PITTSBURGH — Demi Badejo is an epidemiologist for the Maryland Department of Health and a 2019 graduate from Penn State. While she was a health policy and administration major at University Park, she decided to enroll in City Semester — an urban sustainability program offered through the Penn State Center Pittsburgh, in collaboration with the Sustainability Institute at Penn State. Badejo said the experience taught her more than urban sustainability; it changed her career path.
“I was unaware of the role sustainability plays in public health. In fact, it is one of the pillars of public health. My City Semester project with the Center for Victims in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, centered around rapid rehousing for individuals fleeing domestic violence and my time in Pittsburgh was a defining moment,” Badejo said. “I learned that public health is my passion and that working in the field of maternal and child health is where I belong and went on to complete my master’s in public health science at John Hopkins University. I also learned that coming from academia, it is not our place to go into a community and tell them what they need — but to work in partnership with the community to provide the resources they request.”
Erifili Draklellis is an associate in carbon-free electricity practice for RMI in New York City, and a member of the Penn State Class of 2019. While Draklellis was an earth science and policy major at University Park, she enrolled in City Semester and began working on her project with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council in Pittsburgh.
“I was part of an effort to create a conservation landscape through nine counties in western Pennsylvania and it gave me insights into coalition building for environment and climate projects. It was critical to my pursuit of an environmental career,” Draklellis said. “I ended up staying on the project for two years, including my time in Pittsburgh and remotely from State College, until I graduated from Penn State. In my current position at RMI, I work with stakeholders all over the United States on how to equitably make the transition to clean energy, and my experience in Pittsburgh assists me with my work to this day.”
Madison Borsos is a landscape designer for Environmental Planning and Design in Pittsburgh and earned her degree in landscape architecture from Penn State in 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she virtually participated in City Semester while working on her project with Ethos Collaborative — an environmental engineering firm in Pittsburgh.
“In the profession of landscape architecture, sustainability is considered in everything we do. As a student in sustainability, our education focused on topics such as stormwater management, climate change mitigation, impacts to wildlife, vegetation, human health, and green design strategies,” Borsos said. “Participating in City Semester and hearing from professionals working in Pittsburgh opened my eyes to other sides of sustainability, such as waste management, policy, and initiatives in the city and region. I would not have had the opportunity to learn about these topics during my normal coursework, but they are important for understanding sustainability at a city-wide scale.”
Tom Bartnik, director for the Penn State Center Pittsburgh, said the City Semester program is open to students in all majors.
“In the work that we do, we see sustainable development not as an isolated field of practice, but something that is part of our everyday lives and certainly applicable to all academic endeavors,” Bartnik said. “Regardless of their major, our students have embraced the City Semester Pittsburgh program to expand their own career horizons and have experienced firsthand how their contributions to local initiatives result in positive impacts for the Pittsburgh region and our community partners.”
Applications are being accepted for City Semester summer and fall 2022 at citysemester.pittsburgh.psu.edu. Urban Sustainability Fellowships are available to students accepted into the program.
Learn more by visiting the Penn State Center Pittsburgh, a service of Penn State Outreach.