Assistant professor of environmental studies Andrew Stuhl has teamed up with students Megan Martzolff ’19 and Reed Leong ’19 to help the Buffalo Valley Recreation Authority fund the installation of solar panels in three locations around the Lewisburg Borough to benefit the Lewisburg Community Pool.

Leong and Martzolff, both environmental studies majors, became involved in the project after taking Stuhl’s course, Environmental Problems – Sustainable Futures, last semester. This summer, Stuhl, Leong, and Martzolff held series of community meetings to inform residents about the project, which they named “Greening Lewisburg.”

Throughout the summer, Leong and Martzolff helped the borough apply for a grant from the Pennsylvania Department and Conservation and Natural Resources to provide funding for the purchase and installation of solar panels. The students also helped analyze the costs and benefits of the project.

The solar panels would generate electricity for the Lewisburg Community Pool, reducing the pool’s electric bill by a considerable amount. The team estimated that the solar panels could generate approximately $3,400 of power annually.

Stuhl was able to initiate the project with funding from a Fulbright Canada RBC Eco-Leadership grant, which is offered to current and past recipients of a Fulbright fellowship in order to assist them in local environmental action projects. Stuhl was able to apply for this grant following his 2016 research in Ottawa as a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair.