Hanley Sustainability Institute

By Mark Gokavi

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.”

Moore said UD’s Hanley Sustainability Institute - along with other university partners like Facilities Management and others - helps foster sustainability at the school.

“One thing I have realized in my classes is the emphasis the school places on community involvement,” she said, “which will definitely put me ahead in the workplace come graduation.”

Her studies at UD’s sister institution Chaminade University in Hawaii has enabled her to go to environmental talks, give testimony and receive hands-on experience before on-campus learning was disrupted due to the global COVID-19 pandemic in March.

“I took limited credit hours so I could fit in fun as well,” Moore said. “I took general biology, general biology lab, climate change solutions, conservation biology and conservation biology lab … Just like UD, my classes at Chaminade took me out into the surrounding neighborhood and focused on the core values of the Marianists, common good and giving back to the community.”

The Sustainability Program major was introduced during her sophomore year, so she didn’t enter UD with that in mind. But Moore said any high school students contemplating sustainability should consider the University of Dayton. She was in the Flyer Promise Scholars Program while at Miamisburg High School.

“The classes at UD are challenging, but you can actually see visual differences in the work you're doing and feel better about the world,” Moore said. “As people with an interest in sustainability, we often care deeply about the world and feel the pain when a law isn't passed or when a species becomes extinct.

“The work I do at the University of Dayton relieves some of that worry and makes me hopeful for the world. There are people out there that can make a change, and I am fully confident that I am one of those people because of UD.”

Moore said the watershed concentration should open a broad range of career opportunities and she hasn’t zoned in on one profession.

“Having an education at UD makes me feel infinitely better and hopeful knowing I now have the ability to make a real impact on the world,” she said. “And that makes all the work so much easier.”

For more sustainability news and information, visit HSI’s news blog, the Hanley Sustainability Institute website and the Sustainability Program website.