Pitzer News

Alumni Achievements

Pitzer Alum Selected as a 2025–26 Obama Foundation Leader

The Obama Foundation recognizes Pitzer alum Kepa Barrett ’17 for his role as a caretaker of youth, the environment, and Hawaiian culture.

News Topics

• Alumni
• Sustainability
• Climate & Environment

The Participant Magazine

A Green Thumbs-Up

Pitzer's student garden serves as a home for sustainability — both on Earth Day and after it

News Topics

• The Participant Fall 2025 Issue
• Around the Mounds
• Sustainability

Organization

• Communications

Research

The Future of Farming Comes to SoCal

California Agriculture Deputy Secretary Virginia Jameson Delivers Keynote at Launch of Region’s First Agrivoltaics Installation

News Topics

• Sustainability

Organization

• Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability

College News

Twenty Years in Costa Rica

This year marks a milestone for the Firestone Center, which puts students at the forefront of restoring the Costa Rican forests and the habitats of the animals who call them home

News Topics

• Study Abroad
• Sustainability
• Science

Organization

• Study Abroad and International Programs
• Department of Natural Sciences

In the Media

CBS News Features Robert Redford’s Legacy at Pitzer’s Conservancy

At Pitzer’s Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, CBS News talks to Miriam Hafkin ’28 and Conservancy Director Susan Phillips.

News Topics

• General News
• Sustainability

Organization

• Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability

Student Achievements

Two Pitzer Students Promote Environmental Education With Projects for Peace Award

2025 Projects for Peace awardees Sammy Basa ’25 and Zhané Moledina ’25 are creating a community-led education project to preserve Sibuyan Island, a beacon of biodiversity in the Philippines.

News Topics

• Awards
• Students
• Climate & Environment
• Environmental Analysis
• Organizational Studies
• Political Studies
• Sustainability

Organization

• Office of Fellowships

Alumni Achievements

How to Become a Giant Panda Specialist

Pitzer alum Jana Biedenweg ’20 oversees the welfare of the first giant pandas to come to the U.S. in two decades, putting her passion for biology and wildlife conservation into practice.

News Topics

• Alumni
• Biology
• Sustainability
• Science

Events

Talk Highlights Unsettling Connections Between Toxic Waste and Food

For the fall lecture series “Talking Trash,” Pitzer’s Munroe Center for Social Inquiry invites Adam M. Romero to discuss how industrial waste affects agriculture.

News Topics

• Sustainability
• Events

Organization

• Munroe Center for Social Inquiry (MCSI)

Student Achievements

Michelle Muturi ’23 Wins 2023 Napier Award to Improve the Experiences of Kenyan Schoolchildren

Alum's idea for recycling discarded plastic to create eco-bricks has been awarded a 2023 Napier Initiative Award

News Topics

• Students
• Awards
• Sustainability

Student Achievements

Pitzer Students Preserve a Rare Ecosystem on Campus

Two students collaborate with the California Botanic Garden and Pitzer’s Robert Redford Conservancy to preserve the Outback’s rare ecological habitat

News Topics

• Climate & Environment
• Sustainability

Organization

• Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability