PIEER

Panther Initiative for Environmental Equity and Resilience (PIEER)

PIEER creates a partnership between UNI students, sustainability faculty, and the Recycling Reuse Technology Transfer Center (RRTTC) to deliver educational and engagement projects in the areas of environmental equity issues (justice and diversity) and environmental resiliency (sustainability). Current interns include Wynton Karanja, Zahra Al khidhr, Fatimah Al khidhr, Ali Al Qismah, Jassim Alkhudhar, Tyler Dursky, and Juan Hernandez.;

PIEER will work with schools, UNI centers, and community organizations to provide educational awareness activities that can bring about new insights and understandings of environmental equity and resilience issues. The overall goal is to increase awareness about issues between rural and urban Iowans that will encourage engaged populations to consider positive changes.

Topics may include lead, radon, arsenic, or other little known environmental hazards in the home or community. PIEER interns are working on their own cultural competency through attending National Coalition Building Workshops and a guided book reading. PIEER will also focus on lack of access to healthier food choices, community gardens, gathering unused seasonal fruits and vegetables for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, and making these changes sustainable to benefit future generations.

To request help with educational programming or suggest an initiative, please contact Zahra Al khidhr at alkhidhz@uni.edu

View Fall 2015 PIEER photos

View Spring 2016 PIEER photos

View Fall 2016 PIEER photos