UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Students in Assistant Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering Nelson Dzade’s "EGEE 437: Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems" class worked with Greenwood Furnace State Park this spring semester as part of a Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC) project in partnership with Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' (DCNR) Think Outside Program. The student team, consisting of Kieran Cox, Bernando Elizondo, Yuxiang Zhang, Leighton Eddy and Kayla Sucro, presented the results of their work to DCNR leadership on April 23 and will also share at the Campus and Community Sustainability Expo on April 30 at the Palmer Museum of Art.
“It is such an incredible joy and pleasure for me and the students who take my solar design course to partner with the SCC, designing solar projects that meet specific needs of community partners, considering their energy demands, preferences, and unique project requirements,” said Dzade, who is also the undergraduate program chair of energy engineering in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. “By adopting a customer-centric approach and working with communities across the commonwealth, these projects help our partners advance their sustainability goals, whether environmental, social or economic. Engaging in community projects helps the students connect their coursework to real-world issues, fosters a deeper understanding of civic engagement, and prepares them for future careers and leadership roles.”
While SCC finds community partners to collaborate with Penn State classes, the Think Outside Program at DCNR seeks Pennsylvania’s universities and colleges to take advantage of the 124 state parks and 2.2 million acres of state forests for hands-on, place-based education.
“Think Outside is a great partner to Penn State’s SCC program,” said SCC Director Ilona Ballreich. “It provides opportunities to work on a variety of issues and topics across the state, with identified partners who are eager and committed to student learning.”
Established in 2017, Think Outside works with public and private higher education institutions in Pennsylvania. Justin Royer, executive assistant to the DCNR deputy secretary and manager of Think Outside, said that Penn State is highly engaged.
“The facilitation between [Penn State] faculty and students to DCNR's work makes collaboration seamless and productive,” Royer said.
Think Outside has experienced increased popularity since 2021, including more diverse projects, Royer said.
“I think projects have become a bit more sustainability focused, and we have branched out to working with more fields and disciplines, including marketing, business and public health,” Royer said.
Penn State’s SCC collaborations have been ongoing for over a decade and have included marketing analysis, communication strategies, erosion mitigation and energy efficiency, as well as forestry and landscape architecture projects. This semester’s solar design project is the latest in a series of solar design projects in partnership with Pennsylvania state parks in support of DCNR’s carbon neutrality initiative. Student projects have laid the groundwork for exploring solar installations that often bolster critical infrastructure at state parks, such as their sewage treatment facilities. Students examine energy needs and scale solar applications accordingly, often providing different alternatives based on location and park preference.
This year’s project with Greenwood Furnace State Park followed a slightly different approach. It is focused on future work at the park’s Whipple Dam location in Huntingdon County, just 12 miles south of State College. The park’s beach amenities are slated to be renovated, and this project explored possible locations and applications, rather than designing for a given site.
“I appreciate the student knowledge and perspective when it comes to imagining what is possible,” said Mike Dinsmore, manager of Greenwood Furnace State Park, which includes the Whipple Dam location. “I have been focused on the challenges of park management for nearly 20 years, so getting ideas from students who are learning about the cutting edge and are enthusiastic about their field is invaluable.”
This is not Dinsmore’s first experience with SCC partnerships. In 2017, students addressed erosion issues at Whipple Dam, and that yearlong capstone class collaboration was the beginning of an ongoing professional relationship between Dinsmore and a student who worked on the project.
“One former student who landed a great position with an environmental engineering firm has stayed in touch and even consulted with me on a dredging project he was tasked with,” Dinsmore said. “He remembered the dredging project at Whipple Dam and was able to apply lessons learned to his current professional work.”
Members of Dzade’s class will join students representing more than two dozen community partner projects at the biannual Campus and Community Sustainability Expo from 5-7 p.m. on April 30 in the new Palmer Museum of Art. The event showcases semester-long as well as two-semester capstone projects facilitated by the SCC. Students will share their project findings in person at this celebratory poster exposition. Invited guests include Penn State faculty and administrators, and community partners including Richard Vilello, deputy secretary of community affairs and development at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
The cxpo is free and open to the public. For more information contact Ilona Ballreich at ixb20@psu.edu.