UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With the launch of the new Sustainability Education Gateway, an abundant variety of opportunities to engage in sustainability at Penn State are now just a click away.
Serving as as a hub for all sustainability opportunities at Penn State, listings encompass academic choices including undergraduate majors and minors, certificate and graduate programs, and individual courses. The gateway also provides information about Penn State's sustainable experiential learning options including research, competitions and internships, plus lifelong learning.
The gateway is intended to be a helpful tool for both prospective and current students, as well as for academic advisors seeking to guide students toward sustainability in a variety of learning environments. Office hours to discuss the gateway will be held on Sept. 24 and Oct. 3, with Zoom links provided below.
“It's incredibly heartening to see the Sustainability Education Gateway come together,” said Rawb Leon-Carlyle, undergraduate studies adviser and Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) programs coordinator in the College of the Liberal Arts. “Our students need to see that getting involved with sustainability initiatives is easy to do; and that Penn State is already engaged in countless sustainability projects. The gateway achieves both goals, and I'm excited to share this resource with all of my students — whether they already know how they want to contribute or could just use a push in the right direction.”
The gateway catalogs educational experiences in three ways: Academic and degree programs are sorted by themes related to sustainability’s challenges as well as by undergraduate and graduate programs. A list of hundreds of courses has also been compiled, using nationally recognized criteria, and clusters of content also are aligned with the Penn State Climate Consortium’s themes.
“When I was searching for graduate programs to apply to, I spent hours scouring the internet for the kind of information now hosted on the Sustainability Education Gateway,” said Elizabeth Smith, master of international affairs student and climate and sustainability education intern. “A major reason I chose Penn State was the wealth of sustainability opportunities it offers, particularly those that would allow me to combine my passion for sustainability with my academic goals. Having all that information in one place will not only provide accessible, crucial information about Penn State to prospective students but also open doors for new opportunities to current students.”
Peter Buck, Sustain Penn State’s director for education, emphasized the “remarkable suite” of sustainability education experiences offered at Penn State.
“Students can test the waters in a general education course in geography or immerse themselves in minors or majors in the arts, engineering, policy, fundamental science," Buck said. "They can be part of leadership organizations, deep experiential learning in communities across Pennsylvania, and compete on award-winning teams in renewable energy. There is so much. It is all a question of making it discoverable. That’s the magic of the gateway. Any future or current student, adviser or faculty member can find what we offer in one place.”
This fall, Buck and Smith will host two office-hour sessions to discuss the Sustainability Education Gateway and answer any questions. These sessions will be held online and are open to all faculty and students from all Penn State campuses:
- 12:20–1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24, via Zoom link (meeting ID: 994 1925 1649, passcode: 045282)
- 12:20–1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, via Zoom link (Meeting ID: 991 8098 2759, passcode: 011715
Contact Peter Buck, PeterBuck@psu.edu; or Elizabeth Smith, els6009@psu.edu, with any questions or if the times above are not workable.