Three Pitt Professors Selected as 2020-21 MCSI Leonard Peters Faculty Fellows

PITTSBURGH (Sept. 3, 2020) — The University of Pittsburgh’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) announced three new Leonard Peters Faculty Fellows in Sustainability. The Fellowships provide opportunities for Pitt faculty members focused on sustainability to contribute to strategic MCSI goals, including their mission of interdisciplinary excellence in sustainability research and education.

The 2020-21 Leonard Peters Faculty Fellows are Michael Blackhurst, co-director of the Urban & Regional Analysis Program; Tony Kerzmann, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science; and Danielle Andrews-Brown, lecturer and coordinator of the Environmental Studies Program in the Department of Geology and Environmental Science.

The Fellowship recognizes the late Leonard “Len” Peters (BSChE ’62, MSChE ’69, PhD ’71), a distinguished alumnus of Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering and a founding and long-time member of MCSI’s external advisory board. Peters’ notable career included academic positions at the University of Kentucky and Virginia Tech, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Cabinet Secretary for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet.

About Michael Blackhurst
Michael Blackhurst is a research scientist and professional engineer at the Center for Social and Urban Research at Pitt. Co-director of the Urban & Regional Analysis Program, he oversees research in the energy, water and climate sectors. His current work involves energy and water efficiency, renewable energy, regional climate change mitigation and adaptation, regional water resource planning, and urban stormwater management. As part of his Fellowship, Blackhurst will be co-teaching the course “Current Issues in Sustainability” and will assist with the Sustainability Capstone Course project recruitment and mentoring.

About Tony Kerzmann
Tony Kerzmann is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science. Kerzmann’s research focuses on the energy sector, leading projects relating to energy and sustainability, including solar energy. As part of his Fellowship, Kerzmann will help to co-teach the “Current Issues in Sustainability” and the “Sustainability Capstone Courses.”

About Danielle Andrews-Brown
Danielle Andrews-Brown is assistant dean of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the Environmental Studies program coordinator in the Department of Geology and Environmental Science. She has conducted lab and field scale research as it pertains to water and soil quality for over 14 years, focusing on carbon, nitrogen and emerging contaminants like estrogens and antibiotics. Her research interests also include formal and informal science education. As part of her Fellowship, Andrews-Brown will help to implement a focus on sustainability in the curriculum.