Sustainability Staff
Environmental Center Coordinator – Peter Ritson (he/him)
Peter received his doctorate in environmental geochemistry with a focus on how heavy metals enter the San Francisco Bay. He broadened his environmental work to include wildlife biology through field work in the Sierra Nevada, the Bighorn Crags of Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and with projects in Oregon and Washington. Peter has combined his passion for research with science education and community involvement. He has taught middle school through graduate level classes and currently teaches CH100 at PCC. In his classes at PCC students use water quality testing of campus streams as the focus of their laboratory work. Peter states, “I want to work with my community to greater understand the importance of our local environment. I hope to encourage the protection of our natural resources by engaging students in activities that promote this awareness. We can do this if we all work together.”
AmeriCorps Food Systems Outreach Coordinator – Catherine Horwitz (she/her)
Catherine helps manage the Sylvania Learning Garden (based at the Sylvania Environmental Center)
, works on food sovereignty initiatives at PCC, and teaches a cooking workshop called Meals Matter. Catherine is originally from Rhode Island, and spent 4 years at Kenyon College in Ohio earning her B.A. in Philosophy and Legal Studies. Prior to her role at PCC, Catherine served as an AmeriCorps Nutrition Educator at the Clark County Food Bank in Vancouver, Washington. She is passionate about building community through relationships to food, the land, and nature. Catherine loves to spend her free time playing ultimate frisbee, running, cooking, and gardening.