Earthwise Winners Announced

The Sustainability Office presented Earthwise awards to a student, staff member and faculty member who have promoted sustainable practices on campus.

Ariel Fugate, Jude Davis and Dr. Francis de los Reyes each received a recycled glass plaque, $200 in cash and a pair of tickets to a football game.

Fugate, a sophomore in fisheries and wildlife science, manages the campus farmers market and serves as an intern for Waste Reduction and Recycling. She initiated student farm visits to the producers who participate in the campus farmers market and started documentary-style farm profiles to educate others. She is doing research for a sustainable food assessment of the university, understanding the challenges of getting local foods in the campus cafeteria and composting food wastes. Fugate is an honors student and Caldwell Fellow.

Davis, information and news services coordinator for the Office of Information Technology, was recognized for promoting green technology. Davis serves as the primary liaison between OIT and campus sustainability. She wrote a white paper on the ways OIT is working to assist NC State’s efforts to be a leader in environmental sustainability. She led efforts to get OIT involved with Campus Environmental Sustainability and worked to make sure IT is appropriately considered in the campus Climate Action Plan.

De los Reyes, associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, organized a campus group of TED, a nonprofit organization that supports those with world-changing ideas.  He was also named a TED India Fellow, a highly competitive honor. His water resources and environmental engineering research focuses on finding sustainable solutions. His current research projects include the analysis of the microbial processes in industrial and domestic wastewater treatment systems, landfills and groundwater remediation sites.