Dyson College Institute for
Sustainability and the Environment

With its mission to “bring together faculty, students and programs throughout the University that involve the environment and sustainability issues,” Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment aims to positively impact people and the planet.

Defending the Hudson River

A Coast Guard proposal for oil barge anchorages on the Hudson River in New York State was the subject of briefings presented by Dyson Environmental Policy Clinic students to Hudson River congressional delegation staff on April 20, 2018. The nine-member clinic team traveled to Washington, D.C., to seek assurances that the anchorage plan, currently suspended, will follow proper procedures and be assessed for its environmental and economic viability if it is proposed again.

The trip was funded by a $3,000 award to clinic students Rowan Lanning ‘18, Environmental Studies (r), and Christina Thomas ‘20, Economics, Environmental Studies (l), who won the Project Pericles 2017 Debating for Democracy Letters to an Elected Official Competition based on the clinic’s work on this issue.

Walk for World Water

Did you know that people throughout the developing world travel miles for clean drinking water every day? Pace Pleasantville students got a taste of this reality on April 21, 2018, when they partnered with the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation Student Ambassadors to host the Westchester Walk for World Water. Participants walked approximately one mile across campus with buckets of water atop their heads to simulate the trek that many in the developing world, mainly women and girls, make each day to collect water. The event drew attention to the scarcity of safe drinking water around the world and raised funds to provide LifeStraw Community filters to schools in need.

Growing Gardens

Elizabeth Eggimann ’18, Environmental Studies, contributed to Community of Gardens, a digital archive of stories, photos, and videos kept by the Smithsonian Institution to document the significance of public gardens in American life. As part of her senior project, she interviewed some of the dedicated individuals helping to maintain these spaces, including representatives from the William A. Harris and Joseph Daniel Wilson Memorial Gardens in Harlem.

Superior Scholarship

Twenty-seven new members were inducted into the Society of Fellows, Dyson College’s premier honors organization. This year’s Jean F. Coppola Class is the first named “in memoriam,” honoring Coppola, a Seidenberg professor who passed away in 2017. Nancy L. Hale, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, presented the keynote address, praising the life of her former colleague.

Lifelong Fellowship

Gloria (Cahill) Heffernan ‘81, English, was part of Dyson College’s first Society of Fellows class in 1979. She names the fellow’s academic retreat as a highlight of her undergraduate experience.