School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences

The goal of this report is to present an overview of the federal workforce and the opportunities that exist for younger generations to be employed by the federal government. We explored what is preventing younger generations from seeking and securing federal employment and shed light on the benefits, value, and opportunities of federal jobs for the younger generation. The report provides a better understanding of how and what policies, for better or worse, influence federal recruitment and hiring processes. We examined the 20-year history and evolution of the federal job portal, USAJOBS, to understand what information is critical to provide an applicant to successfully complete and submit an application for a federal job. We also reviewed the role of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and its responsibility to provide agencies guidance and support in implementing government orders and policies. With research, data, and interview insights, we developed a tangible guide for young job seekers to use to navigate USAJOBS. This guide provides applicable tips gathered from experiences of first-hand users and federal human resources specialists to help prospective applicants decipher federal job announcements and to strategically and completely prepare their applications and resumes to secure federal employment.
Based on these findings, we encourage younger generations, including students and recent graduates, to seek federal jobs not only because ofthe numerous employment benefits, but because of the value and impact younger generations will have in being a federal employee.

This project is an exploration of a K-3 Early Childhood Center and the Roosevelt School District’s progress towards the Farm to School movement and focuses on the transformations and strategic partnerships required to maintain gardens as an educational resource over the long term. Martin Luther King Jr. Early Childhood Center is a Title 1 elementary school in South Mountain Village, Phoenix and is the primary research location for this study. South Mountain Village contains a series of urban food deserts which are low-income regions without adequate access to fresh, affordable, and healthy food options. The baseline for the school garden’s integration status was measured through the usage and adaptation of the Garden Resources Education and Environmental Nexus (GREEN) tool for well-integrated school gardens. The school has existing partnerships with the University of Arizona Co-operative Extension, and Farm at South Mountain to help establish their school garden and organize a series of educational field trips centered around sustainable agricultural practices. As a part of this Culminating Experience, I also worked with the Sustainability Teachers Academy to create, plan and execute Sustainability and School Gardening workshop on March 11-12 for teachers, and members of the Farm to School Network across Arizona. The end goal of this project and workshop is to create a framework to cultivate and sustain critical partnerships for farms and schools interested in being a part of the Farm-to-School program in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.

A city based on tourism, military installations, agriculture, and home to the first landing of Jamestown colonists, Virginia Beach boasts 28 miles of coastline along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Comparable to other beaches worldwide, the utter volume of visitors has taken its toll on the city, resulting in unsightly destruction and pollution. It is not unusual to read or hear about marine animals dying from eating or being trapped by waste that is deposited into oceans, or how oil spills are harmful to marine mammals, birds, and fish; yet somehow, it is uncommon to come upon the mentioning of butt litter, the most frequently littered item on Earth. Cigarette butts are strewn about the Virginia Beach boardwalk, resort strip, and the beach. In 2014, Clean Virginia Waterways collected more than 47,600 butts along streams, rivers, bays, and coastlines (CVW, 2015). With no smoking restrictions on the beach (or boardwalk,) tourists and local beachgoers alike frequently discard their butts on the sand and face no known consequences. Small but mighty, both smoked and unsmoked butts have severe impacts on waterways, economies, air quality, and public health. An economic analysis found that cities the size of San Francisco spend, on average, between $500,000 and $6 million annually to keep their beaches, streets, and parks clear of cigarette litter (Schneider et al., 2011).

This paper examines strategies to:
1. Drastically reduce butt litter within the city - Disposable/pocket ashtrays, additional butt/ash receptacles. 2. Increase community awareness on the economic impacts of litter - Organized cleanups, advertisements /marketing, partnerships with local NGOs.
3. Enhance citations and alternative penalties for those who discard their butts on the sand.
Additionally, this paper aims to discuss the potential implementation of a beach-wide smoking ban.