Penn State DuBois, nestled in Clearfield County, is one the many Commonwealth Campuses putting an emphasis on sustainability. From offering the minor in sustainability leadership to students reaching out to the community, the campus is working hard to incorporate sustainability into everyone’s lives.
Minor in Sustainability Leadership
Starting this fall at DuBois, the minor in sustainability leadership is now an option for students in any four-year major to incorporate sustainability as a significant theme in their undergraduate degree program. Through a combination of coursework and immersive experiences in sustainability, students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to become sustainability leaders in their respective fields. Currently, only four campuses have SUST 200: University Park, DuBois, Abington and Erie.
"The sustainable use of resources is perhaps the greatest challenge facing us at the local, national and international scales," said Penn State DuBois associate professor of geography Debra Straussfogel, who worked to develop the minor for the campus. "Learning how to manage and use resources with a look to long-term sustainability will take broad based knowledge as well as leadership and problem-solving skills. Any sustainable solution to a resource problem must follow the three part goal of being economically viable and socially acceptable as well as being environmentally sound."
The ability to achieve that three-part goal, Straussfogel explained, makes education in sustainability appealing, if not necessary, in today's world and in the workforce of tomorrow. Not only will individuals with training in sustainability have the know-how to work toward the conservation of natural resources, but they'll also be positioned to help their employers operate at maximum efficiency.