Northwestern U to Launch Master’s Degree in Energy & Sustainability
The university will welcome its first class in fall 2020 of the Energy and Sustainability Master of Science degree program. Led by the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern, the program seeks to prepare graduates to navigate the intersection of technology, economics and regulation in the sustainability and energy innovation industries.
California State U San Marcos Adds Campus Grown Food to Pantry
The on-campus garden will be expanded and improved with the help of two grants - one $15,000 and the other a $3,000 - in an effort to produce more food for the Cougar pantry, an initiative to decrease food insecurity among students. The garden also served as an outdoor classroom for courses on food systems and emerging markets, and food justice.
U North Carolina Greensboro Receives $100K for Sustainable Business Education
The university's Bryan School of Business and Economics has been awarded a $100,000 gift from VF Foundation in support of classroom projects and activities that engage Bryan School students in exploring sustainable approaches to business. Research will be supported by offering faculty seed money to begin addressing critical sustainability issues and developing innovative approaches to sustainable business and industry practices. Events, including speakers, panels, and workshops, will serve to connect faculty and students in the Bryan School with the broader business community.
Pennsylvania State U Offers Business Sustainability Strategy Certificate
A new, nine-credit graduate certificate in business sustainability strategy is being offered online by the Penn State World Campus and led by the Penn State Smeal College of Business. Students will take courses in sustainability strategy development, strategy implementation and organizational change, and sustainable supply chain management.
Energy Dept Announces Collegiate Wind Competition Results
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced the first place overall winner as The Pennsylvania State University, while Virginia Tech clinched second and California State Maritime Academy third. The Collegiate Wind Competition aims to prepare college and university students from multiple disciplines to enter the wind energy workforce by providing real-world technology experience. The competition challenges participants with tasks including business plan development, wind plant siting, and wind turbine design, building, and testing.
Pennsylvania State U to Develop Living Lab for Stormwater Infrastructure Research
A proposal to develop a living laboratory for green stormwater infrastructure research, education and innovation on campus was recently funded through the university’s Strategic Plan Seed Grant program. The goal of the proposal is to implement long-term, cost-effective solutions to water quality and quantity. Expanding the current relevant courses at Penn State on stormwater management to include green stormwater infrastructure practices is one of the priorities of this project.
Elizabeth City State U Earns Approval for Sustainability Studies Program
The University of North Carolina System Board of Governors recently approved a Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Studies at Elizabeth City State University, which is planned for a fall 2020 launch, pending review and approval of the university accrediting agency (SACSCOC) and the U.S. Department of Education. The program will provide broad interdisciplinary knowledge and skills that are required to address the inherent collaboration between environmental, human and technological systems that affect sustainability-related problems in the world today.
U Pittsburgh Displays Art Using Nonconventional Materials
A collaborative, new art project between architecture and engineering students seeks to better understand how nonconventional materials – bamboo, cardboard, plywood and recycled plastic bottles – perform in the elements. A plywood bench supported by the cardboard tubes marks the center of the piece and invites passersby to sit and take a look.
Sterling College Adopts Vision Focused on Ecological Crisis
The college's new Strategic Vision 2020-2030 names the forces causing the climate emergency and offers five overarching commitments to advance ecological thinking and action through learning. In order to hold themselves accountable, the board of trustees structure will change into five councils. Progress in fulfilling each of the five commitments
included in the strategic initiative will be assessed by these five newly established councils with membership that is composed of trustees, faculty, staff and students.
Chatham U Launches Community Food Bank Farm
Students at Chatham University’s Falk School of Sustainability and Environment are now growing a variety of crops for local communities in need through a partnership with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s Green Grocer mobile farmers market program.
Udall Foundation Announces 2019 Udall Scholars
The Udall Foundation recently announced that 55 students from 50 colleges and universities have been selected as 2019 Udall Scholars. A 14-member independent review committee selected this year's group of Udall Scholars on the basis of commitment to careers in the environment, Native health care, or Tribal public policy; leadership potential; record of public service; and academic achievement. Thirty-eight scholars intend to pursue careers related to the environment. Each scholarship provides up to $7,000 for the scholar’s junior or senior year.
Pennsylvania State U Initiates Drawdown Scholars Program
Fifty-five undergraduate students from across the U.S. have arrived at Penn State to take part in the first-ever Drawdown Scholars Research Experience for Undergraduates Program. Dubbed Drawdown Scholars, the students will spend eight weeks embedded in research programs across the university, with the aim of investigating positive solutions-oriented paths to take action on climate change. The scholars are paired with faculty mentors and together will model the solutions, investigate their feasibility, and develop an outreach curriculum to educate others.
U Kentucky Releases Interactive Materials Resource Map
A student helped the university's recycling department develop and publish an interactive resource map, which includes all the local thrift, repair and resell stores, as well as all the donation and recycling centers. This map is designed to serve as a one-stop resource for students, faculty, and staff looking to curb their wasteful habits and to do more than just recycle.
EcoCAR Mobility Challenge Announces Winners
The Ohio State University has been named The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge Year One champion. Rounding out the top three are Virginia Tech in second place and the University of Alabama in third place. Ohio State will take home an extra $10,000 to further support the university’s advanced vehicle technology program. EcoCAR is a U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition that challenges 12 North American universities to improve the energy efficiency of a Chevrolet Blazer while balancing factors such as emissions, safety and consumer acceptability.
U Buffalo Offers Sustainability Certificate
Available to all students enrolled in one of the university’s graduate programs, the Advanced Certificate in Sustainability consists of 15 graduate credit hours, addressing the complexity of environment issues from the perspective of the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities.
U Dayton to Launch Bachelor Degrees in Sustainability
The board of trustees recently approved Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in sustainability, which students can start in August 2019. Housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Bachelor of Science degree will have tracks in energy and sustainable watersheds. The Bachelor of Arts degree will have tracks in food studies and urban sustainability.
U Rhode Island Joins Offshore Wind Partnership
The university will soon lead an offshore wind program, bolstered by a $3 million investment by Ørsted and Eversource, the team behind the Revolution Wind project, which is an effort to support offshore wind education and development. The university will partner with other institutions in the state to support workforce development needs, develop educational curricula, and provide a depth of academic and research expertise.
Penn State U Offers Faculty Workshop on Ethics of Climate Change Course
In order to expand the impact of the new Ethics of Climate Change course, the university’s Office for General Education and the Sustainability Institute will offer a two-day training workshop for Penn State faculty interested in bringing the course to their campuses. Participants will have an opportunity to work with the original designers of the course as well as with climate change experts. Participants will receive a small amount of supplemental pay, meals, housing, and individualized guidance that will extend beyond the two-day workshop.
U.S. Solar Decathlon 2019 Announces Winners
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced winners of its Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, comprising 10 contests, in which student teams design highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. Virginia Tech was the grand winner. The primary goals of the competition are to advance building science curricula in university programs across the country and inspire students to continue careers related to cutting edge high-performance building design.
San Bernardino Valley College Receives Clean Energy Training Grant
The San Bernardino Valley College Foundation has been awarded a $50,000 grant from Edison International to benefit students looking to work in the automotive industry, specifically on electric vehicles. The grant will be used to develop a certificate program for clean energy EV technician training.
Georgetown U Names Smithsonian Scientist to Direct Georgetown Environment Initiative
As the new director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative, Peter Marra will help bring together students, faculty and staff across the university's campuses to contribute to Georgetown’s scholarship and outreach regarding the earth’s stewardship. Marra is the Laudato Si’ chair in Biology and the Environment, and professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.
U Minnesota Morris Introduces Minor in Sustainability Leadership
As part of UMN Morris's Sustainability Leaders for the Future program, which prepares students to solve environmental, social and economic challenges, the new minor aims to help students from any major develop the skills they need to grow as sustainability leaders in their personal and professional lives. The plan includes topics and activities in environmental problems and public policy; communication and the environment; political ethics; and indigenous sovereignty and federal policy.
Georgia Tech Launches Master of Sustainable Energy & Environmental Mgmt
Housed in the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy, the program will begin in August 2019. Students in the program will study topics such as sustainable energy and voluntary environmental commitments, cost-benefit analysis, utility regulation and policy, Earth systems, economics of environmental policy, big data and policy analytics, climate policy, and environmental management. They also will learn analytical techniques used to estimate and evaluate sustainability metrics, be able to assess the context of energy and environmental problems, and understand environmental ethics and its implications for sustainability practice.
U Florida Establishes Institute to Study Resilience in Built Environment
The Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience, housed in the university's College of Design, Construction and Planning, will focus on research that helps communities respond to complex environmental challenges by improving the way they plan, design and build the physical environment.
21 HEIs Launch the Public Interest Technology University Network
With the support of the Ford Foundation, New America, and the Hewlett Foundation, 21 colleges and universities recently announced the creation of the Public Interest Technology University Network. The network is a new partnership dedicated to defining and building the field of public interest technology, as well as growing a new generation of civic-minded technologists and digitally fluent policy leaders. Public interest technology is a broadly defined and emerging area of study that combines digital innovation and public policy.
Western Washington U Receives $1M to Support Low-Income Engineering Students
The university's Engineering and Design Department has been awarded a five-year, $1 million National Science Foundation grant to help low-income students in their pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in engineering. Aiming to address challenges in recruiting and retaining academically-talented, low-income students from diverse backgrounds into the undergraduate engineering programs, the Becoming Engaged Engineering Scholars (BEES) program will provide scholarships of up to $10,000 a year to about 48 students over the life of the five-year program.
Michigan Governor Proposes Tuition-Free Community College
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer proposed a tuition-free community college plan that would start in 2021 and include a $2,500 scholarship for eligible students who attend a four-year college. The proposal offers financial aid for students after all other federal aid and grants are applied to a student's tuition bill. Whitmer also proposed a tuition-free program for adults called Michigan Reconnect. The program would allow residents age 25 and older to enroll in the state's two-year institutions, career certificate programs and union apprenticeships for free.
U Wisconsin Madison Approves Health Promotion & Health Equity Degree Program
The university system’s Board of Regents voted recently to approve a new undergraduate degree program, which will train students to practice as health educators. The program is broadly designed to provide students with the skills and perspectives to facilitate healthy practices at the individual and societal levels.
School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Creates Climate Change Curriculum Project
Doctors and staff at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are working to integrate climate and health concepts into existing medical courses through their Climate Change Curriculum Infusion Project. By weaving the material into existing course lectures, rather than having a standalone “climate change module,” they hope to better highlight the interconnectedness of climate and health concepts with current medical school competencies.
SUNY Fredonia Creates Endowment to Promote Diversity Ed
The Collingwood Distinguished Lecture for Diversity was recently established with a $250,000 gift from an anonymous Fredonia graduate. The donation will provide annual support for an honorarium to bring a nationally recognized speaker of diversity to the Fredonia campus each year. The lecture is an effort to promote leadership, education, advocacy and outreach for underrepresented groups or issues in society, and support the integration of diversity, as a whole, into the academic community.
Methodist Theological School Ohio Announces Masters in Social Justice
The new professional master's degree provides a core curriculum drawing from ethics, religion and public leadership. Students engage in a cross-cultural immersion experience and a customizable 280-hour internship. The program aims to help students develop skills and strategies for leading, organizing, educating and collaborating in diverse social, political, religious and educational contexts.
U San Diego Introduces PhD in Education for Social Justice
The School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego will welcome its first cohort of students in fall 2019 for the Education for Social Justice Ph.D. and Ed.S. programs. The online program offers a course of study that allows students to develop research, teaching and advocacy skills by using local, national and international contexts to construct more equitable, tolerant and socially just societies and institutions.
Muhlenberg College Announces Sustainability Studies Major
Beginning in fall 2019, a new sustainability studies major and newly revised minor will offer students an interdisciplinary approach to understanding complex environmental-human challenges and developing solutions to effect real change. Exploring how issues related to sustainability impact, and are addressed at, the local, national and global levels, the program addresses the intersectional nature of environmental and social issues in relation to human difference, power relations and equity.
Grand Valley State U Trustees Approve Environmental & Sustainability Studies Major
During the university’s Feb. 8 board of trustees meeting, trustees approved the creation of an Environmental and Sustainability Studies major, which builds on the structure of the preexisting minor and will go into effect fall 2019. According to the program proposal, the major will be available both as a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science and span 35-37 credits. Students will be able to choose an area of focus such as sustainable food resources or water management.
U St. Thomas to Open Center on Race, Leadership and Social Justice
The center will provide law students the opportunity to leverage legal training to address social justice challenges. Students will interface with lawyers in the community who are fighting for justice and equity to gain in-depth insights related to civil rights, human rights law and advocacy. It will also collaborate with the entire university and share its expertise on racial equity and social justice.
U California Merced Introduces Student Climate Resiliency Program
Students participated in the new Student Leadership Institute for Climate Resilience, a three-day residential program that introduced students to the campus’ carbon neutrality, sustainability, food action and environmental justice communities through activities and tours. Students were instructed on ways scholarship and practice at the UC level address issues of climate and ecological crisis, social equity and regenerative economy.
Ohio State U Announces Creation of Sustainability Institute
At the opening of the Ohio State Community Engagement Conference, the university president announced the Sustainability Institute, which aims to promote the teaching of sustainability; drive research; work with public and private partners to develop sustainable solutions; engage students in learning about sustainability through research and experiences; and help the university in attracting students, talent and resources.
SUNY ESF to Launch Degree in Sustainability Management
The new Bachelor of Science degree program in sustainability management emphasizes environmental dimensions of sustainability and their interdependence with socially and economically viable policies and practices. Enrolling its first students in the fall of 2019, the program is designed for transfer students.
U Pittsburgh Conducts Tree Inventory
The tree inventory of campus trees is underway in an effort to track progress toward the university's goal of increasing the campus tree canopy 50 percent by 2030. The inventory will also provide data for on-campus biological and environmental science research, and inform the design of new landscapes.
Indiana U-Purdue U Indianapolis to Open Inclusion & Social Policy Center
Announced by the university's School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the IU Public Policy Institute, the Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy, or CRISP, will serve as a centralized resource for reliable, nonpartisan data, research and analysis on interrelated issues that make up the elements of social policy.
