Students enrolled in courses at the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) took center stage at the 2026 Pitt Sustainability Awards and Student Sustainability Symposium last week, presenting research and earning recognition for their contributions to sustainability efforts on campus and beyond.
Held each spring, the Pitt Sustainability Awards and Student Sustainability Symposium celebrates the spirit of sustainability at Pitt while exploring how individual actions, academic research, and collaborative efforts contribute to a more sustainable campus and region. The combined event recognizes students, faculty, and staff for outstanding contributions to campus sustainability while showcasing student research through presentations, posters, and engagement with campus and community partners.
Nine students enrolled in courses taught by SPIA Professor Shanti Gamper-Rabindran presented research at this year’s symposium. SPIA students Andini Daulay, Jianing Guo, Eleanor King, Amya Mebane, Valencia Medina, and Milena Sosa de la Cruz were joined by Bethany Brubeck (Business), Abbie Siecinski (Law), and Amy Zhang (Engineering). Gamper-Rabindran’s courses include Political Economy of Development, Global Health Policy, Climate Policy: Local and Global, and Environmental Policy: Local and Global, and often draw students from around the university.
For many students, SPIA courses provide a space to connect technical, policy, and global perspectives. Jianing Guo, a first-year MPA student concentrating in governance and international public management, credits her coursework with shaping her approach to sustainability research.
“I took Environmental Policy: Local and Global with Professor Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, and it has been one of the most rewarding courses I’ve taken,” she said. “Professor Gamper-Rabindran was extremely knowledgeable and supportive, consistently encouraging me and providing constructive feedback that helped me refine my research direction. I especially appreciated how the course connected global environmental challenges with real-world policy solutions.”
Her symposium presentation, titled “Adapting Yunnan’s Micro-Hydropower Model for Rural Sidama, Ethiopia,” explores how community-based renewable energy systems can be adapted across global contexts.
“I am particularly interested in this topic because it combines governance, sustainable energy, and development policy,” Guo said, highlighting the kind of interdisciplinary thinking central to SPIA’s programs.
The same approach drew Amy Zhang, an environmental engineering student, into SPIA classrooms, expanding her understanding of how policy shapes engineering practice.
“I chose to take classes in SPIA because I strongly believe that being aware of environmental and climate policy is crucial in my field, she said. “Environmental engineers design technology and processes around what policy deems as acceptable (e.g. "clean" enough, "safe" enough), and they can also influence legal definitions and regulations with their expertise. It is important to know how environmental rights vary nationally and internationally, and how policy is affecting the global environment.”
Zhang’s poster, “Fighting Fire with Finance,” examines the economic case for proactive wildfire mitigation using Denver Water as a case study. Her work highlights how policy, finance, and engineering intersect—demonstrating the value of bringing broader policy perspectives into technical fields.
Among this year’s Student Award winners is Cassidy Laffey, a senior in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering who was recognized for her leadership and research on barriers to solar energy adoption in rural Pennsylvania. Her work exemplifies the interdisciplinary, real-world impact that SPIA-connected coursework and collaborations help foster.
Laffey serves as the lead student researcher on the Rural Pennsylvania Solar Project, an initiative co-led by Dr. Gamper-Rabindran and Dr. Tony Kerzmann, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science in the Swanson School. The project examines community perspectives on utility-scale solar development and combines elements of engineering, policy, and community engagement.
“I have always been very passionate about sustainability and the environment,” Laffey said, noting that her experiences—from study abroad to research—have helped shape her goals. “This lab is interdisciplinary, so I have been able to develop skills not typically taught in the engineering curriculum. I’ve valued hearing different perspectives and have become more open to understanding why some people may oppose solar energy, as well as ways to help overcome those obstacles.”
Learn more about environmental and climate policy programs in the School of Public and International Affairs by exploring the graduate Energy & Environment Concentration or the undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy.