Sustainability News

School of Sustainability student Zoë Stein is a go-getter. In April, she won an Arizona State University Pitchfork Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Leader. She is currently a master's student in Global Sustainability Science, a dual degree program that awards degrees from ASU and Leuphana University in Germany. Once she graduates, Stein plans to run for local office.

“Zoë is going to change the world,” said Katie Ulmer, the School of Sustainability's academic advisor for graduate students. “She is the globally engaged Sun Devil! She will one day be a household name in the Phoenix area, synonymous for many great achievements.”

With that in mind, we wanted to pick Stein’s brain about her experience as a sustainability student. Here are a few of her answers.

Question: What was your “aha” moment when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?

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When Benjamin Fogg was brainstorming ways to bring sustainability practices to FedEx Ground, a company he began working for after completing his bachelor’s degree in Alabama, he discovered Arizona State University’s Online Master of Sustainability Leadership. Fogg applied to the program at the School of Sustainability, he said, because of its focus on innovation and leadership “paired with the broader, global context. Since FedEx Corporation operates all over the world, it felt like the perfect fit for my career.”

During his time as a master’s student, Fogg was promoted multiple times and moved to different states. “ASU Online allowed that mobility to happen while I continued my education,” he said.

Recently, Fogg was promoted to a Sustainability Specialist position at FedEx. His career goal, he said, is to “obtain a senior leadership position within the company that focuses on bringing sustainability to the forefront of what we’re doing.”

School days for Carl Harris were not the routine experience they are for most college students.

Harris has been on active duty or reserve status for the U.S. Navy for the past 18 years, with multiple deployments throughout the Middle East. On top of that, Harris earned a bachelor’s degree this month through the online engineering management program in ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, with a minor in sustainability from ASU’s School of Sustainability.

“I am a big fan of the whole sustainability movement,” Harris said. “Sustainable technologies are going to be a big emerging market around the world. I would love to work in engineering management at a cutting-edge sustainable tech company.”

As the largest university in the country Arizona State University inevitably makes quite a bit of waste. Sure we have a Zero Waste initiative, and we recycle and compost, but there are often items, large and small, that get overlooked. Students are helping to fill the gaps.

In spring 2018 a one-credit course was created as a cross-disciplinary effort between the School of Sustainability (SOS), University Sustainability Practices (USP), and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (HIDA) to bring students of different disciplines together to collaborate on a sustainability-focused art project. Students were charged with the task of developing a prototype of an outdoor common space for the Tempe campus. They focused on waste, recycling, and circular resources and were then released to complete the project with guidance from a team of staff from SOS, USP, and HIDA. The intention of the final installation was to engage campus visitors, students, staff, and faculty who move through common spaces at ASU. Groups were encouraged to consider innovative materials and construction processes for their installations.

Class time comprised of talks by artists, designers, and sustainability experts to give students an idea of the kinds of projects they could create, the specific issues they could focus on, and free time to work on their designs. Once student teams moved through development stages, they received approval to construct their proposed installation. Students were judged by ASU student peers, selected staff, and faculty. Funding and scholarship opportunities were also available for this group and were judged in a competition setting.

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School of Sustainability holds its spring convocation ceremony in Gammage Auditorium on Thursday, May 10. Watch live at 4:30 p.m. Arizona time.

In February, Major League Baseball announced it was partnering with ASU on a zero waste initiative that took place during spring training. In April, the Diamondbacks called on School of Sustainability Dean Christopher Boone to partner with them on a special Earth Day project.

Our fearless dean agreed to throw out the first pitch at the Sunday afternoon game. The official video shows the pitch was juuuust a bit outside, but we do like to think outside the box here at ASU.

Many School of Sustainability alumni and staff were in attendance at the game to support the Diamondbacks and Dean Boone. View our photo album from the event.

With its roots in a plant-based diet, Julia Colbert’s interest in sustainability began to grow. Colbert understood development does not need to come at the cost of our planet, and wanted to find a way to create harmony between humans and nature.

So she enrolled in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. She was recognized at Convocation as the school's 2018 Outstanding Graduate.

During her time at ASU, Colbert took advantage of every learning opportunity. Through School of Sustainability study abroad programs, she traveled to foreign countries to learn new sustainable practices and solutions. She joined student organizations and accepted jobs at the ASU Sustainability Teacher’s Academy and Decision Center for a Desert City.

In the fall, Colbert will return to ASU to pursue a master's degree in sustainability.

She answered some questions about her experiences as a sustainability student.

Question: What’s something you learned while at ASU — in the classroom or otherwise — that surprised you or changed your perspective?

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After moving to Tempe from Northwestern France, Yann Raymond enrolled with ASU’s School of Sustainability. His focus is international development, and he has an interest in food systems and supply chain.

At ASU, Raymond scored a job with Changemaker Central, an ASU student organization focused on innovation and enterprise development. During his three years at Changemaker, Raymond used the space as an innovation hub, an arena for dialogue and collaboration with like-minded students driven by change.

Following graduation, Raymond will work with the Town of Camp Verde, where he hopes to apply his food system, entrepreneurship and sustainable development knowledge to local businesses.

Yann answered a few questions about his experiences at ASU.

Question: What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study sustainability?

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On a family trip to Hawaii, Mackenzie McGuffie fell in love with nature and began to appreciate the biodiversity that connected her to nature.

So she changed her major to sustainability.

During her time at ASU, McGuffie joined green ASU clubs and got a job as a student worker for the School of Sustainability. McGuffie graduates in May and is now preparing for the accelerated master’s program, which she hopes to complete in 2019.

She answered some questions about her experiences at ASU.

Question: How did the School of Sustainability prepare you, personally and professionally?

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Living near a nature preserve in Wisconsin, Tara Hansen spent much of her childhood in nature. Wanting future generations to experience the outdoors like she did, Hansen applied to ASU’s School of Sustainability.

During her time at ASU, Hansen became an ambassador for the School of Sustainability. She also tacked on a second major, in supply chain management, with a focus on mitigating the effects our food system has on the environment.

After graduation (and a brief vacation to Japan), Hansen will be working towards making a more sustainable sourcing process for Frito Lay.

She answered a few questions about her experiences at ASU.

Question: What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study sustainability?

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