Morgan Block, MSUS '19 is revitalizing Pittsburgh housing through sustainability
It’s commonly accepted that coursework leads to skills, and that internships can lead to jobs, but in the case of Morgan Block, Master of Sustainability (MSUS) ’19, those connections are especially clear. But let’s start with where it got him.
Current role
As sustainability project manager at the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, Block works on a minimum of six projects concurrently in a week. “I’m also thinking of new projects and seeing what we can implement next,” he says. “I’m always busy—I’m certainly never bored—and I appreciate that.”
Block was hired as a modernization project manager, and “still wears that hat sometimes,” he says. “But my projects all involve examining what we’re currently doing for sustainability and how we can impact it better, as well as looking at sustainable projects through design.” As examples of projects, Block cites the upgrading of doors in a building to achieve better energy efficiency, and examining a solar panel on a day-to-day basis to monitor expected versus actual output.“
My position is new. It’s open; I can examine and understand where there is low-hanging fruit in terms of projects that we could take on that would be high-impact financially, socially, and environmentally.”
Coming to Chatham
The social aspect has particular resonance for Block—in fact, it was Chatham’s commitment to social equity that drew him to the program. “I came to Chatham because I was working in environmental education and looking for that equity piece. I attended a graduate school fair that sold me on the program’s commitment to the social equity piece, combined with the notion of Eden Hall Campus (EHC),” he says.
“EHC seemed like an oasis away from the city, a place to understand more about sustainability head on.”
The MSUS program “definitely put me on a path through pure sustainability knowledge,” says Block. “At Chatham, I worked for the K-12 program as a climate educator, and that really helped me understand communicating about sustainability. If I could communicate it to kids, I could communicate it to anyone.”
“Chatham put me in a position where I experienced a rigorous program that pushed me to write concisely and effectively, and to communicate with others on a daily basis, and understand what to implement and when to implement it.”
Coursework at the Falk School
Through coursework, Block says he was able to “look at neighborhood decline and community revitalization, all ideas I wouldn’t be able to formulate had I not gone to Chatham. My professors really pushed that economic, equitable and environmental piece I was interested in learning more about. My Leadership Transitioning for Sustainability course helped me understand from a philosophical and practical standpoint how to transition an organization in a sustainable way. And in my Sustainable Cities course, we learned about what other cities were doing in terms of sustainability, both in the U.S. and across the globe. That really helped with idea formation and creation, and it was good to know that I don’t have to recreate the wheel.”
Internships and thesis
Block completed his internship with Operation Better Block, a community development corporation in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. “That internship allowed me to walk the community and conduct property surveys, and helped to foster my thesis and my notion that I was highly interested in affordable housing. That led me to applying to jobs at the Housing Authority at the City of Pittsburgh.”
Through his master’s thesis, “Reversing Neighborhood Decline: Examining Community Perspectives in Homewood, Pittsburgh”, Block examined community perspectives by interviewing business, nonprofit, and NGO community leaders to understand more about revitalization without displacement, housing, economics, and job creation. “That pushed me further down the path to understand more about the current state in Pittsburgh,” he notes.
Block also completed a summer internship with a green building consulting firm. “I was examining different green building rating systems and working on lots of consulting projects; that was really helpful in terms of understanding green buildings and current technologies and how those are implemented to achieve significant reductions in energy, water, and electricity,” he says.
“I’m really excited about just being able to go home every day and go to sleep at night knowing that I’m having a positive impact on the city,” Block says. “I’m excited about meeting people and engaging with Pittsburgh residents and different departments within the City. And the satisfaction of completing a project is exciting and feels very positive.”