About Us
Spring 2025
Faculty
Dr. Eranga Galaphaththi
Lead Professor
"Practicing sustainability must be a collective effort toward common challenges. Such sustainability challenges that we all are part of include climate change, food insecurity, and ocean pollution. As a researcher working with Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic and tropical parts of the world, I have witnessed these issues and am somewhat optimistic about the solutions.  We need a change. The change from unsustainable to sustainable. Why can’t people change? The unsustainable world we created is a product of our unsustainable thinking. Your actions are the children of your thoughts. To practice sustainability, you have to think sustainable. Going beyond conventional teaching approaches, we train our students to think sustainably by engaging in various projects and leadership activities. Co-learning is a critical component to this approach. Sustainability is an integral part of my research. My research is aimed primarily at the social dimensions of human-nature systems. I am particularly interested in climate change adaptation, with a major focus on how Indigenous communities and their local food systems experience and adjust to change".
Dr. Tom Crawford
Geography Dept. Chair and Professor
"Sustainability is one of the 21st century’s grand challenges that requires leaders to develop and implement practices that enable humans to thrive economically and socially over generations while ensuring healthy ecosystems that provide for current and future populations.  At Virginia Tech, students work with faculty in co-learning environments to promote sustainable practices. The course, Practicing Sustainability, is the capstone course in the Pathways to Sustainability minor. It is a platform where students work collaboratively to synthesize and integrate knowledge from their prior sustainability coursework to put into practice the principles and application of sustainability science. They do so via student-designed and student-led applied projects examining specific local and regional sustainability issues on the Virginia Tech campus, in the New River Valley and the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The Department of Geography is proud of the student accomplishments represented here and are confident that our students are poised to make demonstrable progress towards a sustainable future that contributes in meaningful ways to achieving Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations".
Student Group Leaders
When conducting group work and assignments, the Practicing Sustainability course is divided into three student groups each led by a "group leader" and "co-leader". The groups are titled A, B, and C.
Sadie Dean
Environmental Conservation and Society
Sadie is a Junior minoring in Pathways to Sustainability. She actively incorporates sustainability into her daily routine by commuting via bus, reducing her carbon footprint. Her favorite project in the class was the individual group assignment, where she created a blog offering practical, everyday sustainable actions. Sadie plans to continue growing and updating the blog after the course, aiming to inspire others to adopt eco-friendly habits.
Group A Lead
Edward Selztner
Industrial & Systems Engineering
Edward is a senior in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. He grew up farming, hunting, fishing, and spending time outdoors. Over time, he developed a strong interest in ecological conservation, and this class has deepened his understanding and passion for the subject.
Group B Lead
Sithuni Mimasha Jayasekara
Geography
Sithuni is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography. She enjoys a variety of extracurricular activities, including traveling, making videos, and spending time with friends. This class has helped her practice sustainability more intentionally, especially by encouraging me to reduce plastic use during grocery shopping. One of their favorite aspects of the class was learning how small daily choices can make a big impact, which they have started incorporating into their lifestyle.
Group C Lead
Student Group A
Rose Coz
Environmental Policy and Planning
Rose is a senior majoring in EPP and minoring in Pathways to Sustainability. She is an intern with the Office of Sustainability and serves as the Communications Representative for the Energy Team. She practices sustainability through her lifestyle, including her diet, education, and habits.
Colin Mooney
Environmental Economics: Management & Policy
Colin Mooney is a senior with a minor in sustainability who enjoys hiking, cooking, and baking. He incorporates sustainability into his daily life by growing his own herbs and preparing much of his own food from scratch. Through class, Colin has gained a deeper understanding of the connections between environmental systems and human behavior, which has influenced how he approaches everyday choices. One of his favorite projects was creating a financial simulation model for a spring bioreactor, which allowed him to apply sustainability concepts to real-world environmental challenges.
Brady Schott
Geography
Brady Schott is a senior Geography major with a minor in Sustainability. Over the past three years, he has worked with climate technology company MOVA Technologies, contributing to efforts that make agriculture more sustainable. This class has deepened his understanding of the complex interconnections between Earth's social and ecological systems.
Kora Bednar
Water: Resources, Policy, & Management
Kora is a senior who is passionate about water quality in developing countries and what sustainability for water resources looks like in the future. She serves the College of Natural Resources & Environment (CNRE) through being a CNRE Ambassador, Co-President of the VT student chapter of American Water Resources Association (AWRA), and the first Transfer Mentor for CNRE Academic Mentor Program. On a daily basis, she incorporates being sustainable by making homemade household items that can be washed and reused such as crotchet dish sponges, as well as homemade cleaning products using items such as lemons and glass bottles.
Isabelle Lugo
Wildlife Conservation
Isabelle is a junior studying wildlife conservation and pursuing the pathways to sustainability minor. She has enjoyed learning about the wide ranges of studies in sustainability. She has applied what she has learned to her major and hopes to better incorporate sustainability into conservation.
Student Group B
Cami Cuebas
Dairy Science
Cami is a senior in Dairy Science with a Sustainability minor. She makes sure to use reuseable containers such as their water bottle and any shopping bags. Their favorite aspect of the class was seeing how varied everyone else took their individual projects because of their different interests within sustainability.
Jacqueline Tugs
Environmental Economics
Jacqueline is a senior majoring in environmental economics, management, and policy while double minoring in sustainability and data analytics. She is extremely passionate about bridging the gap between business, the environment, and the economy. She incorporates sustainability in her daily life by practicing mindfulness when it comes to producing waste and using products.
Nick DeChiaro
Environmental Economics
Nick is a senior majoring in Environmental Economics. He is involved in greek life and practices sustainability by using a reusable water bottle everyday and walking to class. His favorite part of the class is the guest speakers. He enjoys hearing about their different perspectives.
Kelsey Davis
Environmental Economics
Kelsey is a senior currently pursuing a Pathways to Sustainability minor. She incorporates sustainability into her daily life by reducing waste, supporting local businesses, and thrift shopping. One of her favorite aspects of the class has been hearing from a wide range of guest speakers. She’s found it fascinating to learn about their interests and to see how sustainability intersects with diverse fields and career paths.
Kaley Chinoy
Biochemistry
Kaley is a senior biochemistry major sustainability minor. She is in Delta Gamma and does research with the Brown Lab. In her daily life she incorporates sustainability by using public transportation and thrifting.
Gina Vinson
Interior Design
Gina is a senior studying interior design with a minor in pathways to sustainability. She embraces sustainability in her daily life by shopping at thrift stores and exploring antique shops. In her free time, she enjoys fostering puppies and going for runs.
Student Group C
Ashley Falat
Communications
Ashley is a junior majoring in Communications and minoring in Pathways to Sustainability as well as Natural Resource Recreation. She loves reading, painting, kayaking, and photography. A simple way that she incorporates sustainability into their daily life is by using a reusable water bottle and using reusable containers. Their favorite project so far has been the individual project because it has pushed them to expand on what they’ve learned about sustainability and to create something unique.
Kerin Gorrasi
Mechanical Engineering
Kerin is a Mechanical Engineering major at Virginia Tech with minors in Pathways to Sustainability and Green Engineering. He focuses his efforts at Virginia Tech to study renewable energy pursuing projects throughout his time there that focused on wind and hydropower. Kerin practices sustainability by furthering his green thumb in his apartment and documenting family traditions and recipes for future use.
Yaju Maharjan
Interior Design
Yaju is a senior majoring in Interior Design and minoring in Pathways to Sustainability. She is a part of IDEAS (Interior Design for Education and Sustainability) and NSA (Nepalese Student Association). She incorporates sustainability in her daily life by recycling, composting, and being mindful of what she buys and consumes. For example, she hang dries her clothes instead of using the dryer. Her favorite project was the individual project where she got to see how her classmates did their projects and thought about sustainability.
Olivia Turner
Public Relations
Olivia is a senior graduating as public relations, minoring in both Spanish and sustainability. She loves spending time outside, seeing live music, and laying in her hammock. Olivia applies sustainability to her daily life by embracing minimalism, bringing her own bags to the grocery store and using a reusable cup when getting coffee out.
Cat Pinotti
Business Information Technology
Cat is a senior majoring in Business Information Technology and a minor in Pathways to Sustainability. She is passionate about finding a second life for food scraps in order to diminish food waste. She is also enjoys thrifting and giving clothing and furniture a second life.
Lauren Handley
Water: Resources, Policy, and Management
Lauren is a junior majoring in Water: Resources, Policy, and Management, with a minor in Pathways to Sustainability. She has interwoven sustainability in her lifestyle, through minor changes to decrease her carbon footprint: reusable shopping bags, thrifting her closet, diet, electricity use, and public transportation. This Practicing Sustainability course has allowed her to apply the knowledge she has gain through the minor to hands-on projects.