Sustainability is fundamentally an intersectional endeavor that requires the participation of all stakeholders. It also cannot be done by one person; I want to acknowledge some of the people who have helped me get to where I am:

I wish to acknowledge and honor the Indigenous communities native to my birth state, Indiana, and recognize my childhood was formed on Indigenous homelands and resources. I specifically wish to recognize the myaamiaki (Miami), Lënape (Delaware), Bodwéwadmik (Potawatomi), and saawanwa (Shawnee) people as past, present, and future caretakers of the land I spent the first 22 years of my life on.

(Adapted from the Land Acknowledgement suggested by Indiana University - Bloomington’s First Nations Educational & Cultural Center as of 11/25/2024. The IUB FNECC also provides the “Indigenize Indiana” logo, which can be found below. Additional thanks to the FNECC for inviting me in and welcoming me, even though I do not claim any Indigenous heritage, and allowing me space to learn.)

I recognize that Pittsburgh, PA, occupies the ancestral land of the Seneca, Adena culture, Hopewell culture, and Monongahela peoples, who were later joined by refugees of other tribes (including the Delaware, Shawnee, Mingo, and Haudenosaunee), who were all forced off their homelands and displaced by European colonists. I wish to honor the original caretakers of this region and uplift their historic, unique, and enduring relationship with this land, which is their ancestral territory.  I pay my respects to their Elders and their past, present, and future people, community, and culture.  While I cannot change the past, I do commit to continued gratitude for the gifts of nature, along with ongoing respect, care, and stewardship of the land, each other, and future generations.  I am committed to learning and supporting indigenous communities in the region today and in the future.

(Adapted from the university of Pittsburgh, PittSustainability land acknowledgement as of 11/25/2024.)

• Shahzeen Attari

• Lisa Sideris (now at UCSB)

• Bruce Smail

• Olga Kalentzidou

• Jon Eldon

• Sarah K. Mincey

• Dr. Natasha MacBean

• Ishan Ashutosh

• Annie Shattuck

• Yuri Kim

• Kerry Krutilla

• Sarah Osterhoudt

• Danni Schaust

• Mary Whitney

• Iris Grossmann

• Nadine Lehrer

• Scott Kalafatis (now of University of Washington - Seattle)

• Maurice Abney

• Alyson Fearon, MBA

• Elinor & Vincent Ostrom

• Andy Merrifield

• Robin Wall Kimmerer

• bell hooks

• Terry Tempest Williams

• Sue Crawford

• Thomas Crowley

• Sir Roger Casement

• My late dog, Joshy (2007-2022)

• My father, Jeffrey Scott Rainbolt (1965-2002)

• Emma Leonard

• Kristen Lucas

• Michael Tikili

• Rex, my friend who gave me 36 Hershey bars to aid me in completing my masters thesis. They were all ate within a month.

• Luke Susko and Mark Fike

• Bugsy (Kristen’s cat)

• Felix (my cockateil)

• Lettuce, Rice, & Banana (my pet cockroaches)

• And many others!