Penn State celebrates the 2025 student sustainability award winners

Apr 25, 2025

A version of this article was originally published on Penn State News.

By Elizabeth Smith

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Sustainability has announced the 2025 recipients of its annual awards. Among the award winners is architectural engineering doctoral student Jacob Seiler, who received a sustainability impact award. 

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. 

Jacob Seiler, a doctoral student in architectural engineering 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.  

For the full list of winners, see the original article here. 

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. 

 

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