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Office of Sustainability accepting nominations for sustainability awards

Awards ceremonies haven’t been entirely the same since the COVID-19 pandemic, but OU has still found ways to recognize its students, staff and community members. 

The Sustainability Awards are presented yearly to recognize those who have been nominated because of their contributions to a sustainable community. 

Sam Crowl, associate director of the Ohio University Office of Sustainability, has worked on the awards since its beginning. He said the awards were the brain-child of the former director of sustainability, Annie Laurie Cadmus. 

“She realized that recognition for people on our campus who do wonderful things for sustainability yet rarely if ever get noticed was long-overdue,” Crowl said. “She started this award program to make sure that people knew about our faculty and the things they were doing with sustainability research.”

The awards this year are open to multiple different groups, including faculty members and students of the Office of Sustainability, staff throughout the university, departments and Athens area members. Those chosen by the judging board will be announced as the winners through a special message from OU President Duane Nellis on Earth Day.

Although the award does look for those who are continuing sustainable action in their everyday life, Crowl says that sustainability at OU isn’t just about the environment. 

“The true academic, Ohio University definition of sustainability is not just about the environment, it’s also about the people,” Crowl said. “We don’t want to just save the world and then not save society or not help society. People are just as important as the environment.”

Students and staff alike who have been nominated for the award or have won have said they feel that the award is confirmation that their work is doing some real good and making a change. 

“I think it’s really beneficial because I think it encourages people to keep doing the work that they’re doing,” Allison Shryock, a senior studying geography and environmental studies, said. “I know that some of my small-work projects don’t necessarily get noticed, but I personally know that they’re making a difference. It’s nice to get that reinforcement that the work you’re doing is important and that people are noticing it.”

Guy Riefler, a professor of civil engineering, and John Sabraw, a professor of art, won the faculty award in 2020 for their work creating paints from acid mine drainage. 

“Around here, acid mine drainage is a significant problem,” Riefler said. “It’s something that’s not really being addressed because there’s not a lot of money for it. We live in a region that doesn’t have a lot of political clout, so no one really cares that our streams are polluted.”

Since winning the award, Riefler said he has been able to try for additional funding for his and Professor Sabraw’s project. 

“I’m very appreciative to the university and to the sustainability office for having the award and for raising awareness at the university through the award,” Riefler said. 

@acarter3602

ac732319@ohio.edu

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