The Graduate Student Association (GSA) and the Graduate College welcome the Drexel community to join us for our next Scholars Share: Conversations on Graduate Student Research to hear from current graduate students about their research endeavors and a faculty moderator who will facilitate questions and discussion from the audience. Lunch is provided to attendees.

Wednesday, February 27, 2019
12:00 - 1:00PM
The URBN Center, Room 120, First Floor
3501 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Watch the Recording [YouTube]

View Event Photos [Flickr]

Featured Speakers:

Nicholas St. Angelo

Masters Program in Design Research
Westphal College of Media Arts & Design

A Creative Solution to the Harms of Plastic Usage

Nicholas is a second-year Masters of Design Research student at Drexel's Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. He has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Design from Arizona State University. During his time at Drexel, Nicholas has been featured in news articles for his thesis work and for a design piece he collaborated on with his advisor, Dee Nicholas. He also recently presented at The Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability in Vancouver, Canada.

Nicholas's presentation will explain how plastic harms the environment and offer a creative approach solving the issue. His research suggests that the increasing amount of plastic waste on earth will by three times worse by 2050 and there will be as much plastic waste in the ocean as fish! Due to political differences regarding this issue, we have yet to find a solution. Nicholas suggests that citizens need to do their individual part to prevent plastic pollution by changing daily habits.

Marie Mastrobattista

Masters Program in Interior Architecture & Design
Westphal College of Media Arts & Design

Convening Sustainable Learning: Examining the Community School Framework as a Mode of Creating Sustainable Learning Environments

Marie is pursuing a dual M.S. in Interior Architecture and Design Research (2020). Marie graduated from Rutgers University New Brunswick in 2014 with a B.A. in Art History and a minor in Entrepreneurship, and in 2018 she passed the exam to become a certified LEED GA. Coming from a professional background in art and museum education, Marie is synthesizing her interests in the visual and decorative arts, interior design, education, and sustainable futures through her research.

Marie will share the early stages of her research on designing sustainable community schools to improve student experience and build community relationships. The National Education Association defines a community school as a center of the community that brings together academics, health and social services, youth and community development and community engagement in one built environment, leading to improved learning, stronger families, and healthier communities (National Education Association, 2017, May). Through an exploration of the models that currently exist for developing community schools and processes of sustainable and green building design, Marie hopes her research will result in a new mode of engagement that architects and designers can utilize when designing and implementing sustainable community schools.

Faculty Moderator:

Diana (Dee) Nicholas, NCIDQ, AIA, NCARB, LEED GA

Assistant Professor & Director, MS Design Research
Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism
Westphal College of Media Arts & Design