Environmental and Social Sustainability Grant Applications OPEN

March 17, 2025

Are you a UConn student with an idea that can push environmental and social sustainability forward at UConn and in Connecticut? Then apply for our Environmental and Social Sustainability Small Grants!

Projects must advance strategic sustainability goal areas AND related social challenges.

Deadline is April 7, 2025 at 11:59pm.

Winners will be selected by May 1, 2025.

Grant amounts may be up to $10k.

All projects must have a faculty or staff member acting as a mentor, and must have the ability to accept funds on behalf of your project.

Projects must be completed by the end of December 2025.

For all the details, deadlines and materials visit the grant info page.

Environmental and social sustainability grants logo

Don’t Mess With Mansfield – Community Cleanup Day April 27, 2025

February 28, 2025

Apr 2025 Don't Mess With Mansfield community clean up day weekend of april 26-27

 

The Town of Mansfield and UConn are pleased to team up against litter in our town. Join in to meet others in the Mansfield community and do good for our people and planet.

 

UConn & Vicinity Town Wide
Date & Time: Sunday, April 27

Cleanup Check In Stations will be open Noon to 4pm

Saturday, April 26

Check In Time TBD

Where: Volunteer to clean up in the core of campus, Hunting Lodge Rd, Separatist Rd, Hillyndale Rd, North Eagleville Rd, or Eastwood/Westwood Rds.

Check In station location map will be shared soon.

Litter pickup supplies will be provided at check in stations.

Anywhere you feel safe collecting roadside litter in your neighborhood. Roads that are especially littered include Pleasant Valley, Mansfield City, White Oak and Gurleyville. Consider making a commitment to pick up litter on a section of road throughout the year by joining Adopt A Road.
What To Do With Full Trash/Recycling Bags: Bring your litter bag to your Check In station once you are finished. UConn Facilities trucks will be making rounds to pick up bags from the stations. Bags of litter may be placed out with household trash for those with collection service or taken to the Mansfield Transfer Station for no charge. The Transfer Station is located on Rte 89, one mile from the intersection of Routes 195 and 89 in Mansfield Center at 221 Warrenville Rd. The Transfer Station is open Tuesdays, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, Thursdays, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm and Saturdays, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.

 

Litter is an unsightly blight on our roadways, and hurts the environment. It can be especially dangerous for wildlife. Small animals may crawl into bottles and get stuck, and litter can blow into storm drains and streams and may eventually make its way to the ocean. When litter gets eaten by animals and sea life, they can starve to death or suffocate. Litter also attracts pests. Be part of the solution, not the pollution!

 

 

UConn Office of Sustainability        UConn Center for Fraternity and Sorority Development logo    mansfield CT logo

Office of Sustainability Internship – Apply Now for Fall ’25

February 27, 2025

Undergraduate students work as interns at the Office of Sustainability to provide leadership, collaboration and advocacy for sustainability at UConn. The 10 hour per week positions help enact the Office’s critical university programs. Interns host campus sustainability engagement events, carry out UConn’s strategic sustainability plans, and research best environmental practices to improve sustainability at UConn.

If you have an interest in sustainability, want great career experience and excellent mentoring, apply to join our team of ~12 interns this fall.

Submit a letter expressing your interest in the position, your resume and an application via JobX.

Applications are due by 11:59pm on April 23. No late applications will be accepted.

For more details visit: https://sustainability.uconn.edu/experiential-learning/os-internship-opportunities/sustainability-interns/ 

Apply to UConn@COP – Applications for 2025 are OPEN!

February 26, 2025

Picture of Brazil and UConn students at COP

Applications for the UConn@COP Fellowship Program are now OPEN! Attend the United Nations’ global climate negotiations – the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Belém, Brazil from November 15-22, 2025.

COP brings together diplomats, business executives, heads of government, university leaders, environmental activists, NGO’s and other delegates to discuss progress in dealing with climate change. Through this program, UConn students have participated on panels at international press conferences, networked with global NGO’s, environmentally-minded businesses & renewable energy companies, engaged in immersive art exhibitions, attended film screenings put on by the directors themselves, interacted with international delegates & core members of environmental justice movements, and connected with like-minded, passionate students at other colleges & universities in the U.S. and around the world.

The UConn@COP program funds nearly all travel and registration costs thanks to generous donors. Fellows are responsible for $250, but can request a waiver in the event of hardship.

Apply by April 23, 2025 at 11:59pm. No late applications are accepted.

You Complete: COP Application Form 

The application asks for student leadership experience, academic information and a short answer to:

In what way(s) do you see yourself contributing to UConn@COP’s efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the program and more generally addressing Environmental Justice. (250 words or less)

You’ll also attach:

  1. A one-page PDF of your current resume
  2. A photocopy of your passport (or copy of your passport application confirmation receipt)
  3. One approximately 700-word essay responding to the following prompts:
    • Describe what relevant academic, leadership, and personal experiences make you an ideal candidate for the UConn@COP30 Fellowship Program.
    • If selected, how will you share your experiences from UConn@COP30 with the UConn community? (your plans for outreach should be both aspirational and achievable)
    • How will the components of the conference and Fellowship program overall benefit your future career?

Your References Complete: In order to be considered for the UConn@COP program, you need two references (one must be from a UConn Faculty Member) to fill out the recommendation form linked below. Please share this link with your references and have them complete it by the application deadline, Wednesday April 23 at 11:59 PM. UConn@COP Reference Form

Selected Fellows are notified by August 1st.

If you have an interest in climate action, apply! Details on the program and application information can be found HERE.

Green Careers: Engage & Explore – Upcoming Event

February 11, 2025

On Tuesday, February 25th, from 3 to 7 pm in the McHugh lobby/room 102, join the Office of Sustainability and the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills for the Green Careers: Engage & Explore (GCEE) event!

As an international leader in sustainability, UConn takes pride in pursuing excellence in environmental performance and consistently strives to be a center of learning for the next generation of environmental leaders. The GCEE event is an opportunity for students to see how their interests align with sustainability and environmental career paths. The event will kick off with an engagement fair featuring both employers with green career opportunities and student organizations – it is a chance for you as a student to speak with fellow passionate students and learn more about how you can get involved on campus, as well as learn about career opportunities in general, from various incredible companies in different career fields! (Note: resumes are not expected, nor will they be accepted.)

Following the engagement fair, an insightful discussion on the many green careers will be held during two, 45-minute panel events, along with an opportunity to network with our panelists. Past panelists have ranged from Pratt & Whitney engineers to leaders on the environmental justice front. Stay tuned for more information about the panelists!

Get ready for some career exploration and information through the Green Careers: Engage and Explore event on the 25th! Pre-registration is appreciated but not required: RSVP here!

 

Schedule:

Engagement Fair: 3-5pm, McHugh Lobby

Industry Panel: 5-5:45pm, McHugh 102

Networking Break (with pizza!): 5:45-6:15pm, McHugh Lobby

Alumni Panel: 6:15-7pm

 

Students of all majors are encouraged to attend. Green careers are not limited to environmental majors! We want to show you how so many majors can be related to a green career.

Why? The Earth is facing an imminent crisis: climate change. We will need all hands on deck to make progress in our goals as a global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save our planet. We at the OS want to show YOU, all the students here at UConn, that ‘green’ does not have to mean strictly environmental science. Our panelists include engineers, businesspeople, and more – sustainability initiatives can be incorporated into any job! There is a place for all of you in the fight for sustainability and environmental justice; you all have a role to play, big or small.

Nominations Open – UConn Environmental Leadership Awards

February 5, 2025

Environmental Leadership Awards: 2023 to 2024

The UConn Office of Sustainability is requesting nominations for Environmental Leadership Awards (ELAs).

The ELAs are a means of recognizing individuals or groups who have worked alone or as part of organizations to support sustainability efforts at UConn or beyond. Nominations can be submitted by faculty members, staff members, students, or external partners, and are evaluated by a committee appointed by the Office of Sustainability and Institute of the Environment.

The period of activity that forms the basis of nominations must be restricted to 2023 to 2024

Nominations must meet at least one of seven criteria areas:

  1. Performance
  2. Responsible Management and Growth
  3. Outreach
  4. Academics
  5. Conservation
  6. Teamwork
  7. Environmental Justice

More information about these criteria can be found on our ELA webpage.

Recipients of the ELAs are honored at an award ceremony commemorating their achievement on Tuesday, April 22.

Submit A Nomination Form

Deadline: February 28 at 11:59 PM

If you know a champion for the environment, recognize their efforts! Accepting nominations for:

  • Undergrad
  • Grad
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • External Partners
  • UConn groups/teams/organizations

There With You – Colin Rosadino

December 6, 2024

As a law student, I was very excited to witness the bureaucracy of global governance firsthand at the COP. I did not really know what to expect. I have read about these conferences since I was in high school; I have studied the Paris Agreement and researched its impact; and, as a climate activist, I have always been intrigued by the international legal dimensions of the issue. To travel halfway across the world and see everything, in full form, felt incredibly surreal. At no other time in human history have delegates from every country in the world sat around a table and developed universal treaties together. And yet, while this is emblematically the height of global, liberal democracy, the context surrounding it could not have been more disquieting. The United States just elected a President that attempted to violently overthrow the nation’s last election; committed to imprisoning his opponents and killing asylum seekers, calling them animals, thieves, and criminals; and openly vowed to do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry for a billion-dollar bribe. More bombs have been used to kill Palestinians in Gaza than were dropped in Dresden, Hamburg, and London combined during World War II. The war in Ukraine is still being waged. And natural disasters, droughts, heat waves, and famines are destroying communities and taking people’s lives at record levels every successive year.

I knew going in that COP was not the solution to any of that. But it is difficult to see everything progress as normal when these challenges really demand so much more. The most important thing I took away from the conference this year is that a new political alignment is necessary. There is an incredible dissonance you feel walking through the halls of the conference, but for anyone who gets the opportunity to attend a future COP the one thing that you will notice is just how many people are there with you. There are thousands of young people, thousands of experts and activists and scientists. The will and the energy are not lost. The institutions, as they currently exist, might be. COP might be a solution in the future, it might not be. But the impetus for trying that system was important. It still resonates. Millions of people are organized and demanding something different and the conference is just one location where solidarity within that movement can be felt and formed.

When you participate in this program, your role as an active force in history begins. Everything you see that is unjust or too slow or too ineffective or too captured: that is your project. Even if you fear that the institutions tasked with solving a problem are ineffective, it is always important to recognize where power is, how it is being used, and to develop theories to wield it more effectively. One of the most impactful tools of the legal profession is the power to decide what is legitimate and what is not. That can be weaponized, or it can be used earnestly to protect people, but the worst thing we can do is ignore it because it is failing at the latter. COP itself is a legal institution with the power to legitimize a path forward. And everywhere you see unity; people fighting for what is just, in spite of violent opposition; defending one another; and traveling thousands of miles to make their voices heard, that is where you build the resilience to take on those fights. That is how we create a politics for a more impactful, just, and democratic international governance. The will to create that is there and I am so grateful for the experience of attending COP because it gave me the opportunity to bear witness to all of that. More clearly now than ever, I know where I need to put my energy.

Colin Rosadino is a law student at the UConn School of Law.

Climate Justice is Hard, but We Must Fight for It – Sydney Collins

December 4, 2024

Climate justice is a confusing thing. You want to believe it, understand it, see it, and address it. But, it’s honestly confusing, messy, and quite frankly disruptive.

This is my second time having the privilege to attend a COP. My first COP, which was COP27 in Egypt, was my first real unraveling of climate justice. I always believed myself to be someone that cared about social issues, and then felt it was my responsibility or moral imperative to understand climate justice. 

At COP, there is an incredible display of climate leaders from around the globe. From Ministers in the EU making climate finance deals to frontline communities in South Africa screaming at the top of their lungs to demand justice for their lives. It was the first time I felt in my bones how unequally different communities across the earth were to be affected by the climate crisis, and how it felt. How it felt to them, their reaction to it, and how it felt in my body.

I knew it was an injustice. Although, not only how unequally consequences of climate change were to be felt, but something more pervasive. I was lucky to have university professors on the trip, including Phoebe Godfrey, that were welcoming enough to hold my hand to the learnings of climate justice. 

Climate justice revealed to me that the roots of the climate crisis are not just greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the legacy of decades long exploitation of people and our planet in the pursuit of profit. It doesn’t just look at GHG emissions at the problem, but rather as the symptom of a systemic wide problem of what our society values and the harm it’s willing to conduct to achieve it.

Now, it’s time to hold space for how this feels. This is scary. This makes my bones hurt. My heart deflates, and genuinely rattles my body with fear. What was already a complicated and atrocious problem of GHG emissions, just got bigger and more complicated. Climate justice seeks to unpack the power and politics that is wrapped up in the climate crisis that often attempts to be shielded. 

At COP29, this year I wanted to continue my understanding of the complexity of climate justice. This past year, I had been exposed to a lot of learnings around the impact of the military and global war as tied to the climate crisis, highlighted by the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, and how it prevails to upholding, perpetuating, and causing global injustices. I had also learned more about topics including colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, and facism – how these concepts are defined and how they present themselves in policy and practice. 

Climate justice is overwhelming. And I wanted COP29 to give me more clarity and insight on what climate justice is, how to communicate about it, and how to address it. I wanted to understand my role in climate justice and climate injustice, and how I can be an individual person and community member in the movement. I want to give my mind, body, and soul to the folks at the frontline, and fully absorb and embody the struggles they are amplifying and what actions they are asking for.

And to be frank, I struggled. I would listen in on education events, and be filled with self-doubt, confusion, and fear around messaging and desperately trying to find the truth. My heart would feel one thing, and my mind would take my body in another direction. Some webinars would talk about capitalism, some would not. Some events would digest the military, some wouldn’t with a 10-foot pole. If I want to amplify climate justice, who am I to listen to? What am I to amplify? What am I to unpack in myself, and how do I not reaffirm false narratives and perpetuate harm?

One of the last events that our team went to during the Blue Zone at COP29 was the People’s Planetary. This event included community activists at the frontlines of climate injustice across Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Africa, and more to vocalize the reality of their experiences. It was one of the first events of COP29 where I got to experience people just fully telling their truth. A Palestinian activist showed footage of people being brutalized by the Israeli military and their homes being bombed. A Lebanese activist shouted how their family was being attacked and how afraid they were. A Sudan activist cried on how no one was talking about Sudan while people were being murdered. She could barely get through their sentences. 

I felt afraid. Scared. Sad. Those feelings didn’t go away with this event. They intensified. However, it was one of the most important events I could have attended at COP29. Activists weren’t performing a stunt. They weren’t academics trying to prove a point, or industry trying to paint a certain image for their brand. They were just being honest. They were being real about their experiences, and how the powers that were not investing in climate finance at COP29, including the Global North, were raveging and sacrificing their communities. Murder and harm is ugly and disgusting, but it’s a reality of people in the Global South and what the fossil fuel industry and militarized countries have done and will continue to do to communities. 

This event showed me that to understand climate justice is not to be perfect, an academic, or the most experienced person in the room. It’s about being brave, and honoring the truth of what powerful countries and fossil fuel industries have done to our planet and people.

These activists at the frontline know this truth because it’s a part of their lived experience. They cannot look away, and watch their communities be harmed and die. We must listen to them, and be brave enough to feel it in our bones. We must grieve, be sickened, and feel empowered enough to talk about it in our communities and shout it at the people in power. Not only because we should care about our brothers and sisters that are in harm’s way, but also it’s the only way to address the climate crisis honestly. Systems based on exploitation, violence, dominance will never serve the people, but only the interests of money and the people in power.

This article itself was hard to write. I was worried I would talk about climate justice wrong or say the wrong things. But, what I want to take from COP29 is to not be afraid, and trust myself to know the truths that I have heard. We must call out the Global North, the military, the fossil fuel industry for the harms they have perpetuated and the power they hold.

I ask you to stand with me, hold my hand, and be brave enough to amplify this truth as it is. Let’s talk about colonialism, racism, capitalism, imperialism, facism, militarism. Let’s see what we know and what we need to learn. We can be sad and afraid, but we can do it together just as we did at the People’s Planetary. This is where we can seek liberation from the climate crisis – not in resisting the truth, but resisting exploitation and aiming for revolution. 

Sydney Collins is a Campus Climate Action Corps Connecticut – Climate Action Leader with the Office of Sustainability. She was also a UConn@COP Fellow in 2022.

Reflections from COP29: Progress, Gaps, and the Road Ahead – Mayowa Oladele

December 3, 2024

Mayowa Oladele at COP29I arrived at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a mix of hope and skepticism. With the world’s temperature getting close to the 1.5oC threshold, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. What struck me from the outset was the diversity of voices—from grassroots activists amplifying the concerns of the most vulnerable to policymakers navigating the complex web of international negotiations. This convergence reaffirmed a fundamental truth: addressing the climate crisis demands both collective resolve and individual responsibility.

As the conference unfolded (I joined in its critical final week), the outcomes, while not shocking, left me pondering on the progress we’ve made and the gaps we’ve yet to close. Here are my key takeaways:

  1. Financing Gaps: Progress, but Far from Equity

Let’s start with a win. The headline commitment to triple climate finance from wealthy nations to $300 billion annually by 2035 was a significant step forward. Yet, even as I welcomed this progress, the numbers felt glaringly inadequate.

The reality is stark: developing nations need trillions, not billions, to meet the dual challenges of mitigation and adaptation. And much of this funding still comes as loans, deepening the debt burdens of countries already grappling with the devastating impacts of climate change.

One promising aspect was the acknowledgment of private finance as a critical lever to scale climate action. If harnessed effectively, it could bridge the gap between pledges and the real resources required. But to meet our net-zero goals by 2050, wealthy nations must do more—both in terms of direct contributions and by creating systems that ensure equitable access to funds.

  1. Fossil Fuels: The Elephant in the (Drafting) Room

This was, without question, one of the most frustrating aspects of COP29. After nearly three decades of climate summits, the absence of a clear, actionable plan to phase out fossil fuels was glaring. Hearing the passionate pleas of activists and vulnerable communities during side events made the lack of progress on this front even harder to stomach. Ignoring the complete phase out of fossil fuel is like treating the symptoms without addressing the disease.

  1. Carbon Markets: A Rare Bright Spot

If there was one area where progress felt meaningful, it was carbon markets. I’ve been skeptical of these mechanisms in the past, given their history of loopholes and greenwashing. But this year marked a turning point.

For the first time, we saw real clarity on the rules for emissions trading under Articles 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. These guidelines are critical to prevent double-counting and ensuring transparency. While not perfect, they offer a foundation to rebuild trust in carbon markets and attract investments into crucial areas like reforestation, nature-based solutions, and carbon storage.

The challenge now is implementation. Robust enforcement mechanisms will be essential to maintain credibility, and it will take a concerted effort to ensure these markets deliver real, measurable impacts.

Mayowa Oladele COP29

As we turn toward COP30 in Belém, Brazil, I’m left with a mix of hope and urgency. There’s however an opportunity here. The updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) due next year could inject the ambition we didn’t see in Baku. Brazil, as host, has already shown leadership with its ambitious emissions reduction target, and I hope this sets the tone for more transformative action.

Every COP reminds me of the duality of this process. It’s frustratingly slow, often bogged down in politics and compromises. And yet, it’s one of the few spaces where the entire world comes together to confront the climate crisis. For me, COP29 reinforced the importance of pushing for systemic change—not just within the negotiations but also in how we approach the climate crisis more broadly. Whether it’s finance, fossil fuels, or adaptation, we need bold, collaborative action that matches the scale of the challenge. Incrementalism isn’t going to cut it anymore.

As I left Baku, I felt a mix of exhaustion and determination. The road ahead is daunting, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the fight against climate change is worth every step.

Mayowa Oladele is a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.