System Success

As the global population grows, providing affordable and nutritious food is increasingly important and presents career opportunities. Cheyney University offers a specialization in the cultivation of aquatic animals and plants in controlled environments. The Aquaculture Research and Education Laboratory (AREL), established in 2003, prepares students for emerging careers while addressing the educational and research needs of our region's waterways.

In a lab where streams run indoors and ecosystems are built by hand, Emily Gonzalez is doing more than collecting data. She’s helping answer questions that could shape the future of Pennsylvania’s waterways — and directly support large-scale restoration efforts already underway in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Gonzalez, a biomedical sciences major at Commonwealth University-Lock Haven, has spent up to four days a week in a wet lab this spring, carefully tracking dissolved oxygen, conductivity, temperature, and pH. Her project focuses on a deceptively simple question.

The neighborhoods surrounding East Stroudsburg University have become cleaner, thanks to hundreds of Greek life students who organized a community cleanup to celebrate Earth Day. The event was part of Greek Week at the university, during which sorority and fraternity members gathered in the streets around campus, equipped with garbage bags, gloves, and other supplies. Students worked together to pick up trash and debris from sidewalks, yards, and roadways.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania continued its sesquicentennial celebration with a commemorative tree dedication marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Allegheny Arboretum and the national celebration of Earth Day. The Allegheny Arboretum at IUP consists of the entire 354-acre campus. It is a living museum devoted to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of trees, shrubs, and vines. 

Kutztown University students recently traveled to the Chincoteague Bay Field Station in Virginia for an immersive field experience that brought their coursework to life. Led by Dr. Brandon O’Brien, the group explored coastal environments and collected samples while learning from two KU alumni, Keke Bedson and Andrea “Drew” Dempsey, who now work at the station.

An April 24 clean-up event organized by a Millersville University student group and Millersville Borough kicked off celebrations for the Conestoga River being named the 2026 Pennsylvania River of the Year. This 61-mile tributary of the Susquehanna River runs alongside the Millersville University campus and through Millersville Borough in Lancaster County.

Kennedy Brown didn’t find environmental science through a weather map or a lab report. She found it through people. While in high school trade school for emergency medical services, Kennedy began noticing a pattern during her required contacts. Many of the people she encountered were dealing with respiratory illnesses linked to their living environments. That experience stayed with her. When she came to PennWest’s Clarion campus, she chose Environmental Geosciences with a concentration in Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences and a minor in Black Studies because she wanted, as she put it, to understand “the how and the why” behind those issues.

Shippensburg University’s Dr. Tim Hawkins, a professor of geography and Earth science, along with student researcher Grace Coffman, is leading research funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the South Mountain Partnership. They are examining the environmental impact of warehouse development in the Cumberland Valley and its effects on air quality.

A Slippery Rock University student has established herself as a forward-thinking, driving force for change in campus sustainability through her internship with Aramark, the University’s contracted food service provider. Abi Lushefski, a senior geography major from Trucksville (Dallas HS), has led the charge to replace the regular plastic bags in campus dining facilities with a cornstarch-based alternative produced by Plastech, a manufacturer of environmentally friendly plastic-alternative products. 

Goodwill donation bins on campus are available for West Chester University students to recycle usable items they don’t plan to take with them when they move from their residence halls and apartments. Communications and media students in classes taught by Dr. Maxine Gesualdi and Dr. Megan Schraedley created social media posts to promote the project in both the fall and spring semesters. WCU’s Office of Sustainability was instrumental in brokering this partnership with Goodwill Keystone Area.