by Sarah Bender
An engaged network of college students committed to sustainability is growing across Pittsburgh, and CMU’s Sustainability Initiative interns are leading the charge.
College of Engineering junior Aleena Siddiqui, who serves as the outreach and programming intern for the Sustainability Initiative, defines the Pittsburgh Youth Leaders in Sustainability network as a way for students across the city to build a community passionate about economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
“We wanted a tangible way to channel the Sustainability Initiative into a resource students from all over could benefit from — a way for them to connect, share ideas, and engage with professional development opportunities together,” Siddiqui explained. She, College of Engineering senior Purva Bommireddy, and Mellon College of Science senior Camden Johnson launched the network in the spring of 2024 as a way to expand the Initative’s impact and welcome new perspectives.
Siddiqui, who is double majoring in materials science and engineering and environmental and sustainability studies, has been a part of the Sustainability Initiative team since her first semester at CMU. From attending the UN General Assembly to receiving the prestigious Udall Scholarship and studying abroad in Costa Rica this past summer, sustainability has become one of the defining themes of her time at CMU and her vision for her future.
Under Director Alex Hiniker’s mentorship, Siddiqui and her fellow interns tackled spreading the word about the Initiative across campus. Together, they’ve organized information sessions, speaker events, and more. Last year, the students even led the effort to publish CMU’s Voluntary University Review (VUR), which provides a snapshot of how campus activities and efforts across education, research, and practices are contributing to the Global Goals.
“The importance of youth engagement is gaining recognition, but it often takes form in a top-down approach, with older generations leading the way. Given today’s challenges, we need to make space for young people to create and implement solutions now — not just in the future,” said Hiniker. “This is why the Pittsburgh Youth Leaders in Sustainability network is so important. I’m lucky to work with students like Aleena, Camden, and Purva, who bring fresh ideas to make the world more sustainable for all of us.”
The growing network offers the team a chance to look further beyond CMU.
“We had been having some great conversations with students at CMU about our work around sustainability and some of the challenges facing young people in this field,” Johnson, who interned with the Sustainability Initiative from 2023-2024, recalled. “But that was a narrow picture, and we wanted to open it up. We needed to find more sources of criticism, and optimism, to inspire our academic communities to dream even bigger about what is possible.”
The network’s first event, a leadership symposium in Spring 2024, brought together student leaders focused on all facets of sustainability from CMU, the University of Pittsburgh, and Chatham University. The team invited M. Shernell Smith, executive director and associate dean of the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion, to share her expertise on effective conversational strategies, and Justin Pearl, assistant director of the Office of Community Engagement and Leadership Development with Student Leadership, Involvement, and Civic Engagement (SLICE), who talked about enacting social change. Kathy Zhang from the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research helped connect attendees’ work to the overall goals of the university.
Soon after, the network partnered with Sustainability Explorer Post, a sustainability-focused club at Chatham, to organize a tour of Chatham’s fully sustainable Eden Hall campus. Around 30 students from Chatham and Pitt as well as CMU attended. “This event gave us the perfect opportunity to have deeper conversations about what members wanted the network to do next,” Siddiqui said.
Based on that feedback, the team has planned several brand-new events this semester.
First, on February 16, they’re hosting the Pathways to Impact: Careers in Sustainability event. Siddiqui and Bommirreddy invited 10 different employers to CMU’s campus to join attendees for lunch, informal conversations, presentations, and advice-sharing.
Employers range from groups like 412 Food Rescue, which focuses on food sovereignty, to Three Rivers Waterkeeper and Western PA Conservancy, environmental stewardship organizations. Students will also have a chance to connect with government officials from the City of Pittsburgh’s Sustainability Office. Another group, Green Building Alliance, will lead a workshop about sustainability certifications and how they can advance students’ careers.
Most importantly, all of the organizations in attendance are actively looking for students to become involved, whether that’s through volunteering, internships, or even full-time employment. “We wanted to be able to offer that to students who attend,” Siddiqui said. “It’s important that they are able to learn about real opportunities available to them in this field.”
Then, on April 16, the network has partnered with Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens to highlight artistic works by local college students that touch on themes like climate, sustainability, and hope in challenging times. The work featured will include visual, literary, and even performance pieces.
“We wanted to put together an event that is more inclusive of students who are doing a lot of amazing work in the arts, who maybe haven’t engaged in some of our more typical events,” said Bommireddy, who serves as the Sustainability Initiative’s community engagement intern. “Through this showcase, we hope to give youth the opportunity to explore how storytelling can inspire change.”
Interested students can submit new or existing artwork by March 31 using this form.
University of Pittsburgh sophomore Grace King, who is majoring in environmental science and a part of Pitt’s Student Office of Sustainability, said that Pitt students are excited about the network’s spring events and the opportunity to connect with students from other colleges.
“Every campus can start to feel like a bubble, so any efforts to try to bridge gaps between institutions are imperative!” she explained. “No institution is stronger than the connections we're able to make when we work together. I think initiatives like Youth Leaders in Sustainability are a great way to do just that.”
Ultimately, the team behind the network wants it to continue to grow.
“As the founders graduate and move on to new stages of their lives, our dream is that the network will remain self-sustainable,” Johnson said. “We hope to build lasting connections with students across different universities so that others can continue to benefit from these resources once we’re gone.”
Students interested in joining the Pittsburgh Youth Leaders in Sustainability network can reach out to Hiniker for more information. To stay up-to-date on other Sustainability Initiative events, follow @sustainablecmu on Instagram.