UConn@COP23: ‘We Are Still In’

November 16, 2017

The UConn contingent at the ‘We Are Still In’ U.S. Climate Action Center at COP 23

…Second Nature has led higher ed’s involvement in We Are Still In (WASI) from the outset and we helped coordinate the sector’s involvement in the US Climate Action Center. We had presidents and faculty involved in panels at the Center and co-hosted a reception there with AASHE, Tufts, and UConn, which had a great turnout. It was wonderful to see US higher education so well-represented and we heard from many other countries how encouraged they were by the US Climate Action Center!

As we all trickle back stateside from Bonn…there is a lot of interest from across the US in exploring ways higher education can accelerate cross-sector (not simply internal) climate solutions as part of the aligned work of WASI coming out of the COP. This has the potential to not just accelerate your own goals, but also meet the broad social needs as well. As one colleague from WWF put it – WASI may act best as a traffic cop who makes sure all the lights stay green!

There are a number of strategies we’ve been discussing with institutional presidents, faculty, and staff, as well as the WASI Steering Committee…We want creative ideas to germinate…

– Dr. Timothy Carter, President, Second Nature

The following blogs were written by student members of the UConn contingent to the UN Climate Conference (COP 23) in Bonn, Germany:

The Importance of Sub-National Entities Caroline Anastasia

COP 23 Leaving the U.S. Government Behind Weston Henry

International Aid & Dignity in the Face of Climate Change Adrianna Antigiovanni

A Sneak Peak of ‘The Age of Consequences’ Katie Main

Additional blogs describing the cohort’s experiences at COP 23 will be posted throughout the next few weeks.

The Importance of Sub-National Entities

Caroline Anastasia, Chemistry, Minor in Mathematics

Barry Parkin, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mars, Inc. (middle) at the U.S. Business Showcase in the WASI Pavilion

With the United States federal government clearly choosing to stand on the sidelines in the fight against climate change, it is more important than ever for sub-national entities to step into the ring. Since the Trump administration made the highly-contested decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement in June 2017, many state and local governments, activist groups, businesses, and universities have stepped up to the challenge and have already begun to prove that they can fight against climate change and yield clear results, with no need for assistance or support by the federal government.

The necessity of sub-national action has been reinforced many times over at the COP23 UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany. In her opening remarks at the U.S. Business Showcase in the U.S. Climate Action Center, Sheila Bonini (Senior VP, Private Sector Engagement, World Wildlife Fund) asserted that “when the government does less, we need to do more.” In this case, We encompasses everyone from sub-national governments to activist organizations; from businesses to universities to citizens across the country. Already, over 400 cities have pledged to cut pollution, and over 600 universities have committed to eliminate their carbon pollution within a certain number of years.

Businesses have also addressed the issue of climate change, with countless corporations adopting sustainable business plans to reduce their emissions. Mars, Inc. had a large presence at the COP23 conference in the U.S. Climate Action Center, where they shared their impressive plans to decrease their carbon footprint. They also handed out M&Ms printed with the slogan We Are Still In.

Oregon governor, Kate Brown, also instilled the importance of sub-national governments in the fight against climate change. Governor Brown spoke at the U.S. Governors’ Panel in the U.S Climate Action Center, where she discussed the imperative action required by state governments in order to meet the targets stated in the Paris Agreement.

Despite the complete disregard of climate change by the federal government, not all hope is lost. Sub-national entities have proven that the U.S. still has a strong commitment to the environment, and although there is still so much work to be done, I feel like I can let out a small sigh of relief because of the commitment to continue striving towards future goals. Trump may have pulled out of Paris, but sub-national entities, including the University of Connecticut, promise that #wearestillin.

COP23 Leaving the U.S. Government Behind

Weston Henry, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Landscape Architecture

In every single panel, there has been one common thread: hope. It was definitely not a theme that I expected, here at the first Conference of Parties since Trump’s announcement of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. But through the responses of groups around the world, it was clear that many within the US are not giving up on climate action, but rather pushing forward more than ever before.

Through the events of the past few days, we have seen the representation of many interests. We have seen overtly anti-capitalist NGO leaders represented at the women’s panel, telling us how their lives and communities have been directly impacted by the horrifying realities of extreme weather events and sea level rise.

U.S. Climate Action Center’s Business Showcase Panel

We have seen sustainability leaders from companies including Microsoft, HP, and Bank of America, talking about the importance of sustainability measures and closed-loop systems to maximizing profits.

We have seen state governors and environmental leaders, stressing the importance of sub-national regulations and new innovations in ensuring the protection of the forests that help to soak up atmospheric CO2.

And we have even seen professors and climate change leaders from some of the United States’ top research institutions, working relentlessly towards meaningful results and the dissemination of these results to policymakers throughout the nation.

While these varied parties certainly have different motives for working towards solving the worldwide problem of climate change, they did not feel defeated. The NGOs continue to solve environmental problems from a grassroots level, and the businesspeople agreed that Trump’s decisions on the Paris Agreement had no impact on their sustainability progress whatsoever.

Likewise, many influential states have committed to the We Are Still In movement, and universities across the states continue to churn out climate data and educated young people with the support of their schools. The United States is sending a clear message to the Trump administration and the rest of the world: we will not fall behind, and we will not let the decisions of one individual overpower the leadership at many sub-national levels.

International Aid & Dignity in the Face of Climate Change

Adrianna Antigiovanni, Environmental Studies

Founder and Executive Director of WECAN, Osprey Orielle Lake, giving the opening remarks for the Women Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change Event

In addition to mitigation and adaptation, the two commonly heard terms when discussing how to address climate change, there is a third category called “loss and damage”. I first learned about this concept earlier this week during our daily breakfast club meetings where we discuss topics from various events that we attended the previous day. Loss and damage refers to the effects associated with climate change that cannot be prevented via mitigation or accounted for through adaptive measures. The fact that Entire Small Island Developing States will soon disappear under the rising seas is a prime example of such loss and damage that at a certain point become too much to cope with.

Jared P. Scott, Director of ‘The Age of Consequences’ (left) and Tanja Kuchen, GIZ Sector Programme (right)

We also got the chance to attend a screening of the introduction to The Age of Consequences followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Jared P. Scott, and several other figures who work in the national security arena. While listening to the speakers, I couldn’t help but contemplate the question that I have been presented with in the past: Where is the balance between providing international aid and empowering the receiving country to attain long term sustainability on their own? In other words, when do foreign humanitarian efforts begin to undermine a nation’s ability to thrive under their own leadership? This is an important question when contemplating how climate change exacerbates problems in context of national security because while simply giving money is politically appealing, it may not necessarily be the most effective method, and may even serve as counterproductive to the end goal.

In order to not propagate the destructive narrative that people from developing countries are helpless, one must be careful to not take the movie at face value, which may make it possible to mistake climate victims (in the form of refugees for example) as security threats. But rather quite the opposite is true because these “victims” are actually a uniquely vulnerable population that has the ability to offer real solutions to the problem that they have dealt with for years. We had the privilege of hearing testimonies of women on the frontlines from places that have been directly affected by climate chance such as the Maldives, Kenya, and Ecuador. Listening to the impressive and awe-inspiring speakers at the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network Event is something I will never forget.

A Sneak Peak of ‘The Age of Consequences’

Katie Main, Environmental Engineering

I was excited to attend a special 30-minute screening of the new climate change documentary, the Age of Consequences, which was held in an over-flowing ~150 person lecture hall at Bonn University. The film was followed by a panel discussion featuring the award-winning filmmaker/director, Jared P. Scott, along with various representatives from German-based academic institutes and international sustainable development companies: Tanja Kuchen (GIZ), Katie Peters (ODI), and Lukas Ruttinger (Adelphi). The panel was moderated by Jeff Swartz, a representative from a German emissions reduction consulting firm (South Pole Group), who thankfully announced that the program would be presented in English.

Members of the UConn cohort and Jared P. Scott, Director of ‘The Age of Consequences’

National security is one of the few bipartisan issues in the United States, and was considered a high priority by 80% of American citizens polled during the 2016 election (Pew Research Center). On the other hand, climate change has become increasingly politicized by climate-denying conservatives on the right and climate activist progressives on the left.

The Age of Consequences attempts to bridge this ideological divide by presenting national security and global warming as interdependent. The movie aspires to persuade conservatives to appreciate the nexus between the effects of climate change and the consequences of global instability, poverty, hunger, and displacement of populations, ultimately leading to terrorism and war. Interviews with Sherri W. Goodman (Center for Naval Analyses), Stephen A. Cheney (retired U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General), and David Titley (U.S. Navy Admiral) demonstrated how top military officials and analysts regarded the importance of climate change as a real and significant threat to national security.

Two things stood out to me at this event. My initial reaction was that this was a brand new perspective on climate change, designed to reach out to citizens in

the United States who typically do not prioritize global warming, but are part of that 80% who recognize the importance of national security. Having grown up in a conservative-majority town in western Connecticut, this felt like the answer to the argument I’ve been having most of my life – climate change is a very serious threat, and one’s political orientation shouldn’t change that.

My second reaction was only realized as I listened to the way the panel members were addressing the audience. In all likelihood, the UConn group members were the only U.S. citizens in attendance, besides Jared P. Scott himself. Although all of his responses were eventually comprehensive, he sometimes hesitated, and even struggled, as he attempted to explain the varied and conflicting priorities that Americans tend to have. No doubt, the film will draw controversy back home. But, hopefully, it will also inspire a conversation. We are reaching a point of desperation where we can’t truly combat climate change without having this conversation.

Let us know what you think! The EcoHusky student group and Office of Environmental Policy will host a viewing of the full-length Age of Consequences documentary on Tuesday, November 28^th from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, at Monteith Room 104. All viewpoints are welcome.

The Results Are In: EcoMadness 2017

November 10, 2017

On the average day, a single student uses a lot of resources; from washing clothes to charging a laptop, the total amassed energy and water-use that the average student accumulates is pretty substantial! Now imagine the combined energy and water usage of the average student and multiply that by the enormity of the average dorm – in which hundreds of students reside. Have you ever spent time thinking about the collective amount of water 700 showers use? Or how much energy hundreds of iPhones utilize within hours? For the residents of Buckley, Shippee, Northwest, East, West, and Towers, achieving this consciousness is what stood in between them and becoming a champion of the 9^th annual EcoMadness Competition!

This year’s EcoMadness Competition took place from October 9^th to November 6^th, during which each involved residency was carefully measured in the following categories: per capita water reduction, per capita energy use reduction, percent water reduction, and percent energy use reduction.

After a month of active education, increased environmental awareness, and the encouraging prospect of a free Dairy Bar ice-cream party prize, the results are in!

This year, we are pleased to congratulate the following winners in each water and energy category breakdown! The results are as follows:

WATER

Percent Reduction: Hanks

Lowest Per Capita Use: Grange/Hicks

ENERGY

Percent Reduction: Buckley

Lowest Per Capita Use: Hanks

While the winners in each category have been chosen, we would also like to extend our gratitude and congratulations to every student resident involved in the competition. This month showcased an incredible collaborative effort, and could not have been successful without this environmental commitment, and the work of our wonderful EcoCaptains and supportive RA’s! In the coming weeks, the winning dorms should expect a dairy bar ice cream party – free of charge!

Though the EcoMadness competition is over, we hope the concepts of water and energy conservation remain a focal point in the culture of each residency hall on campus. Because who knows – maybe a continued sense of awareness will propel a residency hall into a winning category next year! And who doesn’t like free ice cream?

Until then, happy saving!

Meet the OEP Interns: Sophie, Jon, and Wawa

November 6, 2017

Jon, Wawa, and Sophie on their way to Football Green Game Day

This semester, the OEP gained three ambitious, bright, and talented interns: Sophie MacDonald, Jon Ursillo, and Wawa Gatheru. Although they’ve only been a part of our team for a few months, they’ve already made incredible impacts within and outside of the office.

Sophie quickly found herself involved in a great number of office initiatives, including the implementation of the new EcoCoin program in the UConn Bookstore, rating offices throughout the university on their sustainability efforts as part of the Green Office Certification Program, and working on our Tree Campus application. She is also the creative designer of our new OEP Sustainability Office logo!

When she’s not busy in the office or balancing her demanding Mechanical Engineering course load, Sophie is involved in both Engineers Without Borders and the Hibernation Team for Ethiopia. She loves being outdoors, whether it be hiking, birding, or traveling to national parks. Fun fact: this summer, Sophie will be travelling to Machu Picchu to hike with UConn Choose a Challenge! She is also the second high school valedictorian on the OEP’s current intern team, graduating top of her class at Litchfield High School in 2016. She joins Christen, who held that honor for the 2014 graduating class at Hampton Bays High School, in New York.

Prior to interning at the OEP, Jon was selected to be a facilitator for the honors UNIV course in Environmental Sustainability, where he was first able to connect his appreciation of the environment to university sustainability. His enthusiasm and achievements in this setting have translated immensely during his time in the office, during which he has already begun working closely with Facilities Operations to update and homogenize recycling throughout our campus. In addition, he has played important roles in the organization and success of our Football Green Game Day and EcoMadness events.

Jon’s interest in environmental sustainability extends far beyond the OEP, as he is a double major in Environmental Sciences and Economics, and an involved member of the Sea Run Brook Trout Coalition and the Protect Rhode Island Brook Trout organization. His appreciation of the environment stems from his love of all things outdoors, including hiking, fishing, and skiing. Also a brother of the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, Jon continues to pursue leadership and service in the UConn community.

Our final intern, Wawa, has brought a wealth of experience and ambition to the OEP, with an endless list of leadership roles and involvement in campus initiatives. These include her positions as USG Student Services Chairwoman, Research Assistant in the Nutrition Department, SOS Food Recovery Volunteer, Cross Cultural Connections Partner, former HuskyNutrition student coordinator, and FYE Mentor for Global House. She also serves on the Dean of Students Advisory Board, Chief Diversity Officer Student Advisory Board, and the Courses and Curricula University Senate Sub-Committee. She even helped to spearhead the campus ‘ban the bottle’ initiative, and has been a strong advocate for the Sustainability General Education Requirement.

During her time at the OEP, Wawa has dedicated herself to social media outreach and blog writing, as well as offering immense support with EcoMadness event organization and the Green Office Certification Program. She is a strong believer that the environment plays a fundamental role in every aspect of life, and it is clear that Wawa has integrated this passion into each of her endeavors. As an Applied and Resource Economics major fluent in three languages, with Kenyan heritage and over a year spent in Thailand, we foresee Wawa having a lasting impact on environmental sustainability, both at UConn and globally.

That concludes our ‘Meet the OEP Interns’ series! If you missed out on learning about any of the other featured interns, please see the following links:

Meet the OEP Interns: Caroline & Hannah

October 26, 2017

What could the captain of the Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team and an avid “Chopped” enthusiast possibly have in common? Besides an uncanny love for all things outdoors (and the ability to binge watch several episodes of a television series), both students are current sustainability interns at the Office of Environmental Policy! In our fourth installment of the ‘Meet the Interns’ blog, we will profile two more remarkable interns, junior Caroline and senior Hannah. Each very different in their current endeavors and career aspirations, Caroline and Hannah are brought together by a genuine passion for sustainability, a unifying trait that makes them both student environmental leaders.

Junior Caroline’s path to the OEP was nothing short of fate. As a first-semester Chemistry major in the Honors Program, Caroline hoped to continue the environmental involvement she had enjoyed in high school, where she won several accolades including the Northeast Resource Recycling Association (NRRA) Innovative Recycling Idea award, the EcoMaine Eco-Excellence award, and the Aquarion Water Company Environmental Champion Award for a compost project she coordinated her senior year. That experience led her to enroll in the one credit UNIV course in Environmental Sustainability taught by the OEP’s Director, Rich Miller. She excelled in the class, often volunteering for extra credit work, like collecting recyclables at Green Game Day – not because she needed the bonus points but because she loved making a difference.

Soon after her first semester and the UNIV course had ended, she was encouraged to apply for an OEP sustainability internship. Determined as she is about many of her goals, Caroline jumped at the chance – and the rest is history! Fast forward two years and we find an experienced, hard-working team player, who considers her internship an opportunity that has undeniably transformed her college experience. She even stayed in Connecticut this past summer and worked part-time hours at the OEP, rather than return home to New Hampshire.
Caroline’s internship has not only fulfilled her college aspiration of continued environmental involvement, but also taught her about sustainability initiatives on campus and the inter-workings of the university as a whole. Whether it’s analyzing data in order to maintain UConn’s top 10 Green Campus national rankings or manning a recycling dumpster at Rentschler Field, Caroline is all about teamwork and helping out wherever she can. In her two years as a sustainability intern, she has become an expert in her focused initiatives, namely the EcoMadness competition and Green Game Days. As a lead intern for both events, Caroline has served on the front lines for UConn community engagement and outreach covering topics from energy and water conservation to proper recycling during football games. She’s excited about traveling to Bonn, Germany for the UN’s Annual climate summit next month, as part of the UConn@COP23 contingent.
Additionally remarkable, is Caroline’s involvement outside of the office. She has previously worked as a ski instructor, and continues to serve as an undergraduate researcher, captain and secretary of the Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team, and President of a newly created club, the Undergraduate Society of Plastics Engineers. An intern of the coolest proportions, the OEP is incredibly lucky to call Caroline one of their own!

Senior sustainability intern, Hannah, adds to the long list of talented undergraduates working at the OEP, as she is simultaneously earning her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Master’s in Public Policy. While her passion for environmental policy has been long evident, her involvement in campus sustainability initiatives on campus has allowed her to solidify her career aspirations. Prior to her employment at the OEP, Hannah had directed her environmental passions towards EcoHusky, where she led a successful shoe and sneaker recycling drive as an officer in the student organization. After discovering the OEP internship opportunity and successfully receiving a position, Hannah quickly became an involved member of the OEP team. In her time as an intern, Hannah has taken the lead on several initiative, such as: planning student engagement and educational activities for UConn@COP, organizing the first inter-fraternity recycling competition as part of the annual football Green Game Day, assessing grant and fundraising opportunities for the Campus Sustainability Fund, and gathering data in order to complete the survey for the GreenMetric World University rankings, in which UConn has consistently scored among the top five. Along with a select group of 12 UConn students, she traveled in November 2016 to Marrakech, Morocco for the U.N.’s 22nd annual International Climate Summit (COP22) – it was her first time abroad!

Outside of the OEP, Hannah keeps a busy schedule, but not at the expense of academics, as she is a consistent CLAS Dean’s List student. After a year as an officer in EcoHusky, she remains active in the club, is an avid outdoorswoman AND massive “Chopped” fan. Hannah is planning on an environmental career after UConn – the past two summers she interned for Dominion Energy as a Diversity Scholarship Recipient. She worked for Dominion at their environmental lab on the Connecticut coast in 2016 and, this past summer, as an environmental compliance intern at their West Virginia plant. She enjoyed and excelled at her summer jobs, so much so that she will work with them again next summer, as an energy intern, at Dominion’s corporate headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. And while Hannah is clearly on an impressive trajectory towards a career in Environmental Policy, if all else fails, you will most likely find Hannah living her life as a scuba diver recovering lost things.

And there we have it – two more of our fabulous OEP Interns!

Next week, we will meet the final set of interns, the newest members of the OEP’s sustainability team: Sophie, Jon, and myself (Wawa)!
Until then!

Meet the OEP Interns: Katie

October 6, 2017

“Opportunity knocks when you least expect it.” For Katie Main, that proverb explains how she rejuvenated her passion about environmental sustainability and jump-started her path to an environmental career. As a sophomore, Katie experienced a couple of ‘reality checks.’ While she had found her place academically as a student in UConn’s Environmental Engineering program, her course load of upper-level math, physics, and chemistry momentarily distanced her from the environmental issues that led to her passion for nature and the environment in the first place, especially growing up as the daughter of a Westchester County parks and conservation employee.

Although her involvement in several environmental initiatives on campus provided her space to exercise her passion, she still craved more. It wasn’t until she heard of the Office of Environmental Policy through her active membership in the EcoHusky student group, that Katie was finally able to find a strong outlet for her passions as part of her college experience.

Intern Katie (left) recycling during Football GreenGame Day

Since joining the OEP intern team in the spring of 2016, Katie has dedicated her time to several sustainability initiatives, including the maintenance of the Sustainability Office’s website and the Greenhouse Gas Inventory, roll-out of the EcoCoin program to reduce plastic bag use at the campus bookstore, and organization of GreenGame Days. Of her responsibilities, GreenGame Days (GGDs) continue to be her favorite projects – these outreach events are a perfect fusion of her interests both inside and outside of the office. As a season-ticket holder for UConn football and lifetime fan of UConn Basketball, GGDs allow Katie to show her UConn spirit while also promoting environmental stewardship to Husky Nation.

Now a senior in Environmental Engineering, where she is a dean’s list student, mentor and member of the Engineering Honors Society, Tau Beta Pi, Katie’s versatility as an OEP intern is always on display. When she is not working on some kind of graphic design (she designed the awesome new GGD logo last year), you can find Katie buried in the Greenhouse Gas Inventory excel spreadsheet or coordinating the rollout of the new UConn Bookstore EcoCoin.

Outside of the OEP office, Katie spends a majority of her time involved in other campus activities, serving as the Treasurer for EcoHusky, an undergraduate research assistant in solar energy, and member of ECOalition, which is a caucus of student environmental leaders. On the off chance she is not doing any of these, you will most likely find Katie snuggled up with her best friend/dog Milo or obsessively planning her future super eco-friendly, and hopefully LEED-certified, home, on AutoCAD and Chief Architect.

And there we have it! The third installment of ‘Meet the OEP Interns.’ Next week, we will meet two more impressive interns, one of whom serves as the President of the Undergraduate Society of Plastics Engineers, and another who is a dual undergraduate/master’s student. Can you guess who?
Until next time!

Meet the OEP Interns: Adrianna & Ben

October 3, 2017

Last week in the first edition of the ‘Meet the Interns’ series, we met seasoned intern Christen, a senior who began working at the OEP in her second semester. This week, we will meet two more talented interns, seniors Ben and Adrianna. Environmental crusaders in their own right, Ben and Adrianna are campus leaders who have tailored both their academic and work experience to fit their passion for the environment.

Ben Picture! — Intern Ben presenting an award at the ELA’s.

An Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major, Ben has defined this pursuit with active campus advocacy, serving as an officer in ECOalition and former Chair of the Honors’ Council Environmental Committee. These positions have allowed him to support initiatives such as the creation of a sustainability general education requirement. For Adrianna, an Environmental Studies major, her dual involvement as an intern and co-President of EcoHusky has enabled her push to prevent food waste and promote green offices across campus.

While they both have impressive track records as they begin their third consecutive year at the OEP, the question still remains: who are Ben and Adrianna?

To his colleagues at the OEP, Ben is a knowledgeable resource with a wealth of information regarding everything from sustainability-related courses on campus, to the best hiking trails in the Alps. His keen attention to detail allows him to serve as a lead intern on several projects such as the EcoMadness competition, the Environmental Leadership Awards, and the development of interpretive signs about wildlife and natural resources for hiking trails in the Hillside
Environmental Education Park. Outside of the OEP, Ben is an avid world traveler, with thirteen passport stamps to prove it. Through his travels, Ben has taken on several roles, such as serving as a UConn delegate at the UN’s Climate Summit in Morocco, a student of field ecology at a nature preserve in South Africa, a backpacker in northeastern Europe, and, this summer, a student at the prestigious Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel. An aspiring wildlife conservationist with a wide variety of talents, Ben is well on his way!

Intern Adrianna also has several talents and extra-curricular leadership activities, all punctuated by her positive attitude and welcoming demeanor. Known by all as a kindred spirt, Adrianna is gifted in her ability to bring people together in an engaging and productive environment. That skill helps her succeed in coordinating the Green Office Certification Program, where she has enjoyed leading lively discussions with Green Office Team Organizers, the OEP’s “GO TO” list of environmentally-minded faculty and staff who have taken the lead in certifying their departments. Her range of skills also allows her to take on other projects such as the Tree Campus USA application, the corresponding Arbor Day Celebration, and completing the Sustainable Dining and Waste Reduction sections of the Sierra Club survey. Given her wide range of contributions, Adrianna has been a key change agent at UConn!

And there we have it: part two of the ‘Meet the Interns’ special series. Next week we will profile intern Katie – an environmental engineering student and avid ‘Chopped’ fan!

Meet the OEP Interns: Christen Bellucci

September 18, 2017

Nestled past the construction-lined North Eagleville Road and the buzzing center of Parking & Transportation Services lies a small, modular office building of the most modest proportions. This simple vanilla structure is home to two UConn departments, including my new workplace as an intern at the Office of Environmental Policy (OEP). This humble exterior, located on the edge of the main campus and at the gateway to the nascent UConn Tech Park, might initially lead onlookers to miss the impressive fusion of homey welcome and innovative thinking found inside the OEP. Amongst the hustle and bustle of the OEP’s Sustainability Office, one may also be surprised by the constant flow of student interns milling in and out throughout the week.

PAES building — UConn Planning, Architecture, and Engineering Services building, home to the OEP

Who are these students and what are they doing?

As one of the newer interns, that is what I have set out to discover and report in a series of blog posts to begin the fall 2017 semester! Welcome to ‘Meet the Sustainability Interns’ Part 1!

Brought together by a shared interest in environmental stewardship, the current class of OEP interns are similar in their dedication to sustainability and different in the passionate lives they lead inside and outside of the office. Amongst the dedicated crew, you can find the President of the Undergraduate Society of Plastic Engineers, a dedicated fan of the hit television show ‘Chopped’, a dual undergraduate/masters student, several world travelers, and undergraduate researchers. Multifaceted in their talents and interests, each intern hosts an array of qualities that play a crucial role in raising awareness and constantly striving to improve campus sustainability at UConn.

Christen EDSF — Christen and Jonathan the Husky at Earth Day Spring Fling 2017

In our first edition, we will be profiling Christen, a seasoned intern with three years of OEP experience. A talented member of the intern team, you can thank Christen for her regular compilation and editing of the OEP Sustainability newsletter and her diligent planning skills that allow the annual Earth Day Spring Fling in April to be the successful event that it is. Nowadays, if she is not working on these or other projects, you will most likely find her chatting away about the newest edition of her family, Bixby, her energetic puppy – or snacking. With three years under her belt, Christen has learned to channel her interests and skills in order to facilitate real, tangible change on campus. Through her work on a multitude of different tasks, from social media outreach to the Green Campus Academic Network, she has succeeded!

Christen and Bixby — Christen and her new puppy, Bixby

Outside the office, Christen continues to spend her time as an involved student, serving as the co-President for EcoHusky and as a member of the UConn Honors Program and Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society. Her first trip abroad last fall was a memorable one – she traveled with a select group of 12 students, as part of the UConn@COP22 cohort, to participate in the U.N.’s annual Climate Summit, held in Marrakech, Morocco. Christen is a mentor and friend to the rest of the OEP interns, and has consistently proved herself as an essential asset to the team.

And there we have it – our first intern on the ‘Meet the Interns’ special. Next week, we will meet two more of the talented students the OEP is lucky to call interns – Adrianna and Ben.

Until next time, Guten Tag!

-Wawa Gatheru

#ShrinkYourDormPrint @UConn

August 31, 2017

LED Desk Lamps 2017 — A student picking up his free energy efficient LED desk lamp at the UConn Bookstore (photo courtesy of @EversourceCT)

The upcoming school year is looking as bright as ever, as thousands of new and returning students recently flocked to the bookstore to receive the sleekest new edition to the #shrinkyourdormprint movement – an energy efficient, multifunctional LED desk lamp generously provided by UConn and it’s energy provider, Eversource. Equipped with varying light intensity, color, and height variations, not only is this lamp a terrific addition to dorm aesthetics, but it provides students the chance to take part in UConn’s commitment to an environmentally sustainable future. With this new dorm addition, students can keep their dorms well-lit and be more energy efficient with a product that uses at least 75% less energy and lasts 25 times longer than incandescent lighting.

According to estimates by Eversource, student use of LED light bulbs for task lighting in the dorms saves more than 600,000kWh a year, concurrently reducing UConn’s carbon footprint by 400 tons of eCO2 and saving $60,000 in energy costs. These statistics also fall in line with UConn’s Climate Action Plan, where LED transition is a major component. Eversource has also estimated that if every student switched one old-school lamp with an LED, the saved emissions would total that similar to a small power plant for two semesters – and looking at the eager faces of students lined around the perimeter of the bookstore, it looks as though that statistic could one day be a reality.

desk lamp box screenshot — A close up of the LED desk lamp box

UConn LED Desk Lamp Giveaway Video

This year-round attention to energy efficiency does not stop here. UConn also replaced refrigerators in both Charter Oak and Northwood apartments with ones that met the government-issued Energy Star standard. From June 15th to July 18th, 300 refrigerators were replaced, a transition that will conserve a whopping 10,000 kWh!

Energy Star refrigerator on its way into a Charter Oaks Apartment

While the massive distribution of LED bulbs and refrigerators are themselves impressive feats, the giveaways signified something much more. With the generous support from Eversource, these initiatives are proof of UConn’s commitment to environmental stewardship, and more impressively, its commitment to maintaining this objective both in and out of the regular academic sessions and simultaneously involving students in the process.

Herbst Joins Peers in the Commitment to Uphold the Paris Agreement

June 6, 2017

On Friday, June 2^nd, President Susan Herbst signed the Grand Coalition Statement on the Paris Agreement, joining 183 universities, 125 mayors, 9 governors, and over 900 businesses who will continue to recognize the United States’ contributions to the Paris Climate Agreement despite recent policy decisions from Washington. Please visit the We Are Still In webpage for a complete list of signatories and quotes from various leaders, including our very own Susan Herbst.

“UConn is deeply committed to supporting environmental health and sustainability in any way we can. The decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement does not mean that we as a university should abdicate our own responsibility to do what we believe is best for our state, the nation, and the world with respect to our environment. We will steadfastly continue to do our part in contributing to global efforts to address climate change.” – Susan Herbst, President, University of Connecticut

An excerpt from the Grand Coalition Statement from a climate leadership organization called Second Nature declares, “It is imperative that the world know that in the U.S., the actors that will provide the leadership necessary to meet our Paris commitment are found in city halls, state capitals, colleges and universities, investors and businesses.” The statement is titled with the phrase We Are Still In, which captures the sentiment of subnational actors and civil groups across the country. There is reason more than ever to stay optimistic and determined in the fight to reduce carbon emissions.

Check out the articles below for more information:

Coverage in a New York Times article Bucking Trump, These Cities, States and Companies Commit to Paris Accord

Coverage in the Chronical of Higher Education, Colleges’ Message on Upholding Paris Climate Accord: ‘We Are Still In’

2020 Vision: Transportation

April 5, 2017

Through recent innovations like bringing car-sharing service Zipcar to campus, implementing a shuttle service between Storrs and the UConn Health Center, and UConn Outdoor’s new bike share program, UConn has demonstrated its strong commitment to sustainable transportation. With the introduction of the 2020 Vision for Campus Sustainability and Climate Leadership by the UConn administration, new innovations in campus transportation are slated to be implemented soon.

CycleShareLogo2_Blue-e1458761846836 — UConn Rec’s Cycle Share program allows for a bike friendly campus (*UConn Recreation*)

The 2020 Vision for Campus Sustainability and Climate Leadership sets out a series of goals for increasing campus sustainability, broken into categories including Energy & Buildings, Waste Reduction & Diversion, Food & Dining, and Transportation. Through the 2020 Vision, UConn has declared an intention to increase the percentage of electric and hybrid vehicles in UConn’s light duty fleet to 25% from the 18% baseline in 2015. UConn is also hoping to increase passenger trips on the University shuttle buses from 1.3 million per year in 2015 to 1.5 million per year by 2020. In addition to these initiatives, actions have already been taken this semester to increase sustainable transportation on campus. New buses have joined UConn’s fleet, equipped with bike racks for passengers who cycle.

Bus140428e459 — A bus from UConn Storrs’ campus fleet (UConn Media Share)

Moving forward, the Office of Environmental Policy is examining how else we can increase sustainable transportation. At a recent student summit based around the 2020 Vision, transportation was a key topic of discussion. Many students were interested in increasing the number and frequency of bus routes going to off campus housing locations like Northwood Apartments, Carriage House Apartments, and Hunting Lodge Apartments. Additionally, students wanted more bike paths to be added to major roads such as 195. They also noted that sustainable transportation would increase if there was more awareness of programs on campus that support sustainable transportation, such as the carpool app, Zipcar, and UConn Outdoor’s bike share program, which is new as of last semester.

Interestingly, while the 2020 Vision focuses primarily on UConn’s campus fleet and buses, student ideas were based on support for sustainable transportation by students and faculty, including increased bike paths and carpooling. Thus, the combined perspective of the student viewpoint and administration priorities create a more holistic picture of how transportation at UConn can be made more sustainable.