Sustainability Program

Melissa Weidner took one sustainability class to see if that would be a major she would like. She said the course "confirmed my passion" and she chose the energy track of the sustainability major. The sophomore also is a UD athlete on the track and cross country teams.

Pilar Bertollini said her journey to studying sustainability at the University of Dayton began when she was 9 years old and walked into the Forest Hills Swim Club in Birmingham, Michigan. A girl two grades older than her, Kathleen Lemire, became Bertollini’s swimming and diving partner and a friend to play games and cards with in the snack shack. “When we got older, Kathleen told me she was going to the University of Dayton, and I’d never heard of it, so I looked into it,” Bertollini said. “I was only a junior in high school when she was starting her first year at UD, and I remember reading all about UD and thinking it was perfect for me."

Darion Smith grew up pretending to be the Crocodile Hunter, hiking in Glen Helen Nature Preserve and credits (Clayton) Northmont High School with helping “encourage my love for nature and wildlife with cool field trips.” “I have always lived in suburban areas, and the outdoors was my refuge, especially from family issues and stress,” she said. “I loved going on hikes, splashing in the streams, listening to the birds. As I grew older, however, I became aware of the real issues facing society. Nature went from something I loved to play in, to something I needed to protect and felt concerned for.”

Abbey Moore’s interest in water quality began during high school environmental classes. That curiosity led her to the University of Dayton and a semester in Hawaii. “Dayton of all places is the best place to get a hydrological education due to the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer and the effect the Great Lakes have on us,” said Moore, a sophomore at UD taking the sustainability major’s watershed track. “Ohio is perfect for hydrology and I feel as if my education has true substance and value.”

Mark Ryan hasn’t totally decided on which sustainability track he will take, but he chose the major because he said it’s his way to make the world better. “I think sustainability is the best path for me to take because it focuses on so many different aspects of society so I get to learn about how different parts of society interact and how I can help improve them,” said Ryan, a sophomore at the University of Dayton after transferring from Sinclair Community College. “It focuses on the integration of environmental, economic and societal factors that interact with each other to make up society.”

Yamilet Perez Aragon is a Mexican-American first generation student from Austin, Texas, who chose the University of Dayton because it aligned with the values she developed growing up and spending time at her parents’ Mexican villages. The freshman enrolled to study graphic design, but near the end of last semester she found another passion.