Council members in Oakmont will soon be considering the borough’s first official sustainability plan, a comprehensive proposal aimed at improving efficiency while reducing emissions and cutting costs to local taxpayers. The author of this progressive plan? Graduate student Simon Joseph, who spent his summer interning in the Pittsburgh neighborhood and is studying public administration at Pitt.
“I’ve always loved Pittsburgh,” Joseph explained while sharing about his experience. “I thought that if I could mesh my interests in both local administration and environmentalism, I could create a more sustainable and equitable Pittsburgh.”
“He came highly recommended, and I knew of his work,” Oakmont’s Assistant Borough Manager Phyllis Anderson said in an article published about the plan by Pittsburgh's TribLIVE. “If he was just a grad student looking for a project, I wouldn’t have assigned him this. He was the perfect person for the position.”
Indeed, Joseph brought significant experience in the fields of sustainability and local government with him to this role. A 2022 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in environmental studies, Simon completed internships with both the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania throughout his college experience. He also worked for the local recycling nonprofit PA Resource Council prior to beginning his graduate studies, something he drew upon directly this summer.
“At the PA Resource Council I coordinated with many municipalities in Allegheny County, including Oakmont, to introduce glass drop-off recycling,” he said. “Creating the sustainability plan this year was a lot like introducing glass recycling but scaled up to include changes to borough operations. I set out to create a plan that would save residents and the borough money, promote public health and wellbeing, and ensure the borough’s resilience long-term. This internship was a culmination of all the coursework and work experience I’ve had up to this point.”
In Oakmont, Joseph collected data from the borough to identify areas of weakness in current systems and spent time in the community speaking with residents and seeing issues first-hand. He found the effects of strong weather conditions, including excessive heat, stormwater, and windstorms, to be a significant draw on the borough’s resources, and determined that the energy needs of the local wastewater treatment plant and municipal resident transportation programs were the largest consumers of energy. The final report includes a list of potential actions that could be taken over the next decade to reduce costs and emissions and emphasizes three main benefits: public health and well-being, cost-saving and efficiency, and community resilience.
“Most of (the potential actions) include solar (power) on borough property, fleet electrification, increased stormwater (management), which we’re already working on, and resilient stormwater infrastructure,” Joseph said in speaking with the Trib.
While many of the suggestions in his report are new, he acknowledged the work the borough is already doing to move toward a more sustainable future. Borough officials recently added electric vehicle charging stations throughout the community, and goats have been brought in for foliage maintenance along the Allegheny Riverbank.
As council members prepare for a vote on the final plan later this month, Simon is excited to return second year of graduate studies with a deeper appreciation for community-engaged work in the Pittsburgh region.
“There are several resident-led committees committed to making Oakmont the best it can be, and I was inspired by how many residents are engaged in local government in the borough. It’s incredibly important to understand the community and people that you are working for and with, and I think my time with the Oakmont Borough and its staff was a perfect example of that.”
Graduate students can study public administration with concentrations in energy and environment, public and nonprofit management, and social policy, among others. More information about the program can be found here.