inspirational

First Ever Carbon-Free UConn Basketball Games!

carbon-free-certificateEvery spring, volunteers from the EcoHusky student group and EcoHouse learning community come together to raise environmental awareness at Basketball Green Game Days. By teaching fans how to recycle, and collecting bottles at the end of the game, volunteers always play an integral role in making these events “green.” This year’s Green Game Days were special because, for the very first time, the Office of Environmental Policy purchased carbon offsets to make the games carbon-free!

Carbon offsets are credits purchased that represent the reduction of an amount of carbon dioxide emissions. In cases such as powering a basketball game, where it is difficult or impossible to reduce associated emissions, a carbon offset can be purchased to fund the reduction of greenhouse gases elsewhere. This is a great tool for organizations that would like to mitigate their carbon impacts, but when it is not feasible for them to do so directly.

twitter-postWe would like to thank all of our volunteers for their time and enthusiasm. With their help, we were able to collect enough bottles to donate $40 to the Campus Sustainability Fund to support more programs and initiatives to raise environmental awareness. We would also like to thank UConn Athletics for their time and effort to promote sustainability. We greatly appreciate the P.A. announcements, video board slides, and social media posts throughout the events. We look forward to working with you at future Green Game Days!

Climate Action and Higher Education @COP22

The following blogs emphasize a common theme at COP22: the role of universities and educated youth as powerful leaders in the fight against climate change, highlighted at a higher education networking event at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech:

We Want You (to Help Combat Climate Change) Eddie McInerney

Green Campuses: Turning Knowledge into Action Christen Bellucci

A Meeting of Millennials Stephanie Hubli

Knowledge is Privilege Usra Qureshi

An American Dream? Hannah Casey

It’s Up to Us Now Ben Breslau

Caring on Campus Margaux Verlaque-Amara

 

We Want You (to Help Combat Climate Change)

Eddie McInerney, Student, Political Science

There were a large number of panel discussions to attend in the Green Zone at COP22, ranging in subject matter from implementation of sustainable practices in the fashion industry, to the implications of climate change on basic human rights. Based on the sessions attended and the topics discussed among faculty and student in the UConn@COP22 group, it seemed that one of the most pressing issues was the younger generation’s role in combatting climate change and how we as students can become involved at the local, national, and international levels.

Cadi Ayyad University
Cadi Ayyad University, host of the higher education networking event. Photo taken by Mark Urban

One of the first questions we heard asked at the conference, and that we asked ourselves in our daily discussions, was how can we spread awareness about climate change to people in the U.S.?  Outreach is desperately needed, especially with President-elect Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed climate denier. We rebounded a number of different ideas through our group, but were not able to reach any compelling revelations. Should we try to get every student who would listen to become an advocate for the issue? Or could we get more done with fewer students who were more knowledgeable? Should we use emotive rhetoric to garner support among older populations, especially those who voted for Trump, or should we focus on better educating their children on the subject matter? It seemed as though we were stuck in a loop.

 

Then, on Wednesday evening, we attended a higher education networking event with students from Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, along with students from a number of schools across the United States. The same question was posed by a UConn faculty member: how can we get the younger generation excited about this issue, and to that measure, involved? Ultimately, it seemed the conclusion drawn by both the students and faculty was that we must take action together.  A Moroccan student argued that it is one thing to say you want to stop climate change, but another to actually do something about it, given most students’ pre-occupation with the daily academic workload of assignments, projects and maintaining good grades.

Coming from the higher education networking event meeting, I was inspired by the similarity of our views and the power of climate change as a unifying issue among students from diverse backgrounds and nationalities.  I’m convinced that the surest way for us to combat this issue is to make use of these international connections. Students at UConn and other American universities need to reach out to international students, peer-to-peer, through contacts made during study abroad programs, at future COPs, or otherwise. Mobilizing Millennials and Generation Zs, especially college students, would create a formidable international force for influencing governments and educating youth in ways that give us the best chance at combatting climate change, across all regions of the world.

 

Green Campuses: Turning Knowledge into Action

Christen Bellucci, Student, Environmental Sciences, Human Health Concentration

Green Campus Sign
COP22 “ACT” signs were posted all throughout the city of Marrakech

From the moment we first stepped foot in COP22’s Green Zone, an urgent question presented itself to us: What can universities do to strengthen the fight against climate change? The first panel we attended as a group Monday evening was The Relevance of Green University Networks in Promoting a Sustainable Future, a discussion led by a group of higher education leaders from around the world. One of their primary messages was that universities have a responsibility to exist as leaders in the area of sustainability and climate change mitigation. By building and supporting green campuses, universities embed a sustainability mindset in their students.

 

Sustainable campuses allow for multiple angles of education, drawing a link between the classroom, initiative, and innovation. As stated in the panel, they “create platforms to turn knowledge into action.” This discussion was so relevant to UConn’s goals of providing its community members with a sustainable living and learning environment. I was encouraged to hear that UConn had already taken on one of the panel’s primary recommendations for optimizing sustainability: managing and monitoring both quantitative and qualitative sustainability metrics. UConn has discovered, developed, and implemented a great number of sustainability initiatives through participation in annual surveys such as the Sierra Club’s Cool Schools ranking.

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Colleges United for Climate Action networking event at Cadi Ayyad University. Photo taken by Mark Urban

While at Cadi Ayyad University for our co-hosted event, Colleges United for Climate Action, a student even congratulated us for our number 2 ranking in the international GreenMetric sustainability survey. I was not fully aware until this moment that UConn’s achievements are being recognized throughout the world, confirming the higher education panel’s message that we have a responsibility as a university to act as a leader for our own community, for fellow colleges and universities, and for the world.

 

 

A Meeting of Millennials

Stephanie Hubli, Student, Environmental Engineering

The optimism I gained from this conference greatly outweighs my initial skepticism about the daunting nature of the global fight against climate change. The change in my overall outlook stems not from the success of this year’s formal proceedings at the COP, but rather from what I observed about the promising leadership and camaraderie amongst the millennial generation worldwide.

higher ed networking
Photo taken by Mark Urban

My enthusiasm is rooted in my own COP22 experiences and interactions, which have reassured me about the connectivity of educated youth on a global scale.  On Monday evening, while waiting for the bus from the Green Zone back to our hotel, our group had the pleasure of meeting a college-educated, twenty-something Reuters reporter from Cairo, Egypt.  Naturally, we discussed international concerns about the recent U.S. election of Donald Trump, a known climate change skeptic.  The reporter did not laugh at us but instead empathized with us. Later in the week, we had the honor of meeting with faculty, students, and graduates from Moroccan and other American colleges at a COP22 higher education networking event held at the University of Cadi Ayyad.  Every individual I engaged in conversation with was intelligent, action-oriented, and determined to be a voice of change. I was especially struck by the similarity of concerns, ideas and aspirations of the many Moroccan students we met.

 

Some would say that the competitive nature of globalization, such as international trade agreements, have led to a more divided and selfish world.  However, in the case of international youth, I dare to disagree. My experiences at COP22 and the people I have met in Marrakech have given me hope for the future.

I know that it will be a long process, but we can do anything when we stand together.  We are united on the need for climate action.  We are empathetic to the plight of those who have been or will be displaced by the effects of climate change, such as flooding and drought.  We are strong in preparing for a more resilient world, and protecting those, often in developing nations, who are most at risk from climate change.  We are determined to succeed.  We are one.

 

Knowledge is Privilege

Usra Qureshi, Student, Molecular and Cell Biology, Human Rights

I want to believe that everyone has the opportunity to participate in environmentally friendly practices, that every community knows enough about climate change to understand the urgency of the situation. And that sustainability is affordable for all.

The reality is morose. Liberals, academics and the upper class are communities privileged and enabled by the understanding of climate change, and all afforded access to sustainable measures meant to keep our world going.

solar powered car
Attendees of the Colleges United for Climate Action event learn about sustainability projects at Cadi Ayyad University

COP22 in itself felt accessible to few. During a session on funding sustainable practices in Africa, one man went on an unforgettably impassioned monologue about how COP22 would not have been frequented by so many African voices had it not been taking place in Africa. The Innovation Zone was found to be populated by incredible inventions and visions that would undoubtedly change lives – so long as you came from a lineage of royalty.

Certainly, the world becomes more aware by the day about the impacts of climate change. But we keep educating those who are already educated. This is a problem. Continuously, there is a failure to frame the subject in a way that is understandable to the average person. Climate change is incomprehensible. Sustainability is inaccessible. Change is unaffordable.

So before we expect them to understand and join the revolution, we ourselves need to fix the way we enable. It is a privilege to be able to understand climate change. It is time we make it a right.

 

An American Dream?

Hannah Casey, Student, Environmental Studies, Public Policy

The mostly Moroccan and North African students at the higher education networking event, co-sponsored by UConn and the Universite Cadi Ayyad, were extremely excited to host us at their college.  Afterwards, they showed us an exhibition displaying their sustainability-focused research projects. The 20 or so students from this top University in Morocco were studying a variety of majors, from biology to environmental science and linguistics.

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Students, faculty, and staff networking at Cadi Ayyad University. Photo taken by Mark Urban

One of the undergraduate students, Omi, stood out to me. Omi is a freshman studying physics with a passion like no other. Her greatest inspiration is Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the American astrophysicist, author, and Director of the Hayden Planetarium in NYC. Omi aspires to follow his path and become an astrophysicist. Despite her hard work and incredible grades, Omi will be unable to pursue her planned career in Morocco.  That’s because of the lack of resources and educational institutions with specialized programs, like those Tyson found at Columbia for his Masters and Doctorate in astrophysics. Her dream is to study in America and she described this goal as comparable to “winning a prize.” Her simple wish to continue her education in America with the same opportunities we have, points out some of the things we take for granted in the U.S..

 

Omi’s entry into the United States also is dependent on potential immigration policy decisions made by the new president elect. Such policies could greatly affect the ability of Omi and many other bright students to continue their studies in the U.S and realize their dreams. New innovations, technologies, and future solutions to current problems may also not be realized if many great international students are not given equal academic opportunities –  especially if this means pursuing their graduate student dreams in America.

Omi’s sincere desire to follow in the academic footsteps of her American role model was a real eye-opener. How lucky we are to live in the United States.

 

It’s Up to Us Now

Ben Breslau, Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Upon entering COP22 on Monday I struggled with what to do next. What did any of this matter if the U.S. government refuses to help us? Fortunately, over the course of this week at the conference, I came to understand that I am far from alone in the pursuit of a healthier planet. Individuals, corporations, and governments from around the world are working harder than ever to solve the issues that lay ahead. And our young generation has a greater potential than ever to completely reshape our world for the better.

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COP22 higher education panel. Photo taken by Christen Bellucci

On our first night at the conference, all of the UConn students entered a panel of faculty from around the world, discussing the role of Higher Education in future environmentalism. Professors spoke in French and English about how important it is that every college student learns about sustainability. As our generation is the one bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, it is vital that we are all equipped with the knowledge of how climate change and other environmental issues occur, how they relate to issues of social justice and economics, and how to create lasting solutions. It is important not only to teach sustainability, but also to make the lessons memorable; as with any subject, students are most likely to remember the lessons that are interesting, engaging, and relatable. Luckily, UConn students and faculty are pursuing this goal by promoting a new environmental literacy/sustainability general education requirement through a student-circulated petition and a faculty-led workgroup. It would be wonderful for our university to be on the short list of schools around the world that have adopted such a requirement. So how exactly can we, as students and faculty, construct these programs for more schools besides our own? Networking. Luckily, we had numerous opportunities to network and exchange ideas with a host of other people throughout the conference.

On Monday night, several of us were stuck waiting for our bus back to the hotel. Luckily, a potentially troubling situation quickly turned into a great opportunity. As we waited, we began to exchange information with some of the other conference attendees.

Mostafa, for example, is a journalist from Cairo. For the last few years, his work has granted him unique opportunities on the front lines of our changing world. Mostafa has seen the death and destruction caused by Syria’s civil war, and the plight of the now impoverished refugees trapped in Jordan and other countries. And of course, he was actively involved in the 2011 Arab Spring demonstrations that removed Hosni Mubarak from his decades-long rule. He also had to watch helplessly, first as the extremely conservative Mohammad Morsi was elected, then as Morsi was forcibly deposed by Abdel al-Sisi and his military companions. Now, Mostafa and his friends — who, like us, want a nation of more democracy and transparency — are stuck under military rule with no sign of an election in the foreseeable future. Interestingly, we observed how the Arab Spring, and other recent events like the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, share similar social trends: the population at-large seems to be sick of ineffective “establishment” governments, but there is a strong divide as to what should replace the current world order.

sustainable heating solutions
Students and OEP Director Rich Miller learn about sustainable heating solutions at the COP22 Green Zone. Photo taken by Christen Bellucci

Before Mostafa boarded his bus, I asked him for advice about what we could do to counter our potentially regressive regime. He said: “Be patient. Unlike us, you’ll have a midterm election in two years, and another presidential election in four. Before then, we can all form a more connected international community.” We exchanged information, and will hopefully continue to build grassroots international support for climate awareness and action.

As the week went on, our group continued to ask ourselves what many Americans have recently been asking: How has our nation, and even our world, become so polarized? On Wednesday, we brainstormed this question with students from other American Universities and the Moroccan University of Cadi Ayyad. We gathered in one of the large university’s boardrooms with local students, as well as students from American schools such as the University of Denver, Columbia University, University of St. Louis, and several from Historically Black Colleges and Universities cohort. After introductions, UConn professor Oksan Bayulgen observed: In our generation, there are some teens and young adults who, like us, are incredibly passionate and active about a wide range of issues. But there are also many who show nearly complete apathy towards anything controversial or political. I, and some of the other American students, suggested that many of us are stuck in online echo chambers — we follow people and ‘news’ sources that align with our pre-existing ideas, and fear or condemn those with different outlooks. People also suggested that many American millennials need to be reached in areas of their life that matter to them. Examples include eco-friendly fashion, green community service, and sustainable diets. Some of the Moroccan students expanded on this notion and suggested that environmentalism is also a subject that too often is presented as abstract. Students need to learn, from a very early age, that sustainability is a real-world issue that affects us all.

I spoke later with Zakaria, a local student who runs “Science Caravans” with some of the other students who were at the networking event. They travel to local high schools and demonstrate simple experiments that explain how climate change works. Other Moroccan students suggested more outreach with a stronger focus on human rights and social justice issues that accompany climate challenges. This promotes community service and engages poor and minority stakeholders in the battle to avert a climate crisis.

Throughout the conference, we spotted many more opportunities to improve our generation’s global networking. For example, one of the many NGOs presenting in the Civil Societies pavilion held student gatherings throughout one of the days. While we weren’t able to attend ourselves, we gathered information about the organization, called Sustaining All Life. A U.S.-based group, they encourage exactly the information exchanges and conferences that we support.

I’m happy to say that I feel much more positive about our generation after all of these networking encounters. This, coupled with a Northeastern U.S. college sustainability conference I attended two weeks ago, has shown me that our generation is very proactive, especially in the face of disaster. All it takes is a coordinated effort!

 

Caring on Campus

Margaux Verlaque-Amara, Student, Molecular and Cell Biology

On Wednesday afternoon the group took a taxi ride to the Universite Cadi Ayyad for a program entitled, Colleges United for Climate Action; Connecting at COP22. As we walked through the university gates on the bustling city street, we entered a beautiful and sunny campus with walkways lined with orange trees and students hanging around the open-air academic buildings. Upon entering the main building, we were greeted with quintessential Moroccan architecture; elaborate wooden archways and red-clay walls, leading into beautiful lobby with delicate tiles that covered pillars that extended all the way to the ceiling.

cadi-ayyad
Cadi Ayyad University, co-host of the Colleges United for Climate Action networking event

Various students and professors from both UConn and other universities in Morocco and beyond sat around a long conference table in the main building of the university. Soon after the introductions from the university president and the students and educators in the room, our very own Dr. Oksan Bayulgen posed the idea; how can we get students at UConn to actually care?

This might seem mildly offending for some students reading this – no one wants to be called out for being apathetic. But let’s be real, a majority of us do not do all that we can in our community to combat the issues of climate change, nor do we feel overwhelmingly guilty about it. We don’t rally around the ideas of rising sea levels and depletion of bio-diversity like we rally around President Herbst not calling a snow day.

The evidence is clear, climate change is a real and imminent threat to us all, and there are tangible steps we can take to reverse the effects. It was agreed upon that while most students know the threats of climate change, the day-to-day behavior of each individual needs to reflect this on a much larger scale.

group discussion
College United for Climate Action group discussion. Photo taken by Mark Urban

Being mindful of how our daily actions impact our environment was agreed to be the biggest component of shaping the campus environment. There is an emotional and personal component that needs to be tapped into, much of which can be achieved by daily reminders that our consumption adds up. Being environmentally conscious cannot be an isolated event on a designated day, one commentator said, but rather a part of daily life, built into every action. Some easy solutions that came out of not only this conversation at the university, but also the panel discussions at COP 22, included restructuring the way we deal with waste and making recycling more accessible in every space. I find this to be true, especially in major public spaces such as Homer Babbidge Library. Coffee cups, wrappers, boxes, plastic waste, all thrown into the little garbage cans next to tables with little care from the students furiously studying for their calculus exams. Making recycling more accessible in all spaces creates a constant reminder that our resources can be reused

On the topic of integrating climate awareness on campuses and the role of a campus in spreading awareness, Dr. Beverley Wright, a professor of Sociology and the founding director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, gave an answer that I found promising and feasible. Dr. Wright expressed an idea about community-based partnership where a community of interest would guide projects and research in partnership with a local university. I think this idea is simple, yet can lead to the behavioral change that enables climate action, as we discussed beforehand. Specialized programs that emphasize community-based partnerships allow members of a community to actively engage in research, political advocacy, and awareness. There are many communities around Storrs that could pose a mutually beneficial partnership with UConn to transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. As we expand UConn’s sustainability programs and climate science research, we could use our resources to catalyze and support communities that are transitioning to more sustainable practices. Additionally, this allows UConn students to take community involvement to a level that directly changes our world, and could bolster the excitement and urgency surrounding climate change.

 

 

2013-16 Environmental Leadership Awards

20161025_ELA_056This past week, members from across the UConn community attended a very special ceremony. For the first time since 2012, UConn held the Environmental Leadership Awards (ELAs). These awards were presented to those who have gone above and beyond to promote sustainability in their field.

The event took place on Tuesday, October 25th, in the UConn Foundation Building, where more than 80 guests, including the winner and finalists of each category, were in attendance. They were given time to network and enjoy breakfast prior to the ceremony.

The ceremony began with a welcome from Scott Jordan, the University’s Executive Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer. He congratulated the UConn community as a whole, and thanked those in attendance for helping to make the university a leader in environmental sustainability.

Scott Jordan Speaking at the Environmental Leadership AwardsVice President Jordan’s introduction was followed by a brief address from Dr. Gene Likens. Among many achievements, Dr. Likens has published over 450 scientific papers on the ecological health of lakes, forests, and other environments. He is most renowned for his contributions to the discovery and remediation of acid rain throughout the 1970s and beyond. He now serves as UConn’s Special Environmental Advisor to the President. Dr. Likens emphasized the importance of community-wide dedication to environmental protection, and gave an anecdote about a Canadian town’s successful efforts to remediate a woodland polluted by copper smelting.

Following, OEP Director Rich Miller and Sustainability Coordinator Sarah Munro called up the winner and finalists for each category, and summarized each person’s or group’s accomplishments. Those recognized were selected by members of UConn’s Environmental Policy Advisory Council (EPAC) from a pool of over 40 nominations.

The 2013-2016 ELA winners are:

Emily McInerney Undergraduate: During her time at UConn, Emily worked at the Office of Environmental Policy, served as President of both EcoHusky and ECOalition, and conducted independent research on the relationship between climate change and wetland health.

Dave Wanik Graduate: Dave conducts research on the impact of wind on electrical power utilities, and developed a model to predict these outages. He is also a member of EPAC, and helped found the Eversource Energy Center.

Environmental Leadership Awards at UConn
Photo taken by Jeff Gonci

NEMO Rain Garden Outreach Team: Michael Dietz and Dave Dickson developed an application to educate people on construction of raingardens in association with the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officers (NEMO) Program.

Spring Valley Student Farm Student Group: This farm is largely student operated. Crops are harvested and sent to several places on campus. The organization also hosts student volunteers on Farm Fridays, and promotes sustainability through their solar thermal greenhouse system and aquaponics system.

Dining Services Group: Dining Services’ staff have actively promoted sustainable innovation in the university’s dining halls. So far, five dining halls have been Green Restaurant Certified, and Dining Services plans to certify all of UConn’s halls in near future.

Julia Cartabiano Staff: Julia is the Manager of Spring Valley Student Farm, as well as a program organizer for EcoHouse. She organized the “Just Food! Or Is It?” symposia and Insect Wonders at the Farm program.

Christopher Mason Environmental Partner: Chris has contributed lots of time and effort to promoting the health of the Hillside Environmental Education Park (HEEP). He participated in the annual BioBlitz, led trail maintenance groups, and promoted invasive species removal.

Dr. Michael Dietz Alumni: In addition to developing the Nemo Rain Garden App, Dr. Dietz has served as an educator in many UConn programs. He leads tours of Low Impact Development Sites around campus, and teaches high school students during the summer at the Natural Resources Conservation Academy.

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Photo taken by Jeff Gonci

Dr. James O’Donnell Faculty: Dr. O’Donnell is the Executive Director of the CT Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaptation. He also serves on the CT Council on Environmental Quality and the Governor’s Council on Climate Change. Dr. O’Donnell also conducts research on oceanography and rising sea levels.

Dr. Cameron Faustman and Jillian Ives Special Recognition: This award was presented for the recent Huskies Ending Food Waste initiative. Several lectures and events were organized to promote reduction of food waste in daily life.

 

UConn Faculty Bleed Blue and Go Green with GCAN

A group of UConn faculty members gathered this past Earth Day, along with OEP sustainability staff, for the second annual meeting of the Green Campus Academic Network (GCAN).  The OEP, in coordination with UConn’s Office of Public Engagement and Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE), established the Network in 2015 to increase faculty engagement in community-based and campus sustainability-related activities, which, in turn, promote a greener UConn.

DSC04580After introductions and opening remarks by the co-sponsors, faculty exchanged information about how they fit into the GCAN mission.  Conversations continued just outside the CESE conference room, at a casual reception with special guest, Dr. James Porter from the University of Georgia, who had been UConn’s expert motivational speaker on the topic of environmental literacy at multiple events during Earth Week.

Up to this point, GCAN’s focus has been on identifying faculty members teaching or researching environmental topics who are either relatively new to UConn (~ six years or less) or who have more recently begun incorporating sustainability into their curriculum.  Most of UConn’s more senior environmental faculty members, often department heads and directors of academic centers, are already actively engaged “champions and change agents” for a green campus – they’ve been a big part of UConn’s consistent Top Ten position in the Sierra Club and GreenMetric campus sustainability rankings for the past four years.  By reaching out to include the newer faculty members, we hope to nurture the continuing growth of sustainability-related courses, academic projects and even on-campus demonstrations of green technologies and research. This past academic year, there were more UConn students enrolled in Environmental Science and Environmental Studies majors than ever before, and more inter-disciplinary courses in all majors that featured a sustainability-related module or project.

DSC03478Both CESE and the Office of Public Engagement explained how their respective missions align with GCAN’s. CESE aims to lead and promote multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach in environmental science, engineering, policy, and sustainability. In co-sponsoring the activities of GCAN, CESE narrows this mission to incorporate sustainability and environmental issues that relate to UConn specifically.  At the same time, the role of Public Engagement is to promote engaged scholarship, support faculty and staff in scholarly outreach efforts, and maximize UConn’s impact on communities through service learning. Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy integrating meaningful interaction with the community with instruction and relevant projects to enrich student learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen community/University partnerships. A number of the collaborative efforts pursued through GCAN have been designated as service learning projects.

Over the course of the past year, several collaborative efforts arose as a result of GCAN, primarily between the OEP and faculty from a variety of disciplines.

  • The OEP reviewed proposals that students of Nataliya Plesha’s ARE course drafted for on-campus sustainability initiatives and attended their presentations and poster sessions after providing recommendations for improving upon those proposals. Similarly, the students in Laura Cisneros’ NRE class proposed viable sustainability projects for the University to consider implementing, one of which is the addition of bike racks on the front of the University buses to promote green transportation and cycling on and around campus.
  • OEP also provided guidance on how to incorporate UConn sustainability into the curriculum of a few courses offered by Christine Kirchhoff (ENVE) and Carol Atkinson Palombo (GEOG).
  • In the past year, OEP’s Director, Rich Miller, has given guest lectures about campus sustainability at UConn in more than half a dozen courses, from Environmental Law and Science, to Physics, Geography, Engineering and Political Science. Rich also teaches an honors UNIV seminar in Environmental Sustainability during the fall semester.  Over the same time period, Paul Ferri, an OEP Compliance Analyst, has led a variety of classes on seven campus tours featuring low impact development/Green Stormwater Infrastructure, the Hillside Environmental Education Park, and other green campus amenities.
  • Atkinson-Palombo’s students investigated UConn’s infrastructure and compared it to that of municipalities in developing countries to assess the sustainability of each and to better understand the resources required for development. Additionally, Atkinson-Palombo is interested in compiling case-studies drafted by her students regarding various climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
  • Kristina Wagstrom (CBE) employed several undergraduate researchers to collect air quality monitoring data at various locations around the University. This case study also served as a pilot for testing and improving methodologies in order to expand monitoring into select cities and towns. Based on the results of these efforts, future research was identified regarding the air emissions from the food trucks that serve the campus. Wagstrom’s air quality monitoring project also provides preliminary data for her own research purposes, making this project mutually beneficial for her work, her students, and the University.
  • group photoFinally, several members of GCAN, including Oksan Bayulgen (POLS), Tracy Rittenhouse (NRE), Anji Seth (GEOG), and Mark Urban (EEB), worked together with OEP to send a UConn delegation to Paris, France in December, to attend the historic events surrounding the United Nations annual climate change summit, COP21.
    • This enlightening experience was made possible with the help of CLAS, Global Affairs, CAHNR, the School of Business, School of Engineering, Marine Sciences, Coca-Cola, and the Campus Sustainability Fund who helped to sponsor the trip and worked with the faculty and the OEP to ensure a meaningful education experience.
    • The four faculty mentioned above, two staff from the OEP, and 12 students were able to attend the public Climate Generations space at the conference, a Global Landscapes Forum surrounding sustainable land use and development, Solutions21, which focused on the ways in which business and enterprises can solve climate change issues, among other varied climate- and COP- related events.
    • UConn also co-sponsored a higher-education networking event at COP21, with Second Nature and AASHE, which was generously hosted by the Kedge Business School in Paris.
    • After their return from France, the students and faculty alike set out to promote change here at UConn by preparing individual projects educating the UConn community about climate change and solutions, pursuing an environmental awareness general education requirement, and initiating dialogue with the University about the possibility of divestment. Furthermore, two students and one of the OEP’s two graduate sustainability coordinators attended the CT Green Campus Coalition’s annual conference, hosted this year at the UConn Law School, to discuss the implications of COP21 and the measures that need to be taken to make significant and lasting change at Connecticut colleges.

Following the increase in faculty engagement over the past year, and GCAN’s successful role in fostering it, OEP looks forward to numerous collaborative opportunities on the horizon.

If you are interested in learning more about GCAN or ways in which you can become involved please contact the OEP at 486-5773 or envpolicy@uconn.edu, OEP Director, Rich Miller (rich.miller@uconn.edu), or intern Ben Breslau (benjamin.breslau@uconn.edu).

UConn Ranked #1 Rural Campus and #2 Overall in UI GreenMetric World Ranking

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Overall Ranking 2015

Among 407 participating universities from 65 countries, UConn has been ranked #2 in the 2015 UI GreenMetric Ranking of World Universities, and has maintained its #1 ranking among those with rural campuses. UI GreenMetric is an annual sustainability survey focusing on a combination of indicators including setting and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste management, water, transportation, and education. With a total score of 7,156, UConn ranked highest among its peers in energy and climate change, with strong scores in the education and setting and infrastructure categories, as well. The energy and climate change section is weighed most heavily in the ranking, as it encompasses a wide range of indicators including green building, greenhouse gas emissions reduction policy, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. It is also important to note that this was the first year that the GreenMetric survey included a carbon footprint evaluation as part of its criteria.

Nearly 50 more schools participated in 2015 than in 2014, yet UConn still succeeded in moving up in ranking from #7 to #2. This we attribute to a variety of efforts and accomplishments. As a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), recently renamed Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment, UConn made a promise to aim for carbon neutrality by 2050. Thereafter, all decisions regarding campus projects have been made with greenhouse gas emissions in mind, outlined in our Climate Action Plan. Apart from the presence of a wide range of sustainability initiatives at UConn, we attribute much of our success in the ranking to the diligence and cooperation of those involved in obtaining and compiling all of the data and information into concise, yet comprehensive, responses.

 

UConn’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory: Taking Stock of our Climate Progress and My Last Two Years

In my two years as a Sustainability Intern with the Office of Environmental Policy, I have been placed in a very interesting role. I have compiled the three greenhouse gas emission inventories for the Storrs campus from 2009 up though last year, 2011. This task has proven to be something I can look back on and be proud of and something that I think the University can also look back on and be proud of.

History and Purpose

The greenhouse gas inventory documents all the sources of emissions from the University that contribute to global warming, such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and many others. The University has voluntarily tracking this information to some degree since 2003 although thorough inventories did not begin until 2007.

In 2008, then President Michael Hogan made the University a signatory of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (PCC) at the request of large student support. The PCC is a pledge by institutions of higher education to reach a goal of climate neutrality by the year 2050. Signatories must have submitted an outline of how they would reduce their emissions to the 2050 target in a document known as a Climate Action Plan in order to become a part of the PCC. Additionally, participating institutions must provide annual greenhouse gas inventories and biannual progress updates.

Making Progress

In general our largest source of emissions each year has been from on campus stationary sources such as the cogeneration plant (which supplies most of the Storrs campus with electricity and steam), boilers (to produce additional steam for heating), chillers (which produce chilled water for cooling buildings), and generators (for emergency power). In fact, going back to 2001, this source of emissions has never accounted for less than 75% of the total campus emissions.

[/caption]This indicates that decreasing the demand for electricty, steam, and chilled water on campus is worthwhile strategy for reducing the amount of emissions generated each year.

The University of Connecticut has gone to great lengths to make its buildings significantly more energy efficient over the last few years. Some of the energy-saving initiatives have included replacement of lighting fixtures and bulbs, the annual EcoMadness energy conservation competition, and the sustainable design and construction guidelines.

Dot-plot with a moving average showing the amount of energy emissions per student for the years 2001 through 2010.
In 2010, 77% of emissions come from either fuel burnt at the cogeneration plant or from stationary sources like generators and chillers.The above graph shows that over time UConn has been able to produce less greenhouse gas emissions on a per student basis over the years. This is especially amazing considering that the student population at UConn has grown by nearly 40% over that time and campus building space has grown by just over 30%. One key to this success has included the construction of the cogeneration system in the central utility plant, which provides UConn with electricity and steam in a more efficient manner than the grid can. Another has been the University’s policy requiring major construction and renovation projects since 2008 to meet a minimum LEED Silver rating, such as the Burton-Schenkman football training complex.
The University also has small emission contributions from other categories like transportation, fertilizer application, and refrigerants (which are actually incredibly potent greenhouse gases). Some of the emissions are offset by the UConn forest and its new composting operation.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="481"]A dot-plot showing the emissions from 2007 through 2010. A line has been fitted over the past four years’ data to approximate the trend in how UConn’s emissions have been going.

Form 2007 to 2010, the overall emissions dropped by about 6,000 MT eCO2 per year, which is the equivalent of taking about 120 passenger cars off the road each of those years. This is a 3% annual decline.

This is a promising trend considering the fact that the number of full-time students increased 6% over those three years, part-time students by 10%, and summer students by 68%. Although there was a significant drop in building space from 2007 to 2008, building space increased from 2008 to 2010 increased by 3.5%.

Summing It All Up

Working on the greenhouse gas inventory has been immensely rewarding. I personally worked on the greenhouse gas inventories as far back as 2008 and I was the primary intern who worked on the 2009-2011 inventories. Not only am I proud to see my work produce these useful metrics for evaluating our steps towards sustainability, but I am also proud to have been a part of something that connects so much of the University together.

For each inventory I had to contact tens of people for information on a huge variety of sources. I received data from sources involved in generating power on campus as well as sources involved in generating compost (which now includes the agricultural compost facility, the floriculture program, many of the campus dining halls, the Spring Valley Farm living and learning community, and the EcoGarden student group). There is just something incredibly exciting to take bits and pieces from so many staff and faculty members and then have the opportunity to show them how their contribution to campus sustainability fits in at our annual spring Environmental Policy Advisory Council (EPAC) meeting.

I am excited that in less than one month I can honestly tell them that our University has reduced its emissions by 9% in three years, even as campus and the student body grew. And most exciting is that the 2011 inventory is nearing completion and it is so far promising our largest reduction to date.

Even when I felt things were not working in favor of sustainability on campus, I could still look at the inventory and know that the University has made and is still making a great and concerted effort to reducing our environmental footprint — and I would hope everyone can see this as well. (We did after all finish 16th in the Sierra Club Cool Schools survey last year, in part thanks to our third best overall score of 9.5/10 in energy efficiency — so even if we accidentally leave a few lights on, rest assured that we’ve done our best to make them “waste” as little energy as possible.)

So ultimately I would remind everyone, as an outgoing intern and as a graduating senior, that you must not let good be the enemy of perfection; take time to appreciate your progress every so often. But likewise, do not rest on your laurels, especially when you have shown in the past just how much you can accomplish.

Written by…

Chris Berthiaume is a senior in Environmental Engineering and a second year intern with the OEP. His major projects have included the greenhouse gas inventory, updating the website, social media engagement, and the assisting with the 2012 EocHusky 5k.