related systems with CO2 using a polar version of PC-SAFT. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 485, 32-43. Rodriguez, G., & Beckman, E. J. (2019). Predicting initial reactant miscibility for CO2-enhanced transesterification of triglycerides with methanol using a polar version of PC-SAFT. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58(50), 2259822608. Sherman, J., Thiel, C.L., MacNeill, A., Eckelman, M.J., Dubrow, R., Hopf, H., Lagasse, R., Biaolowitz, J., Costello, A., McGain, F., Stancliffe, R., Anastas, P., Anderko, L., Baratz, M., Barna, S., Bhatnagar, U., Cai, G., Cassels-Brown, A., Cimprich, A.F., Cole, H., Coronado-Garcia, L., Duane, B., Grisotto, G., Hartwell, A., Kumar, V., Kurth, A., Leapman, M., Morris, D., Overcash, M., Parvatker, A., Pecheon, D., Pollard, A., Robaire, B., Rockne, K., Sadler, B., Schenk, B., Sethi, B., Sethi, T., Sussman, S., Thompson, J., Twomey, J.M., Vermund, S., Vukelich, D., Washim, N., Wilson, D., Youngs, S., Zimmerman, J., Bilec, M.M. (2020). “The Green Print: Agenda for the Advancement of Environmental Sustainability in Healthcare.” Resources, Conservation and Recovery. Rickenbacker, H.J., Collinge, W.O., Hasik, V., Ciranni, A., Smith, I., Colao, P., Sharrard, A.L., Bilec, M.M.* (2020). “Development of a Standardized Protocol and Data-Driven Survey Instrument for Indoor Air Quality Assessments in Energy Conservation Districts.” Sustainable Cities and Society, 52(2020) 101831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101831 Hasik, V., Ororbia, M.E., Warn, G.P., Bilec, M.M.* (2019). “Whole Building Life Cycle Environmental Impacts and Costs: A Sensitivity Study of Design and Service Decisions.” Building and Environment, August 2019, 106316 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106316 Hasik, V., Escott, E., Bates, R., Carlisle, S., Faircloth, B., Bilec, M.M.* (2019). “Comparative Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment of Renovation and New Construction.” Building and Environment, 161, 15 August 2019, 106218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106218 Rickenbacker, H.J., Brown, F., Bilec, M.M.* (2019). “Creating Environmental Consciousness in Environmental Justice Communities: Implementation and Outcomes of Community-Based Environmental Justice and Air Pollution Research.” Sustainable Cities and Society, 47(2019), 101473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101473 *Coughlin JG, Elliott EM, *Rose LA, Pekney N, Reeder M. 2020. Quantifying atmospheric reactive nitrogen concentrations, deposition, and isotope dynamics surrounding a Marcellus Shale well pad. In press, Atmospheric Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.117196
27 *Rose, LA, *Yu, Z, Bain, DJ, Elliott, EM. 2019. High Resolution, Extreme Isotopic Variability of Precipitation Nitrate. Atmospheric Environment. 207:63-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.03.012. #Huang, S, Elliott, EM, *Felix, JD, Pan, Y, Liu, D, Li, S, Li, Z, Zhu, F, Zhang, N, Fu, P, Fang, Y. 2019. Seasonal pattern of ammonium 15N natural abundance in precipitation at a rural forested site and implications for NH3 source partitioning. Environmental Pollution. 247:541-549. Elliott, EM, *Yu Z, Cole AS, *Coughlin JG. 2019. Isotopic advances in understanding reactive nitrogen deposition and atmospheric processing. Science of the Total Environment. Special Issue on Reactive Nitrogen Deposition. 662:393403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.177 Wetherbee, GA, Benedict, KB, Murphy, SF, Elliott, EM. 2019. Inorganic nitrogen wet deposition gradients in the DenverBoulder metropolitan area and Colorado Front Range - Preliminary implications for Rocky Mountain National Park and interpolated deposition maps. Science of the Total Environment. 691: 1027-1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.528 Walker, J.T., Beachley, G.M., Amos, H.M., Baron, J.S., Bash, J., Baumgardner, R., Bell, M.D., Benedict, K.B., Chen, X., Clow, D.W., Cole, A., *Coughlin, J.G., Cruz, K., Daly, R.W., Decina, S.M., Elliott, E.M., Fenn, M.E., Ganzeveld, L., Gebhart, K., Isil, S.S., Kerschner, B.M., Larson, R.S., Lavery, T., Lear, G.G., Macy, T., Mast, M.A., Mishoe, K., Morris, K.H., Padgett, P.E., Pouyat, R.V., Puchalski, M., Pye, H.O.T., Rea, A.W., Rhodes, M.F., Rogers, C.M., Saylor, R., Scheffe, R., Schichtel, B.A., Schwede, D.B., Sexstone, G.A., Sive, B.C., Templer, P.H., Thompson, T., Tong, D., Wetherbee, G.A., Whitlow, T.H., Wu, Z., *Yu, Z., Zhang, L. 2019. Toward the improvement of total nitrogen deposition budgets in the United States. Science of the Total Environment. 691: 1328-1352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.058 Novak, M, Jackova, I, Curik, J, Pacherova, P, Elliott, E, Cejkova, B, Valkova, I, Prechova, E, Stepanova, M, Buzek, F. 2019. d15N systematics in two minerotrophic peatlands in the eastern U.S.: Insights into nitrogen cycling under moderate pollution. Global Ecology & Conservation. 17. e0057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00571 Sebestyen, S ; Ross, D; Shanley, J; Elliott, EM; Kendall, C; Campbell, J; Dail, D; Fernandez, I; Goodale, C; Lawrence, G; Lovett, G; McHale, P; Mitchell, M; Nelson, S; Shattuck, M; Wickman, T; Barnes, R; Bostic, J; Buda, A; Burns, D; Eshleman, K; Finlay, J; Nelson, D; Ohte, N; Pardo, L; *Rose, L; Sabo, R; Schiff, S; Spoelstra, J; Williard, K. 2019. Unprocessed atmospheric nitrate in waters of the Northern Forest Region in the USA and Canada. Environmental Science & Technology. 53:3620-3633. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b01276 Beattie, G., Han, Y., & La Nauze, A., (2019) "Conservation Spillovers: the Effect of Rooftop Solar on Climate Change Beliefs", Environmental and Resource Economics, 74(3). Leng, Y., Xu, Q., Harries, K.A., Chen, L., Liu, K. and Chen, X. (2020) Experimental study on mechanical properties of laminated bamboo beam-to-column connections, Engineering Structures Gauss, C., Harries, K.A., Kadivar, M., Akinbade, Y. and Savastano, H. (2020) Quality assessment and mechanical characterization of P. edulis bamboo treated with CCB and DOT, European Journal of Wood and Wood Products Vol. 78, No. 2, 257-270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-020-01508-x Akinbade, Y., Harries, K.A., Sharma, B., Nettleship, I. and Ramage, M. (2020) Variation of through-culm wall morphology in P. edulis bamboo strips used in glue-laminated bamboo beams, Construction and Building Materials, Vol 232, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117248 Gauss, C., Savastano, H. and Harries, K.A. (2019) Use of ISO 22157 Mechanical Test Methods and the Characterisation of Brazilian P. edulis bamboo, Construction and Building Materials, Vol 228, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.116728 Xu, Q., Chen, X., Chen, J-F., Harries, K.A. and Wang, Z. (2019) Seismic strengthening of masonry walls using bamboo components, Advances in Structural Engineering, Vol 22, No. 14, 2982-2997. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369433219855902 Ben Alon, L. Loftness, V., Harries, K.A., DiPietro, G. and Cochran Hameen, E. (2019) Life Cycle Assessment of Natural vs Conventional Building Materials: A Case Study on Cob Earthen Construction, Building and Environment, Vol. 160, 106150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.05.028 Harries, K.A., Morrill, P., Gauss, C., Flower, C., Akinbade, Y. and Trujillo, D. (2019) Screw Withdrawal Capacity of Full-Culm P. edulis Bamboo, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 216, pp 531-541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.05.009 Akinbade, Y., Harries, K.A., Flower, C., Nettleship, I., Papadopoulos, C., and Platt, S.P. (2019) Through-Culm Wall Mechanical Behaviour of Bamboo, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 216, pp 485-495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.04.214 Chen, L, Xu, Q. Leng, Y., Harries, K.A. and Wang, Z. (2019) Experimental study of fire performance of engineered bamboo beams exposed to three-sided fire, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 106, pp 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2019.04.002
28 Ben-Alon, L., Loftness, V., Harries, K.A., and Cochran-Hameen, E. (2019) Integrating Earthen Building Materials and Methods into Mainstream Construction Projects Using Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Building Policy Analysis, Earth USA 2019, Santa Fe, NM, October 2019. Ben Alon, L. et al. and Harries, K.A. (2019) Integrating earthen construction into mainstream housing projects using life-cycle assessment (LCA) and building policy analysis, Sustainable Built Environment (SBE19), Graz, Austria, September 2019. Archila, H.F., Christovasillis, I.P., Zea-Escamilla, E. and Harries, K.A. (2019) Structural Analysis of Cross-Laminated BambooGuadua (G-Xlam) Panels Using Design Methods for Xlam Timber (CLT), Timber 2019, London, July 2019. Ben Alon, L.,Loftness,V., Harries, K.A. and Cochran-Hameen, E. (2019) The Biophilic Power and Environmental Urgency of Earthen Construction, CESB19, Prague, July 2019. Finn, J.R., Galvin, J.E., Hornbostel, K. (2020). CFD investigation of CO2 absorption/desorption by a fluidized bed of microencapsulated solvents. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE: X, 6(1), 100050. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cesx.2019.100050 Nguyen, D., Murialdo, M., Hornbostel, K., Pang, S., Ye, C., Smith, W., Baker, S., Bourcier, W., Knipe, J., Aines, R., Stolaroff, J. (2019). 3D printed polymer composites for CO2 capture. INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH, 58(1), 22015-22020. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.9b04375 Kotamreddy, G., Hughes, R., Bhattacharyya, D., Stolaroff, J., Hornbostel, K., Matuszewski, M., Omell, B. (2019). Process modeling and techno-economic analysis of a CO2 capture process using fixed bed reactors with a microencapsulated solvent. ENERGY & FUELS, 33(1), 7534-7549. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.9b01255 Z. Zhou, T. Gao, S. Tan, S. McCarthy, A. Kozbial, D. P. ands Lei Li, and P.W. Leu, “Parahydrophobicity and stick-slip wetting dynamics of vertically aligned carbon nanotube forests,”Carbon, vol. 152, pp. 474–481, November 2019. S. Haghanifar, L. M. Tomasovic, A. J. Galante, D. Pekker, and P. W. Leu, “Stain-resistant, superomniphobic flexible optical plastics based on nano-enoki mushroom-like structures,” Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 7, no. 26, pp. 15 698–15 706, 2019, doi: 10.1039/C9TA01753D. S. Haghanifar, M. McCourt, B. Cheng, J.Wuenschell, P. Ohodnicki, and P.W. Leu, “Creating glasswing butterfly-inspired durable antifogging superomniphobic supertransmissive, superclear nanostructured glass through Bayesian learning and optimization,” Materials Horizons, vol. 6, no. 8, pp. 1632–1642, 2019, doi: 10.1039/C9MH00589G. Sawant, T.V.; Yim, C.; Henry, T.; Miller, D.; McKone, J. Redox Flow Batteries Kinetics: Challenges and Opportunities (manuscript in preparation) Q. Wan* / M.T. Sharbati*, J.R. Erickson, Y. Du, F. Xiong, “Emerging Artificial Synaptic Devices for Neuromorphic Computing,” [Invited Review] Advanced Materials Technologies 4, 1900037, (2019) Soumya Sridar, Yunhao Zhao, Wei Xiong, (2020) "Cyclic Re-austenitization of 1 Copper-bearing High-Strength Low-Alloy Steels Fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion", Materials Characterization, Yunhao Zhao, Kun Li, Matthew Gargani, Wei Xiong, (2020) "A Comparative Analysis of Inconel 718 Made by Additive Manufacturing and Suction Casting: Microstructure Evolution in Homogenization", Additive Manufacturing, Accepted for publication, https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.14089 Yunhao Zhao, Noah Sargent, Kun Li, Wei Xiong, (2020) "A new high-throughput method using additive manufacturing for materials design and processing optimization", Materialia, Under review, https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.14092
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CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS Copeland, S.+ and Bilec, M.M.* (2020 in press). “Buildings as Material Banks Using RFIS and Building Information Modeling in a Circular Economy.” Procedia CIRP, 27th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference, May 13-15, 2020, Grenoble, France and virtual. Gardner, H., Garcia, J.+, Hasik, V., Olinzock, M., Banawi, A., Bilec, M.M.* (2019). “Material life cycle assessment of a living building.” Procedia CIRP, 26th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering Conference, Advancing Industrial Sustainability, May 7 - 9, 2019, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Mohammidiziazi, R., Bilec, M.M.* (2019). “Developing a framework for urban building life cycle energy map with a focus on rapid visual inspection and image processing.” Procedia CIRP, 26th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering Conference, Advancing Industrial Sustainability, May 7 - 9, 2019, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. M.T. Sharbati, S.Y. Cho, Q. Wan, G.N. Tomaraei, J. Schlea, M. Bedewy, F. Xiong, “Sheet-rich Silk-base RRAM with Low Switching Voltages and Improved Reliabilities,” IEEE Device Research Conference (DRC), Jun. 2019, Ann Arbor, MI Hajiseyedjavadi, S, Karimi HA, and Blackhurst MF. "A Machine Learning Approach to Identity Houses with High Lead Tap Water Concentrations." Accepted at Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-20). New York, NY. February 9-11, 2020. Kotchey, G.P., Chouinard, C.P., Sanchez, D.V.P., Nanobubble Collapse for ROS generation using dynamic stimuli American Chemical Society August 2020 (accepted). Mahboobin, A., Sanchez, D.V.P., Incorporating Sustainability into a Bioethics Course American Society of Engineering Education Montreal QC June 2020. Zhou, J., Fang, K., Kotchey, G.P., Sanchez, D.V.P., Hong, S.H. Characterizing biofilm formation of Escherichia Coli and Shewanella Oneidensis On Different Carbon-foam Electrodes American Society of Microbiology Conference Chicago IL March 2020. Chouinard, C., Klonicki, E., Kotchey, G.P., Fang, K. Hong, S.K., Sanchez, D.V.P., Graphene Nanoplatelets in Bioelectrochemical Systems 2020 Borchardt Conference Ann Arbor MI February 2020 Zheng, C., Akinbade, Y., Nettleship, I. and Harries, K.A. (2019) The Potential Utility of Materials Informatics in Developing NonConventional Materials, 18th International Conference on Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies (18NOCMAT) Nairobi, Kenya, July 2019. Harries, K.A., Nettleship, I., Akinbade, Y., Papadopoulos, C., Acosta, F., Morales Albino, J. and Ariezaga Gonzalez, M. (2019) Full-culm Bamboo as a Full-fledged Engineering Material, 18th International Conference on Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies (18NOCMAT) Nairobi, Kenya, July 2019. Morrill, P., Rogers, C. Akinbade, Y. and Harries, K.A. (2019) Screw connections to full-culm bamboo. 18th International Conference on Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies (18NOCMAT) Nairobi, Kenya, July 2019. Harries, K.A., Archila, H., Trujillo, D., Kaminski, S. and Zea Escamilla, E. (2019) Bamboo Reinforced Concrete: Lesson Learned, Prohibitions and Opportunities. 18th International Conference on Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies (18NOCMAT) Nairobi, Kenya, July 2019. Harries, K.A. (2019) Grand Challenge or Oxymoron? Codes and Standards Development for Nonconventional Materials. 18th International Conference on Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies (18NOCMAT) Nairobi, Kenya, July 2019. (keynote lecture) Trujillo, D. and Harries, K.A. (2019) Development of A Bamboo Design Standard for the 21st Century, 18th International Conference on Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies (18NOCMAT) Nairobi, Kenya, July 2019. Johnson, C., Sanchez, D.V.P., Identifying the Capability of Real-time Water Quality Sensor Networks Borchardt Conference Ann Arbor MI February 2020 Zhou, J., Fang, K., Kotchey, G.P., Sanchez, D.V.P., Hong, S.H. Characterizing biofilm formation on carbon-foam electrodes AICHE MRC Chicago IL March 2020. Greene, M., Nguyen, C., Sanchez, D.V.P., Identifying Phenomena and Developing Sustainable Engineering Educational
Modules that Integrate STEM Education Best Practices and Next Generation Science Standards for Middle School Science Teachers American Society of Engineering Education Tampa FL June 2019.
30 Miller, Z.W., Unger, M.H., Sanchez,D.V.P., Measuring off-flavors and Anti-Oxidants to Improve the Sustainability of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Engineering Sustainability: Climate for Change Pittsburgh PA April 2019 Zappitelli, J., Ference, C.J., Sanchez,D.V.P., Identifying Opportunities to Reduce Severe Water Stress Through a County Level Analysis of US Industrial Freshwater Withdrawals Engineering Sustainability: Climate for Change Pittsburgh PA April 2019 S. Pitell, S. Sachs, and SJ. Haig. Can microbes be used to bioremediate cracked reinforced concrete? To be presented at the American Society of Microbiology, Chicago, Illinois, June 2020. [Poster - cancelled due to COVID-19]. S. Pitell, B. Wu, S. Sachs, and SJ. Haig. Exploring the ability to bioremediate cracked reinforced concrete. To be presented at the Microbiology of the Built Environment Gordon Research Conference, New Hampshire, NH, June 2020. [Poster cancelled due to COVID-19]
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APPENDIX MCSI LEADERSHIP TEAM
Eric Beckman, Bevier Professor of Engineering and Co-Director Mascaro Center Gena Kovalcik, Co-Director Mascaro Center Melissa Bilec, Associate Professor and Deputy Director Mascaro Center, Civil & Environmental Eng. David Sanchez, Assistant Professor & Assistant Director Mascaro Center, Civil & Environmental Eng. Ellie Cadden, Sustainability Engagement Assistant, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation Anna Coleman, Sustainability Intern, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation
FACULTY SUSTAINABILITY TASK FORCE
Michael Aklin, Assistant Professor, Political Science Danielle Andrews-Brown, Lecturer and Environmental Studies Coordinator, Geology & Env. Science Drew Armstrong, Associate Professor and Director of Architectural Studies, Architectural Studies Dan Bain, Assistant Professor, Geology & Environmental Science Aaron Barchowsky, Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health, GSPH Eric Beckman, Bevier Professor of Engineering and Co-Director, Mascaro Center Melissa Bilec, Associate Professor and Deputy Director Mascaro Center, Civil & Environmental Eng. Mike Blackhurst, Co-Director of Urban and Regional Analysis, Center for Social & Urban Research John Camillus, Beall Prof. of Strategic Management, Katz School of Business Walter Carson, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Emily Elliott, Assistant Professor, Geology & Environmental Science Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, Assistant Professor, GSPIA Justin Kitzes, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences Grant MacIntyre, Clinical Asst. Professor of Law and Dir. of Environmental Law Clinic, School of Law Gena Kovalcik, Co-Director, MCSI Daniel Mosse, Professor and Chair, Computer Science Cassie Quigley, Associate Professor, School of Education David Sanchez, Assistant Professor & Assistant Director Mascaro Center, Civil & Environmental Eng. Aurora Sharrard, Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability John Sebastian, Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering Kay Shimizu, Assistant Professor, Political Science Kyle Whittinghill, Lecturer & Environmental Science Undergraduate Advisor, Geology & Env. Science Amy Wildermuth, Dean, School of Law Jeremy Weber, Assistant Professor, GSPIA
EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD
Chuck Blumenschein, Vice President & Industrial R&D, Veolia Water David Constable, Director, Green Chemistry Institute at American Chemical Society Kendell Ernst, Project Manager, National Renewable Energy Lab Charles Liotta, Vice Provost for Research & Dean of Graduate Studies, Georgia Institute of Technology John C. Mascaro, Chairman, Mascaro Construction Company Annie Pearce, Associate Professor Department of Building Construction, Virginia Tech Aurora Sharrard, Director of Sustainability, University of Pittsburgh
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SUSTAINABILITY STEERING COMMITTEE
Aurora Sharrard, Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability Nicholas Goodfellow, Sustainability Coordinator, Dining Services by Sodexo Richard Heller, Senior Electrical Engineer, Facilities (Retired, February 2020) Gena Kovalcik, Codirector, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation Erika Ninos, Sustainability Coordinator, PittServes, Student Affairs Laura Zullo, Director of Administration, Business & Operations
