Student Groups (SSAP)

As the official student sustainability umbrella group at Penn, the Student Sustainability Association (SSAP) was founded in 2010 to foster cohesion among environmentally-focused student groups, develop strategies for impacting campus sustainability, and to create a unified student voice on green issues at Penn.

As the student environmental community has grown immensely since the 2009 launch of Penn's Climate Action Plan, SSAP helps to foster increased collaboration among the 20+ student environmental groups on campus and between students, staff, and faculty working on environmental issues. SSAP meets twice a month and all student environmental groups are encouraged to send a representative to attend the meeting.

STUDENT SUSTAINABILITY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERS

• Co-Directors: Maya Chacko and Sara Allan
• Secretary: Dani Castillo
• Treasurer: Lucas Siegmund
• Outreach and Publicity Chair (interim webmaster): Michael Shostek
• Undergraduate Assembly Representative: Tiffany Zhu

News from the Student Sustainability Association at Penn

Student Sustainability Association Members

COMMUNITECH

CommuniTech is a student organization in the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences that aims to assist neighborhoods in need by supplying them with computers and teaching technology skills to their residents. Their efforts stem from the recognition that the computer has become a central facet of everyday life in this rapidly advancing age of information technology. Click here to visit the Communitech website.

ECO-REPS

Penn's environmental leadership program that focuses on raising awareness of environmental issues and impacting the behavior of individuals across the campus through an extensive network of students, faculty, and staff. Click here to learn more about the Penn Eco-Reps Program.

ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS

PennEWB is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life through sustainable projects.

Kelly Writers House

The Kelly Writers House is a center for writers of all kinds from Penn and the Philadelphia region at large. Kelly Writers House seeks to add green programming to their list of activities. 

Oikos Penn

Oikos is the international student organization for sustainable economics and management. As a leading reference point for the promotion of sustainability change agents, our activities will include lectures, conferences, simulation games, seminars, case competitions and practice-oriented learning projects. Their activities are conducted within the framework of a constructive and open-minded dialogue.

Divestment at Penn (DAP)

Divestment at Penn is the local chapter of a national movement to divest college and university endowments from fossil fuel companies. 

Penncycle

Penncycle is a student-run bike-share program open to all Penn students, faculty, and staff. The pilot was awarded a Green Fund Grant, which provided the capital to purchase and maintain bikes during the pilot period. 

PENN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP

The University of Pennsylvania Environmental Group (PEG) is a student run group aiming to increase campus awareness of global environmental issues across the Penn community and throughout the world. PEG seeks to incorporate ideals from a diverse community, and expose the campus, community and the world at large to an expanded knowledge of environmental issues.

PENN INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY ASSOCIATION

The Penn International Sustainability Association (PISA) was formed to promote awareness of the crucial links between business and sustainability to Penn students. PISA aims to establish connections between students and leaders in sustainable business, policy, and technology; improve student awareness of local, regional, national, and international green businesses and policy initiatives; and further develop a culture of environmental, economic, and social responsibility at the University of Pennsylvania that extends to the local, state, regional, national, and international communities.

PENN Garden

The Penn Garden was awarded a Green Fund Grant in Fall 2009 to plan and implement a demonstration vegetable garden and urban agriculture project on Penn's campus. 

PENNGREEN

With the enormous growth of the environmental movement on Penn's campus in the past few years, an environmentally-themed pre-orientation pilot program was created in 2008. The mission of the PennGreen program is to provide incoming freshmen with an environmental introduction to Penn and the City of Philadelphia, offering them a chance to form relationships with environmentally-minded peers.

Along with upperclassmen who are members of the Penn Environmental Group or are involved in some way with the green movement at Penn, participants in this program engage in a number of activities. They meet faculty and senior administrators, learn about campus recycling and Penn building projects that are designed to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, volunteer at local urban farms, partake in and learn about how the community participates in the sustainable food and living movement, and take an ecological river tour.

Penn Sustainability REview

Penn Sustainability Review is a student-run online and print publication featuring sustainability-related opinion editorials, leadership interviews, and academic papers. PSR aims to provide a platform for all members of the Penn community to exchange knowledge, ideas, and perspectives on wide-ranging sustainability issues. Over the course of every academic year, the PSR team publishes a print publication and maintains regular online editorial updates that incorporate relevant thought-provoking articles. Both the print and online editions of the PSR cover a number of topics including climate change, green architecture, corporate strategic sustainability, resource and energy conservation, public policy, and sustainable technology. PSR was awarded a Green Fund Grant in Fall 2011. 

PENN VEGAN SOCIETY

The Penn Vegan Society raises awareness on the personal health, animal ethics, and environmental issues related to the production and consumption of food. The group meets several times each semester and organizes social events that are geared toward educating the campus community about the benefits of a vegan diet.

POWER UP GAMBIA

Founded by a student in the Penn School of Medicine, Power Up Gambia is a non-profit group that aims to provide reliable electricity and water to healthcare facilities in the Gambia through development of solar energy. The group works to raise awareness on campus about the lack of reliable electricity in developing countries.

SEAS Green

SEAS Green is an environmental club with an engineering focus, run out of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 

WHARTON ENERGY CLUB

The Wharton Energy Club enhances recruiting into the energy industry and aims to establish Wharton as a thought leader in the sector, while offering insight into merchant energy, renewable energy, utilities, and traditional oil and gas companies.

Student Sustainability Advisory Boards

• Earth and Environmental Studies Undergraduate Advisory Board
• Master of Environmental Studies Graduate Advisory Board
• School of Arts & Sciences Student Sustainability Advisory Board
• School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS Green)
• Wharton Sustainability Advisory Board
• Undergraduate Assembly (UA) Committee for Housing, Sustainability, and Facilities
• Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA) Advisory Committee Representative