My name is Ally Doolittle and I am a senior at Pitt studying Environmental Studies and Anthropology, as well as acquiring my Sustainability Certificate. Currently, I am working on bettering the viability of menstrual equity and safe sex resources on campus!
Our project is the second cohort of a 10-year project as a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh’s Fredrick Honors College and the Fayette County Cultural Trust (FCCT). The project is part of the Appalachian Teaching Project, now known as the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative, hosted by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The organization engages with many colleges in the Appalachian region to inspire research for economic development. An interdisciplinary group of Pitt students spent the semester researching communities in Fayette county, specifically in the towns of Connellsville and Uniontown. This project is incredibly important as we are bringing attention to development ideas and economic problems introduced directly from the townspeople. We facilitated interviews with locals, business leaders, and government representatives, to build relationships in the community as well as further understand economic perspectives from individuals residing or working in town. Using this research, we made maps, celebration proposals, and grant proposals as recommendations for our stakeholders and community.
I am extremely passionate about equity, specifically pertaining to resources for lower income communities. On campus, I have spent my student career attempting to increase wellness resources for students on campus and I orchestrated many distribution projects with the Pitt Pantry. When I read the project description for the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative, I knew I wanted to pursue this project and advance my skills pertaining to community engagement and resource development. I hope to be able to continue work alongside the FCCT or the ARC to further understand viability for economic projects in Fayette County, and understand how I can make a better impact for communities I may work with in the future.