Stephanie Phillips ’12 and her team at the deconstruction and circular economy program for the City of San Antonio have diverted more than 500 tons of reusable construction materials from landfills. An alumna of the Interior Design program (now Interior Architecture), Phillips leads policy work to reduce waste, support affordable housing and generate green jobs.
“A lot of what I bring to the world was cultivated at the UW,” Phillips says in a Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) feature. “Sort of like the 1970s, when recycling seemed almost radical… I think a few decades from now we’ll look back and think, ‘I can’t believe we ever struggled to adopt these policies or programs.’ What keeps me going is hope and bold optimism.”
WAA formally recognized Phillips’ positive influence by naming her a 2025 recipient of the Forward Award. It’s no surprise that Phillips earned an award for these important efforts.
As designers, researchers and analysts, School of Human Ecology students and alumni are reimagining what it means to live well and thrive in the world. Taught and encouraged by sustainability-minded faculty, human ecologists are actively at the forefront of change.
Building a sustainable design practice
In one of the many design studios within Nancy Nicholas Hall, students dye and cut fabrics, sew designs and weave at large looms. This hands-on work leads to innovative garments and textiles, but it also fills bins with discarded material scraps. The school’s design ecosystem is small in comparison to fast fashion factories that produce copious amounts of clothing and unused fabrics. Yet, sustainability remains a responsibility for all.
Building a sustainable creative practice is top of mind for Anika Kozlowski, assistant professor of Design Studies. Acting as the Vaughan Sustainability and Innovation Faculty Fellow, she integrates sustainability practices into all of the core Design Studies courses. Circular design — recycling materials that would otherwise be discarded — is at the heart of her teaching.
“Developing a more robust textile recycling program is critical,” Kozlowski says. “I believe that you can’t teach sustainability and not model it within the structure of the program itself.”
One way students practice circular design is by using leftover waste material from a sewing class to create paper pulp.
“It’s an important experience for students to take the waste they’re generating and carry it down the hallway to a different studio to transform it into something new,” says Design Studies Professor Mary Hark, who teaches courses on experimental textile design and sustainable practices. “The whole point is building awareness that every material choice you make as a designer has an impact.”
Researching sustainability literacy
Two human ecologists wanted to know how libraries can support environmental and community well-being. To understand the ways that libraries tell their sustainability stories, Erin Hamilton, assistant professor of Design Studies, and Rachael Shields, PhD in Design Studies student, partnered with five public libraries across the U.S. and Canada that are LEED certified, meaning the buildings use environmentally responsible practices.
“The Human Ecology lens pushes me to think about how human behavior impacts the environment and vice versa,” Shields says. “When considering sustainability, it means not only reducing environmental impact, but also creating spaces [like public libraries] that actively shape awareness, encourage pro-environmental behaviors and foster a culture of sustainability.”
What can make these spaces successful? Their research found features that encourage slowing down and lingering, like water stations and seed exchanges, make people more likely to read nearby signage on sustainability. Colorful kids’ signs with mascots and simple phrasing make sustainability topics easier to understand for both children and adults. The takeaways should be actionable — library patrons want a clear answer to their question: “What can I do?”
Shields presented the research at the annual Environmental Design Research Association Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The professional development opportunity came at a pivotal point in Shields’ time as a doctoral student and was possible because of donors’ support through the Jean Alford Myers Award.
Analyzing personal consumption habits
Everyday, consumers make seemingly small decisions that have a cumulative impact on their carbon footprint. In the Sustainable and Socially Just Consumption course, students analyze their own consumption habits and embark on a six-week behavior change project, learning how they can contribute to a more sustainable world.
Upon completing the course, students are prepared to enter the business sector as future managers and leaders who can influence sustainable outcomes within organizations and communities.
“As a human ecologist, it is important that we consider the environmental costs of our consumption and that we also consider the human impact on a global scale,” says Melissa Bublitz, the Liz Kramer Professor of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Consumer Science department chair and a professor in the Civil Society & Community Studies and Consumer Science departments. “Sustainability goals without examination of the social justice implications of those efforts is incomplete and unjust.”
Nicole Austin ’24, alumna of the Consumer Behavior & Marketplace Studies program and former undergraduate research assistant for the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies, took Bublitz’s course her senior year. What Austin learned reconfigured her outlook and career goals.
“After taking this course, I couldn’t unsee the impact of our purchases on the people responsible upstream for manufacturing them or downstream when we dispose of them,” Austin says. “I even felt the need to educate my friends and family on some of the course learnings to try to shift their behaviors.”
Now in the workforce, Austin is excited to use the skills she learned in the course to advocate for others with empathy and solve human-centered issues.
Human thriving is inextricably linked to the health of the environment. These are only a few examples of how Human Ecology faculty, students and alumni are integrating sustainability work and perspectives into their everyday lives.
The school is committed to creating sustainable solutions and awareness across all departments and majors.
Jean Alford Myers earned her master’s degree in Home Economics in 1947, and her enduring contribution is celebrated on the School of Human Ecology’s 100 Women Wall of Honor. Her generosity through the Jean Alford Myers Award continues to empower graduate students today. This support opens doors to pivotal professional development opportunities, such as sharing research at conferences in their field.