Penn State celebrates the 2025 student sustainability award winners

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Sustainability has announced the 2025 recipients of its annual awards. These accolades, including the John Roe Sustainability Impact Award, the Student Sustainability Advisory Council Tree Award and the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC) Campus Sustainability Champion Award, commend the extraordinary contributions of students in spearheading sustainability initiatives.

John Roe Sustainability Impact Awards

Named in honor of the late mathematics professor John Roe, these awards recognize students demonstrating significant commitment to environmental and social sustainability. The 2025 awardees include Ashley Currey, Marisela Sotelo Tornero, James Bell, Sylvie Alexander, Eliott Foust and Jacob Seiler, with each receiving $1,000 furnished by the Dr. John Roe Fund for a Just and Sustainable Future. Their initiatives encompass food security, sustainability advocacy, curriculum development and promoting sustainability through film, resulting in widespread achievements across the Penn State community.

• Ashley Currey, an undergraduate at University Park, is a passionate sustainability advocate, serving as a sustainability engagement intern since June 2024. During this time, she played a key role in revitalizing the Tailgate Ambassadors program, educating football fans on recycling and creating the Shaker Reuse program, diverting thousands of plastic shakers from landfills. She now leads the zero-waste team within Net Impact, Smeal’s sustainable business club. Additionally, Currey contributed to the Local Climate Action Program, creating a greenhouse gas inventory for the Centre Region to inform future climate action plans. 
• Marisela Sotelo Tornero, a graduate student at University Park, is a leading voice in water sustainability and equity, with a deep commitment to improving access to safe water and sanitation in underserved communities across Latin America and the U.S. Her evidence-based research has directly influenced public policy, including award-winning work highlighting the leadership of rural women in water management. Tornero’s global experience spans government partnerships, grassroots advocacy and rigorous policy analysis. 
• James Bell, an undergraduate student at Penn State Schuylkill, is recognized for his unwavering commitment to sustainability and community engagement. His work bridges science, education, and action, with involvement in diverse research projects ranging from soil microbes and sustainable antibiotics to community tree planting and pollinator health. Over the past three years, Bell has played a vital role in shaping campus sustainability programming, from hands-on research to education and outreach. A driving force behind the Beekeeping Club’s revival and the expansion of campus gardening initiatives, Bell connects environmental stewardship with community impact, embodying the spirit of sustainability at every level. 
• Sylvie Alexander, an undergraduate student at University Park, is president of the Earth House Living Learning Community (LLC) and is a passionate advocate for sustainability and community engagement. Through collaboration with the Student Farm, Alexander co-directs two major projects, including a rooftop garden and food justice initiatives. Her work extends to education, where she helps facilitate sustainability-related classes and projects, such as a sister garden project with an Algerian artist, and supports future educators in developing school gardens. As a member of the Dining Advisory Board and leader of the Food Justice project team, Alexander champions sustainable dining practices. 
• Eliott Foust, a doctoral student at University Park, has committed to climate equity and urban sustainability. He stands out for his groundbreaking integration of advanced climate modeling with public health and community engagement. Foust bridges disciplines, institutions, and communities, using rigorous numerical simulations of urban climate to support equitable climate adaptation strategies. His leadership in a major urban climate study has unified efforts across Johns Hopkins, Morgan State, and community organizations in Baltimore, exemplifying a unique fusion of academic excellence and civic responsibility. 
• Jacob Seiler, a doctoral student at University Park and a longstanding member and current chair of the Student Sustainability Advisory Council (SSAC), has dedicated many years to advancing sustainability at Penn State. With a focus on climate action and student advocacy, he has led initiatives that brought energy dashboards to campus, championed a climate action resolution, and called for institutional commitments from University leadership. His film collaborations, including "For the Future," have highlighted student-driven change and reached tens of thousands, earning spots at University-wide showcases and regional film festivals. 

Student Sustainability Advisory Council Tree Award

The 2025 Student Sustainability Advisory Council Tree Award honors Gavin Maxson for his exceptional leadership in sustainability at the University Park campus. As an EcoRep for three years, Maxson took on a leadership role as senior programming coordinator, guiding sustainability initiatives and engaging with the campus community. Additionally, Maxson served as a Sustainable Lab Consultant (SLC) for the Sustainable Labs Program, a pilot initiative aimed at reducing waste and promoting sustainability in research labs. Throughout his time as an SLC, Maxson supported over 30 research labs, helping reduce energy consumption and waste through projects such as installing fume hood sensors and improving energy efficiency. A tree was planted in his honor on April 23 as a lasting symbol of his commitment and influence, and he will receive a $1,000 award from Penn State Sustainability.

“Gavin represents everything the Tree Award is about," said SSAC Chair Jacob Seiler, a John Roe Sustainability Impact Award winner. "He has been such a strong, consistent, reliable leader in the sustainability community, and he always does that work with kindness and joy. Gavin leaves behind a legacy of unwavering commitment to sustainability at Penn State. I'm really excited that we now have a tree on campus to celebrate his leadership and his impact on this University and this community.”

Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC) Campus Sustainability Champion Award

The PERC Award celebrates contributions to sustainability by Penn State community members. This year's award celebrates the Penn State Food Recovery Network. The student-led Food Recovery Network aims to promote sustainability and food security, and to raise awareness about issues surrounding food waste. The organization recovers unserved food from four University Park dining halls and transports it to student and community partners. In its first year, more than 2,500 pounds of food were rescued and redistributed, thereby preventing waste from being sent to landfills. This prevented the release of more than 9,500 pounds of carbon dioxide from decaying food waste, according to the organization’s annual report. Since the chapter’s emergence, this mitigation has increased exponentially from 9,500 pounds to more than 23,200 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. The Food Recovery Network student team accepting the award includes Adeline Peat, Anna Janaszek, Emmanuel Kraft, Anant Pothakamury, Irini Gentis and Eliana Wong.

The 2025 Sustainability Awards highlight the comprehensive efforts across Penn State to advance sustainability in education, research, operations and community engagement. For inquiries or further information about Penn State's sustainability efforts, please visit sustainability.psu.edu.