Nominate Student Sustainability Leaders
This University-wide prize acknowledges graduating seniors who have gone above and beyond in their commitment to sustainability at BU, including any or all of the following:
- Service to the BU community
- Service to the community beyond BU
- Building awareness of sustainability on campus
- Executing an exemplary project with a lasting impact
- Leadership in sustainability-related student organization(s)
- Involvement at the institutional level to affect change
Award Committee
The Student Sustainability Leadership Award Selection Committee is made up of five individuals including representation from the Office of the Dean of Students, faculty, BU Sustainability, and BU staff.
2023 Recipients
Amir Wilson
Amir is a creative, energetic, and action-oriented sustainability leader at Boston University. His involvement in sustainability on campus and in Boston makes him a student who brings climate action to life in the real world.
- He has been a part of multiple research teams through the Sustainability Innovation Seed Grant and the Campus Climate Lab, advancing knowledge in support of BU’s Climate Action Plan.
- Amir and others developed a climate-friendly icon for BU Dining Services, informing the community of menu items’ carbon intensity.
- He worked with another group of peers to investigate the feasibility of rain gardens as resilient infrastructure, discovering that the University could divert two million gallons of runoff annually.
- He led a project documenting old gas lamps in Boston’s historic neighborhoods and developed an integrated map tracking potential natural gas leaks that threaten local air quality and urban tree growth. He presented this information to Mothers Out Front, who used Amir’s research to petition the City to change from gas to LED lamps.
Amir is a leader in our student community through the Earth House living-learning community, the BU Zen Mindfulness Community, and as a Resident Assistant. His action-oriented and energetic spirit personifies what it means to be a Sustainability Leader.
Eden Floyd
Eden is deeply passionate about sustainability and wants to share that passion by fostering a community that works towards a just and sustainable future.
- Eden has been an active member of the Environmental Student Organization, serving as its Secretary and President. Through this work, she collaborated with Student Government’s Department of Environmental Affairs to implement and pilot the first sustainable laundry soap refill station on campus.
- Eden and a group of fellow students developed a climate-friendly icon for BU Dining Services, informing the community of menu items’ carbon intensity.
- She also developed a database of sustainability resources for BU students, furthering awareness of sustainable living on campus.
- Eden has also worked toward her passion outside BU, interning for organizations such as Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Climable, and startup Jellyfish. She conducted research on transportation policies and public knowledge of electric vehicles, developed a high school-level curriculum on renewable energy and energy efficiency, and developed a food products database for an app that scores groceries based on emissions and nutrition.
Eden is a Sustainability Leader because she is not simply acting by herself; she creates a welcoming space for her peers to join her in crucial change-making. It is this dedication to community that will bring us closer to a sustainable future.
Joy Pereira
After traveling to Copenhagen, a global superpower in sustainable development, Joy was fueled to instill passion, hope, and confidence into every member of the student body. Joy set personal goals: generate awareness, acknowledge inaction, and open the door for her fellow students.
- In her Leadership Challenge class, she and teammates developed “Stop the Clock BU,” a reminder of how much work is yet to be done to protect our future. The team received funding from the Sustainability Innovation Seed Grant and worked with BU Arts Initiative to display the clock.
- Seeing the need for a safe space for students to express worries on the climate crisis, Joy also founded Climate Cafés. These events meet an important social-emotional need, providing a forum to get more students involved in the climate movement.
- Joy’s involvement as the ESO Social Media Director and BU Closet President are platforms where she shared information such as the dangers of fast fashion.
- As a BU Sustainability intern, she fostered long-term connections between environmental and identity clubs, and others beyond BU.
With a topic as difficult as climate change, it takes a special person to bring different constituencies together to take action. Joy looks for opportunities to make a difference, seizes upon them, and inspires others to help her achieve tangible goals. That is why Joy is a Sustainability Leader.