Inaugural IGS Sustainability Research Awards Announced
Pictured (left to right): Rebecca Pearl-Martinez, IGS Executive Director; Sarah Garvey, IGS Peter Fox-Penner Award recipient; Lecturer Rick Reibstein, IGS Sustainability Champion Award recipient; and Peter Fox-Penner, Founding Director, Institute for Sustainable Energy (now IGS).
Congratulations to our Boston University sustainability “superheroes,” recipients of the inaugural IGS sustainability research awards presented on October 27, 2022, for exemplary student and faculty contributions. This year’s awardees were recognized as part of IGS’s “Growing Our Community” celebratory gathering of the new institute’s BU research community.
IGS Peter Fox-Penner Award
Awarded annually to a Boston University student for their dedication to sustainability, this recognition honors the legacy of Peter Fox-Penner, founding director of the Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy (2016-2021), now the Institute for Global Sustainability.
2022 Recipient: PhD student Sarah Garvey, Department of Earth & Environment, Boston University
Garvey was nominated for her incredible contributions to BU’s Campus Climate Lab, which is now a collaboration between IGS, BU Sustainability, and the Office of Research. Garvey has been the Program Administrator for Campus Climate Lab since it was launched in 2020, and her contributions have made BU’s campus and operations more sustainable and helped move the university’s climate goals forward.
Garvey’s dedication to Campus Climate Lab, especially during the challenges of the pandemic, has proven her to be a driven and passionate advocate for climate action. She is a natural leader and is always one step ahead of the Campus Climate Lab leadership and review committees, anticipating how to make the program more organized and effective, and guiding students in their research choices.
She is currently working with Professor Lucy Hutyra to research the effects of urbanization and forest fragmentation on carbon storage.
IGS Sustainability Champion Award
Awarded annually to a Boston University faculty member for their dedication to sustainability.
2022 Recipient: Lecturer Rick Reibstein, IGS Affiliated Faculty, Department of Earth & Environment, Boston University
Reibstein has taught environmental and energy law at Boston University for more than 20 years. Prior to BU, Professor Reibstein was an attorney for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where he helped develop toxics use reduction policy and assistance practices. He has trained businesses and governments in developing programs for pollution prevention, compliance assistance, and environmental performance improvement. He initiated the Massachusetts Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program, founded two Business Environmental Networks, and is a winner of the EPA’s Environmental Merit Award.
Reibstein is the author of Developing Sustainable Environmental Responsibility, which provides information and exercises that generate pragmatic hope and enhance skills necessary for removing barriers to progress.
Reibstein is known for courses in which students perform research tasks that assist environmental and public health officials, nonprofit professionals, and volunteer citizens in achieving their missions. Recent examples include a data-driven decarbonization tool for the city of Brookline, a feasibility study of reusable food containers at BU, a study for the town of Lexington, MA regarding new approaches to placing solar energy, and work for the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell regarding the quality of reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act.