Hannah '17
My most memorable ES class was Eric Pallant’s Soil to Plate course. Filled with a variety of field trips from a dairy farm to a chicken farm to a frozen food manufacturer, we explored the food industry from top to bottom. I gained a deeper appreciation for small farmers in our region and the amount of work and planning it takes to run a farm, and it sparked a new interest to explore sustainable agriculture, food access and equity, and food economics. It all informed my Comp, which focused on hydroponics, as well as my first job after graduating working on the French Creek Food Hub.
Working for an electric utility with a grid that’s default generation is 70% carbon free, I feel like I am directly helping customers and the Pittsburgh region experience the benefits of electric mobility. I’ve learned how to have conversations and communicate sustainability topics with diverse stakeholders in a way that is balanced and productive. The work my team is doing is helping to improve local air quality and the health of region. One project I managed was a charging installation for one of the first electric school bus deployments in our territory. Now I know those kids are no longer breathing in harmful emissions on their daily commute to school.
Hannah studied environmental and global health studies at Allegheny College.
