Early this December (2025), my team and I found ourselves in the heart of DC, awaiting to present our findings and recommendations for Fayette County to the funders, external stakeholders, and other participants of the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI). The Annual ACRI Conference, hosted by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and East Tennessee State…
Category: Experiential
Grappling with Anxiety, Fear, and Pride: ACRI, Connellsville Presentation
The Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative presentation in Connellsville this past November (2025) served as a vessel for many firsts for me, and presumably for some of my colleagues. Until now, I’ve never had the opportunity or privilege to stand before a room full of relevant stakeholders and present to them findings and recommendations pertaining to…
Classroom to Conference: Takeaways from the ACRI Research Forum
This past weekend, December 4th to December 6th, the sustainability, business and urban studies/political science cohorts represented the University of Pittsburgh and Frederick Honors College at the 2025 Appalachian Regional Commission Initiative Research Forum in Washington D.C. We started our trip on Thursday, December 4th, in which we focused on finalizing our presentation. Although we…
Representing Fayette County in Washington, D.C.
After months of community-engaged work in Fayette County, Pitt’s team took off for the 25th-annual Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative conference last Friday, December 4th. From the beginning of the semester, I had highly anticipated this portion of the project, and it did not disappoint. Pitt was the second of 13 schools from all across Appalachia…
Returning to Connellsville
On November 14th, approximately one month after Pitt’s Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative team visited Fayette County for the first time this semester, the big day came: it was time to present our deliverables to our stakeholders in Fayette County. Where the Sustainability, Business, and Urban Studies-Political Science groups had previously been working independently and with…
Presenting for the 25th Annual ACRI
On the morning of December 4th, we embarked on our flight to Washington D.C. to attend the 25th annual Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI). The following morning, we would present our finalized research project to a very different audience than the one in Connellsville. The audience consisted of over a hundred students and staff from…
Connellsville Presentation Day
On November 14th, we returned to Connellsville to present our research to the Fayette County Cultural Trust and community stakeholders. Our presentation, titled Building a Stronger Future: Economic Growth in Fayette County, highlighted our collective vision for Connellsville: “Embrace economic development while staying rooted in tradition.” Overall, the experience went well. It was a unique…
Fayette County: First Impressions
At the beginning of October, I had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Fayette County with Pitt’s Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI) cohort. Alongside my urban studies-political science group were teams from the business and sustainability departments, and it was great to spend time collaborating on and refining both our respective projects and overarching…
From Fayette County to Washington D.C.
Going to the Washington D.C. conference hosted by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to present our project alongside thirteen other schools from across Appalachia was a remarkable experience, both personally and academically. The event brought together students united by a shared commitment to improving the economic and social well-being of the Appalachian region. For me,…
From Presentation to Partnership: ACRI’s Connellsville Presentation
Although I was unable to return to the Canteen in Connellsville for our November 14th presentation, the sustainability team –Iris, Owen and Eliziabeth – thoroughly debriefed me on the experience. Their recap helped me clearly understand the flow of the session and gave our entire team a stronger sense of what to expect as we…