In her opening remarks at the Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (OHESC) at Portland State University, Institute for Sustainable Solutions Director Jennifer Allen encouraged attendees to think of ways to “link arms and harness our assets together in a way that we can really move the needle on [sustainability efforts].”

With public-private partnerships that promote urban mobility, the integration of energy and sustainable design, ecosystem services work and watershed stewardship, collaboration is the hallmark of Portland State’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions, which is charged with advancing sustainability research, education and outreach at the university.

A higher education sustainability conference in this region provides a unique look at partnerships that exist among public and private sectors that would normally compete with each other. For a full list of speakers and presentations, see the conference program. Slides from each presentation will be posted by the end of February.

Portland-based AASHE staff members Margo Wagner (marketing & communications) and Judy Walton (publications) attended the January 31-February 1 event, recording their takeaways on the theme of collaboration:

1. Music Provides Common Ground Across Cultural Divides in Sustainability

Portland State University professor Albert Spencer, an Eastern Kentucky native and “proud grandson of a coal miner” is working to create curriculum that will encourage sustainable energy careers in Appalachia. His approach? Bluegrass music.

When it comes to conversations about energy, there is a large cultural divide between Spencer’s urban, middle-class, environmentally-focused, liberal Portland students and the rural, working poor, conservative demographic of Appalachia. “But both places loves bluegrass!” exclaimed Spencer during his session, “Using Bluegrass Music to Power Sustainable Energy in Appalachia.”

By studying Steve Earl’s “The Mountain” and Taylor Made’s “West Virginia Underground”—“beer drinkin’, butt-kickin’ music,” as Spencer calls it—PSU students gained a different perspective and empathy for how Appalachians feel about outsiders telling them how to live and what’s “right.” Spencer hopes to take the course online for students in Appalachia to help achieve his ultimate goal of slowing the capital flight from the region.

2. Finding Common ‘Sustainability’ Language is Key to the Movement

Nichole Martin didn’t like the word “sustainability.” She felt excluded from the conversation and wondered how, as a woman of color, she fit into “this big movement about how we can sustain” that seemed full of messages about eating organic food, recycling, shopping locally and other language targeted to white people of privilege.

After talking with her parents, she realized her own connection with the word: “My parents have been sustaining for a long time. It’s called trying to survive.”

During the conference, Martin shared her experience of inviting people of color into the sustainability conversation through a series of seminars on the Portland State campus focused on race and sustainability. The goal of the series, which ended up being hugely popular, was to find common language that could lead to communities finding their own ways to get involved with the movement.

The common sustainability definition to come out of the series: “A person’s capacity to continue.”

“Exploring the social side of sustainability changed my life,” said Martin, who now serves as a program assistant for Portland State University’s Solutions Generator, which works to “inspire students as change agent leaders capable of envisioning, implementing and assessing holistic sustainability solutions on campus and in the community.”

3. Sustainability Industry Partnerships Keep Institutions Competitive

The energy efficiency industry is expanding with a national investment of $1.5 billion per year and Oregon is attracting graduates as a national/global center of excellence for energy efficiency and design, said Energy Trust of Oregon’s Fred Gordon during the session, “Energy Efficiency: Powerful Creator of Green Jobs for Professionals.”

This all sounds good but there is a current disconnect between this growing industry and Oregon’s state universities. “Here’s an industry that is a big part of the climate change solution, a space that is tailor made for PSU—we have a stake in the ground around urban sustainability—and we’re not able to meet the demand for jobs in this industry,” said session panelist Erin Flynn, associate vice president for strategic partnerships at Portland State.

In terms of national education and training, said Flynn, there are lots of technical programs at two-year colleges in the energy efficiency industry, but there is an opportunity right now to pioneer curriculum that will prepare economists, business managers and specialists in this field.

Portland State currently offers a popular smart grid course and a green building lab, and is now working to weave these disparate pieces into “something meaningful for students and industry,” said Flynn. “…the demand is clear, the industry is ready, and it seems like the kind of opportunity to be intentional about, to jump on.”

As a punctuation to this message, luncheon keynote speaker David Kenney, president and executive director of Oregon BEST (Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center), showed how connecting Oregon industry to university research teams adds value and enhances competitiveness for Oregon firms, boosts state revenues, helps the state recruit new clean technology companies, and grows and improves university research. Oregon BEST, a nonprofit established by the Oregon Legislature, invests in key clean tech research projects and facilities that can create economic impact and attract research dollars to Oregon universities. Kenney opened and concluded his talk with these words: "Some of you, perhaps not all, should become clean tech inventors, innovators or entrepreneurs. We need you."

4. Collaboration Helps Impact the Campus (Triple) Bottom Line

At Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, a collaborative effort is transforming the campus into a "living lab." With support from President Mary Spilde, faculty, staff and students are working together on projects that benefit the campus while enhancing student learning and faculty/staff research. The college's new Institute for Sustainable Practices helps connect courses (Lane CC has six sustainability-focused degree programs) with campus facilities and infrastructure spaces that become real-world "labs." Energy management and water conservation instructors Josh Manders and Sarah Whitney described three levels of student involvement with these spaces from simple tours, to data collection and monitoring projects, to analysis of "real problems with real equipment," which generates "real solutions." Mike Sims, recycling and surplus property coordinator and Anna Scott, energy analyst, described how these collaborative projects "provide students with opportunities to impact the campus (triple) bottom line."

5. Collaboration is Integral to the Student Vision of Sustainability

Developed by students from across higher education institutions in the Northwest during the conference, the OHESC Student Summit Vision includes "expectations of inclusive and collaborative decision making processes, which include students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, and the surrounding communities" as part of its definition of a "culture of sustainability." Tangible actions toward a culture of sustainability as outlined in the Vision include:

• a commitment to transparent endowments, socially responsible investments, and a complete divestment from fossil fuels
• establishing a Green Revolving Fund on each campus
• developing a requirement in each major that addresses the intersection of sustainability and the field of study
• creating a system for access to affordable, healthy, and just food, which could include establishing a food pantry and/or garden plots for the campus community’s use
• mandating programs that provide a holistic introduction to sustainability for first year students, new staff, faculty and administrators, which address oppression of both people and the planet

Click here for a full look at the OHESC Student Summit Vision.

Black and Gold? Try Green and Gold

Spend a few minutes in Patapsco Hall’s recently-completed addition, and you won’t have to be told it received one of the world’s top certifications for environmentally-friendly design. The large windows reduce the need for artificial light, the heating and cooling system automatically adjusts to your presence and you won’t have to look far to recycle your soda can.

But while all of those features helped the building earn a LEED Gold certification, perhaps the most innovative part of the building’s design is how it is helping shape the future. That’s because residential life is using the building as an opportunity to educate the campus about sustainability.

“We are committed not only to having facilities and practices that lead to a more sustainable future, but also to educating our residents so that they understand our commitment to sustainability and have opportunities to change the culture firsthand,” said Katie Boone, director of residential life.

Education and leadership on climate change are key underpinnings of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which President Hrabowski signed in 2007. Within three years, the university adopted a Climate Action Plan, which among other things, requires new construction to meet at least LEED Silver certification.

Patapsco Hall exceeded expectations for certification – and for student involvement. While the addition was still in the earliest stages of planning, residential life invited students to contribute to conversations about making the building environmentally friendly.

“I was primarily concerned with the green design of the project, the energy consumption of the building, ideas for day-lighting as well as energy conservation,” said Samuel Su ’11, biology, who proposed several ideas for building features at the meetings. “Because the project was something outside of the scope of my academic studies, it really presented an opportunity to learn something else through self-study.” Su runs the green living website Verno, which he started with several other UMBC students in 2009.

All student ideas were considered; some, such as elimination of actively-cooled water fountains, were implemented, while others, such as liquid discussant waterfalls, were investigated but proved to be too costly. One of the most innovative ideas came from Olyssa Starry, a graduate student at UMBC at the time, who suggested setting up a permanent experiment on the building’s roof. Building designers incorporated a 600 square foot “green roof” and an identical “white roof” area into the building’s plans, and data are collected from the water that drains from each section of roof.

“Working with them to incorporate research into the design was such a learning process,” said Starry, who is now completing her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, College Park. “The team did not need a lot of convincing [to implement the plan], and from what I understand that is not typical.”

Starry is using data from the roof as part of her dissertation, a model of green roof hydrology. The data also are available online – and will eventually be displayed on a screen in the Patapsco lobby – creating a valuable resource for students interested in hydrology, said Andy Miller, associate professor of geography and environmental systems.

“Having a monitoring site right here on campus collecting information in real time presents a great educational opportunity,” he said. “It's always a great advantage for students to be able to get their hands on real data and to see where it came from.”

With more construction and renovation projects on the horizon, the lessons learned through this project will impact the future of sustainability on campus. The next construction project, the apartment community center, will include a green roof, and residential life is looking to harness students’ enthusiasm for sustainability through new programs, such as contests to see who can use the least electricity and a potential geography and environmental systems living/learning community.

“Ultimately,” Boone said, “it is really about partnering with students to engage and educate on sustainable practices.”

(1/30/13)

We're getting ready for AASHE's 6th annual conference, taking place October 6-9, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. Here are a few ways to make sure you don't miss out on the latest updates, deadlines and discounts:

Stay in the Know with the AASHE 2013 Blog

Yes, we're looking forward to some live bluegrass, Southern BBQ and a visit to the Parthenon. But one of the main reasons we chose Nashville, Tennessee as the destination for AASHE 2013 is its lesser-known run to be the "greenest city in the Southeast." Befitting of this year's conference theme, "Resiliency & Adaptation," AASHE 2013 is taking place in a city that is part of the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, has a comprehensive strategy to ensure consistent access to an affordable, sustainable and nutritious food system, and features a new residential energy efficiency program that provides free in-home energy evaluations and other financial incentives to Nashville homeowners...

Read more about why we chose Nashville as the AASHE 2013 host city in the new AASHE 2013 blog. Found on the home page of the AASHE 2013 conference website, this blog will provide an in-depth look at this year's conference offerings and a behind-the-scenes take on the conference planning. Visit us often for new blog posts.

Stay in the Loop with Conference Notifications

You can stay connected to the latest updates and announcements about AASHE 2013 by signing up for conference notifications about volunteer opportunities, exhibiting or sponsoring, Student Summit information, registration kick-off and discounts, abstract submissions and more. The call for abstracts opens next week! Stay tuned to the AASHE 2013 website for details.

Stay Connected via the AASHE 2013 Social Media Center

We will also be announcing updates via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, so "like" us and "follow" us here! A new AASHE 2013 Facebook page is also available for finding rideshares and roommates, planning get-togethers, sharing your own Nashville must-do list, and any other networking needs before the conference. Thanks to University at Buffalo's Jim Simon for sharing his must-do list here including great places to grab a drink and network like Yazoo Brewing Company and Jackalope Brewing Company. Please RSVP and invite others to this page!

As a child, Lekelia “Kiki” Jenkins ’97, biological sciences, could often be found on a fishing pier on the Chesapeake Bay, dangling a line for fish or chicken-necking for blue crabs with her family.

Today, you’re more apt to find her on a commercial fishing boat in Ecuador as she researches how fishermen can keep from catching protected species such as sea turtles.

It’s a race against time as Jenkins works with fishermen and government regulators to adopt new technologies out on the water. It can take 15 years or longer to come up with a new device to keep sea turtles from being snared by hooks or to prevent dolphins from getting tangled in nets.

“When you’re looking at some of the forecasts of when animals are going to go extinct – like leatherback turtles, which could be a decade before they’re extinct in the Pacific Ocean – then 15 years is too long of a time frame,” said Jenkins, who is now an assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Jenkins focuses not only on the mechanics of the devices she’s helping to streamline – called bycatch reduction devices – but also the factors that lead commercial fishermen to adopt them or reject them. In particular, she’s been evaluating barriers that might prevent fishermen in other countries from using the devices that American regulators are pushing.

She blends a touch of the social sciences into biology, understanding not just how the animals behave with the devices, but how the people who use them behave, too.

“It’s really about the people, and the people are having an impact on the environment,” Jenkins said. “What’s going to effect change really starts with humans and why they do what they do, and where there are opportunities to improve that.”

Jenkins also studies how commercial fishermen might switch their fishing gear to different types that are less lethal to protected species – from nets, say, to baited fishing lines. She is also working on recounting historic fishing harvests to better understand how humans have influenced marine life.

Jenkins’ research often takes her out on the water, working alongside commercial fishermen.

“Fishermen are wonderful. They like me, so I’m lucky,” Jenkins says with a laugh. “They are really sweet, very open. They take their time to share.”

Jenkins’ career path was shaped by her mentors at UMBC. A former junior zookeeper at what is now the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Jenkins initially considered studying veterinary medicine and endocrinology, so she could work in captive breeding.

But it was in the late UMBC professor of biological sciences Carl Weber’s ecology class that she found her calling.

“I was reading through the textbook, a chapter we weren’t assigned on conservation ecology, and I thought, ‘This is it! This is what I want to do,’” Jenkins recalls.

In addition to Weber, Jenkins credits other UMBC faculty, including associate professor of geography and environmental systems Sandy Parker, senior lecturer in chemistry Mark Perks, and former associate vice provost Teresa Viancour (who let Jenkins into the lab at night to observe electric fish) with helping her understand where her biology training at UMBC could take her.

Jenkins also found a “wonderful oasis” in UMBC’s dance department, where she earned a minor and found a creative outlet in an interest she continues today. In fact, after Jenkins earned her Ph.D. in marine conservation at Duke University in 2006, she choreographed a dance about her dissertation on sea turtles. It won second place in a dance competition sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Jenkins says the arts and science can mesh better than many might think. In fact, art can be used to communicate science to non-scientists.

“What I tell people all the time is that, especially when it comes to the environment, people’s interest in environmental issues are triggered by all sorts of things,” she said. That could be experiences in nature, photography, poetry or literature. It makes sense, she said, to communicate science through those same channels.

“If we as scientists want to deliver information back to stakeholders and people who care about the environment, doing scientific papers is insufficient,” she said.

Jenkins practices what she preaches, writing general-interest articles alongside each of her academic papers. In 2011, for example, she blogged about a research trip to Ecuador for the New York Times.

Jenkins hopes her work – whether with regulators, fishermen or regular folks – can help save vulnerable species.

“I want to make a difference. I want to have a lasting conservation impact,” Jenkins said. “When I did my dissertation, I said to my advisor: ‘I want to do work that someone’s going to use. It’s not going to sit on a shelf.’”

— Pamela Wood, UMBC Magazine

With this interview, AASHE is pleased to launch our Presidential Voices interview series, featuring conversations with inspiring sustainability leaders who play unique roles as heads of higher education institutions or systems. I will be conducting most of these interviews in my role as AASHE's chief publications officer. Please let me know via email (judy@aashe.org) of any presidents or chancellors you recommend to be interviewed.

First in the interview series is President James H. Mullen of Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. Dr. Mullen has been president of Allegheny since 2008 and has 20 years of experience in leadership roles in higher education. In addition, he has been a sought-after lecturer in public policy, history, and political science. Under his leadership, Allegheny College received a 2012 Climate Leadership Award from the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and Second Nature, recognizing the College’s commitment to a renewable energy future. Dr. Mullen is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He holds a master of public policy from Harvard University and a doctorate in higher education from U Mass Amherst.

Judy Walton: How does sustainability fit the mission of a liberal arts college?

James Mullen: Our mission as a liberal arts college is straightforward and essential: to prepare young adults to excel as citizens of a diverse, interconnected world. I think the keyword here is “citizens.” Citizens are not bystanders. The Founding Fathers did not intend citizens to sit on the sidelines and hope that others solve the problems that face our communities. Rather, citizens are meant to be informed, articulate, and active participants in solving the problems that face us.

As a charter signatory of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, Allegheny acknowledged that climate change is one of the most serious issues affecting our world. And who better than liberal arts colleges—and the faculty who train tomorrow’s scientists, writers, artists, teachers, policymakers, attorneys, but most important citizens—to lead the cause and to harness the energy of young people to create a sustainable future and to solve other problems that threaten our world, including issues related to social and economic justice?

JW: Allegheny’s recent decision to purchase 100% of its electricity from wind is quite impressive. How did that commitment come about, and what are the results?

JM: Our commitment is not only to strategically reduce our environmental impact but to realize the economic benefits of improved operational efficiencies. Everything we do is in the context of fiscal responsibility.

With Pennsylvania deregulating utilities in 2011, we knew we’d be facing rate increases of 20 to 40 percent, and we began to look for a generator with which to contract to minimize the impact those higher rates would have on our budget. We researched a lot of companies, including two recommended by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, and after an extensive process we chose to work with Constellation NewEnergy.

Since we researched companies carefully and early, we were able to commit to 100 percent renewable electricity and still come in under the budget projected by the rate deregulation forecast by the state. As a result, we cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 52 percent. But that’s just part of the picture. We’re still working on efficiency measures connected to our ACUPCC commitment to climate neutrality by 2020 and our involvement in the White House’s Better Buildings Challenge, through which we pledged a 20 percent reduction by 2020 in energy consumption through campus-wide efficiency measures.

It’s also interesting to note that at the same time we were exploring the possibility of using wind-generated electricity for 100 percent of our power usage, some of our students were involved in a wind feasibility study for a local manufacturer.

JW: What are your biggest challenges in advancing sustainability as an institutional leader?

JM: All colleges are challenged by the tough realities of both the marketplace and the economy. It’s challenging to maintain a significant budget commitment to sustainability when squeezed by economic forces that are beyond colleges’ control. But that’s when it becomes even more important that a commitment to sustainability infuses a college’s culture—that it becomes part of your identity as an institution—so that everyone in your college community is invested in keeping those dollars committed to sustainability.

Our executive vice president, Dave McInally, who will be inaugurated as president of Coe College this fall, helped Allegheny to create what we call “deep infrastructure sustainability,” in which sustainability was integrated into the core values and goals of the college and, as a result, funding for sustainability became part of the college’s annual operating budget. But additional funding on a larger scale is necessary to get us to our goal of climate neutrality by 2020. We can’t lose sight of our long-term goals, and that requires a significant, ongoing commitment.

JW: How or where can sustainability leaders in higher education make the biggest impact?

JM: There have been moments in history when colleges and universities have truly led our nation on issues of intergenerational importance. I think specifically of civil rights in the 1960s. Sustainability is just such an issue. Our colleges and universities are leading, not just rhetorically but in terms of concrete action. Be it through the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, through integrating sustainability into the core of master planning and budget decision-making, through conferences, through building partnerships with local communities, or through significant research taking place on campuses across the country, higher education is leading the nation on the issue of sustainability.

Perhaps most important, we are helping students integrate an ethic of environmental stewardship into their understanding of social justice and citizenship. Thirty or forty years from now, I believe that history will point to the role our colleges and universities played in shaping America's environmental ethic—and I hope that its judgment will be favorable.

JW: Your college’s dedication to the community of Meadville is pretty admirable...and ambitious. Can you describe a few of the major efforts underway, and what is driving all this?

JM: A number of our efforts have been led by the college’s Center for Economic and Environmental Development, which was founded in 1997. CEED has taken a highly effective interdisciplinary approach to engaging Allegheny College students, faculty, and the community in creating innovative approaches to environmental stewardship, environmental education, and regional revitalization.

But that dedication to the community is campus-wide. It’s routine for professors to take students out into the community to do research and projects: examples range from community art, biomass development, aquaponics systems, community health education, watershed protection, a biodiesel program and a greenhouse gas inventory in collaboration with the City of Meadville. One of our faculty members will be teaching a sophomore seminar on the unique problems faced by small towns and rural communities in the U.S. Those students will enrich their classroom work through service in the community.

Allegheny’s strong culture of community service--last year, more than 60 percent of our student body completed about 60,000 hours of community service—has increasingly included sustainability efforts such as a bike program for young people in the community and community gardening. Our students not only participate in community outreach and partnerships: they are leading the effort.

What’s common in all of these projects is that the campus collaborates with the community to set goals and advance projects that are multifaceted and complex. Meadville is not necessarily a community of “environmentalists,” but we’ve found many opportunities to collaborate that not only advance sustainability but also uphold fiscal efficiency, social justice and community development. If we pushed sustainability as a stand-alone goal, we’d be less successful, but by recognizing that sustainability is always linked to many other community values in complex ways, we’ve forged strong relationships and realized extraordinary outcomes.

JW: In this excellent video featured in the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Clean Energy in Our Community” video series, you say virtually every initiative has students, staff, and faculty “working the issue.” What’s an example, and what advice do you have for others seeking to build a collaborative culture?

JM: Collaboration among all stakeholders—and we’re all stakeholders in a sustainable future—is an Allegheny hallmark.

One example of everyone working the issue on our campus is a project centered on switchgrass, a native perennial species. A local company, Ernst Conservation Seeds, is working to develop pelletized switchgrass into a biomass resource. The company has partnered with a faculty member and his students—in research that has spanned many years’ worth of classes, work-study jobs, and Senior Comps—to explore switchgrass’s carbon sequestration potential and suitability for marginal fields that may be too wet or depleted for other crops. In addition, our environmental science faculty and students have done research for our Physical Plant staff about the potential for switchgrass to be used as a heating source on campus, including a pellet stove at my house. Future research could explore on a larger scale, which might include a biomass incinerator for heating large or multiple buildings on campus. There’s still a lot of research to be done, but the process has already included not only students, faculty, and staff but also a community partner.

Another example is a garden at Carr Hall, where our environmental science program is housed. Students initiated this project: they want to study sustainable agriculture, they want opportunities to practice it on campus, and they want more locally grown produce in the dining halls. So students, faculty, staff, and Parkhurst Dining Services got together to talk about how to do all of this. We’re currently offering our first “Soil to Plate” course, we’ve hired a garden manager, and we’ve begun to install a collaboratively designed garden. Our garden manager is working with Physical Plant to build the garden from scratch, strategizing with Parkhurst to determine which crops they’ll purchase and use in meals in our dining halls, and collaborating with student groups like Edible Allegheny Campus and others to develop a work plan for the garden.

I find that when students are involved in a project, it just naturally becomes collaborative. They seek out the people whom they know can help.

JW: I was pleased to see that Allegheny College celebrated Campus Sustainability Day with a month-long energy challenge. Was it a success? Do you have some metrics?

JM: Our campus community really looks forward to our annual October Energy Challenge. It’s an opportunity to think more carefully about our energy consumption—and act more deliberately to practice responsible habits.

This year we reduced our overall campus consumption by 8 percent--85,000 kilowatt hours--and saved $7,100 over the month. Students embrace the October Energy Challenge because they see not only real results but an opportunity to build on the savings we realize: For three years now we’ve invested the savings in solar panels for an on-campus array. Eight panels are due to be installed in January, which will bring us to a 4kW array.

But the impact of the October Energy Challenge continues long after we turn the calendar to November. Last year we saw a 10 percent reduction in our energy usage during October, but we continued to see a reduction of 8 percent in subsequent months.

JW: How do you spend your free time?

JM: With my job and two teenagers, there is not a lot of free time!

Time out of the office is filled with ballgames, school events and an endless stream of visitors and friends. We value our quiet times together, be that on a walk or a hike, sitting together to read or just a movie night together in our family room. I confess to enjoying a round of golf whenever we can squeeze one in—although my game is nowhere near where it should be!

I am very lucky to have a family that loves to be together. Mari and I also feel very fortunate to have two kids who care deeply about the world around them and understand that they have a responsibility to it. Their generation gives me great hope for our world's future.

Authored by Clara Changxin Fang, Sustainability and Campus Planning Manager at Towson University. Re-posted with permission from the Residence on Earth blog.

Those of us in higher education who are concerned about the future of the planet realize that although cutting carbon emissions from campus operations is important, it is not enough to turn the tide of the ecological crisis, nor is it where we can best utilize our influence as educators to make an impact on future generations. Integrating sustainability into the curriculum is becoming THE challenge for sustainability influencers at colleges and universities as green buildings and recycling programs become matter of course and the classroom becomes the true battleground for change. Here are some ways that sustainability can be integrated into the curriculum to help build ecological awareness for students, staff, and faculty.

1. Use the campus as a laboratory. One of the tenets of sustainability education is that students should practice doing as well as reading. By making learning hands-on, students’ understanding of sustainability concepts becomes three dimensional, tactile, and more memorable. The university campus is a wonderful place to apply sustainability practices learned in the classroom. There are so many sustainability practices that can be done at a university campus that can also be applied in the home, a business, organization, or a municipality.

Utilizing a consulting model, the instructor can act as intermediary between the students and a “client,” a staff person or other employee for whom the work is done. Having students produce the university’s greenhouse gas inventory is a good, manageable project that will advance campus sustainability. Students have also produced entire climate action plans for their universities. Other projects might include creating a plan to implement composting or storm water management. At Dickinson College, students utilize chemistry skills to produce biodiesel from waste cooking oil in the biodiesel shop. If your campus has some land, starting farm is a great way to teach a variety of skills and build connections to the community. The engineering minded might study the potential for solar energy installations. A psychology class could conduct a survey of environmental attitudes on campus. A communications class could design a sustainability outreach campaign, and an art class could design visuals to enhance sustainability communication on campus. The possibilities are numerous.

To maximize student learning and the value of these projects to the university, staff and faculty must be committed to coaching and assisting students. A scope of work has to be defined that can be done by a few students in one semester and that is not too urgent. Communicating expectations is important so that students don’t produce something that misses an essential element and ends up being useless to the college. You also want to make sure that the work is documented and made available so that future students don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Supervising a student project may be more time consuming than having staff complete the work, but done right, it is a great educational opportunity.

2. Set up an eco-rep program. We all know how an ecorep program is a great way to engage students on sustainability and spread outreach in the student population through peer-to-peer education. These paid or volunteer sustainability enthusiasts can help drive participation in dorm energy contests, recycling contests, sustainability events, monitor sustainability behavior, and be ambassadors of the school’s sustainability program. I learned a lot about eco-reps through my friend Josh Stoffel, sustainability coordinator at Connecticut College, who started an ecorep program at University of Massachusetts Amherst while he was still a student. But the brilliant thing he did was that he enabled students to earn academic credit as eco-reps. To do so he negotiated with the environmental studies department to create a 1 credit course that he co-taught with a faculty member. Each week, students read material and attended a lecture about a sustainability topic. They wrote 1-2 page reflection papers based on the readings and also completed action items that assisted with sustainability outreach for the university, such as conducting workshops in residence halls, creating and putting up posters, and tabling at events. This combination of theoretical learning and action powerfully enhanced students’ learning, giving context to sustainability topics and a vehicle for them to create change on their own campus.

3. Take advantage of independent study. Sometimes students will have an interest in a subject not covered by the curriculum or have an idea that cannot be implemented in a class. Take advantage of independent study as a vehicle to nurture these students. Students can also conduct independent study in a group. The work might involve a campus sustainability project, a reading list, a research inquiry, or a creative project. An independent study is also a good way to follow up on a summer project. In the summer of 2009 I traveled to several ecovillages and earned credit through independent study in the following year by writing a book about my experiences. Independent study is also a great way to conduct interdisciplinary study, bridging the student’s interest in environmental studies with the arts, humanities, or social sciences.

4. Require/give credit for internships. Many universities allow, sometimes require, students do internships to complete their major. During the summer, exciting internship opportunities abound for students interested in environmental studies. During the school year, students could consider internship credit with the Sustainability Office or Facilities Department on campus or a local environmental organization. Because being in the outdoors and performing service are great ways to spend the summer, environmental internships appeal to students from all kinds of backgrounds, not just those majoring in environmental studies. Work with your Career Services Office to broadcast opportunities widely and you can integrate life changing sustainability education into the experience of many students who otherwise might not encounter it in their course of study.

5. Go on field trips. Seeing is believing and students may remember a field trip to the local recycling plant long after they have forgotten the written material from the class. Some professors go all out and take their students abroad for a week long field trip with multiple destinations. At Dickinson College, a module on climate change had students flying to South Africa to attend the UN Convention on Climate Change where students interviewed delegates and performed community service. International trips require extensive planning, but short, local trips can be just as impactful. I know a professor at Swarthmore College who took his students to see mountain top removal in West Virginia in one of his courses. His students were so outraged and inspired by what they saw that they started a fossil fuel divestment campaign that was recently featured in the New York Times. I remember when my Greening Business Management class at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies took our class to the factory of Stoneyfield Farm in Vermont where we learned about organic yogurt production. The experience was preceded by reading Stoneyfield CEO Gary Hirshberg’s book, Stirring It Up, and a visit with Gary Hirshberg himself. It opened my eyes to what was possible in the intersection of business and sustainability. One of my classmates that semester even went on to become the Carbon Manager at Stoneyfield Farm.

The benefits of field trips are not limited to students. Facilities Managers, staff, and faculty can also benefit from field trips to learn about what other campuses are doing for sustainability or what is going on in the community. It may be just the thing to convince skeptical or apathetic managers to take action to support sustainability at their own campus.

6. Attend a conference. What better way is there to learn the latest developments in the field and network with professionals than to go to a conference? It’s a terrific opportunity to take students out of the academic setting and into the real world where they can meet people who are doing work in real time. Even better is to have students submit a proposal and present a paper at a conference. Students can usually get a discount on the admission rate. AASHE, Greenbuild, NetImpact, EcoSummit are a few conferences that come to mind, but there’s a conference for virtually every environmental issue.

If you have a faculty or staff member who is on the fence about sustainability, inviting them to attend a conference may be a non-threatening way to get them some education and inspiration. One professor I know who had been sent to a conference with no strings attached came back so enthusiastic about sustainability that she created proposals for two new courses integrating sustainability into the humanities. She then made presentations to other faculty inspiring them to do the same.

Schools can also organize their own Environmental Conference. Towson University near Baltimore, Maryland will be hosting its 5th annual Environmental Conference this spring. The one day event will feature a keynote speaker, presentations and panels on different environmental issues, opportunities for students to present research, and a networking fair with representatives from local environmental businesses and institutions. You can also look at the calendars of nearby schools and at the municipality. Many cities and towns hold Earth Day fairs that the whole community participates in.

7. Invite speakers. In addition to taking students out into the field, you can also bring practitioners into the classroom. At the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, sometimes entire courses are taught by visiting practitioners. A class on environmental campaigns had a different speaker every week including leaders from Greenpeace, Forest Alliance, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. A course on urban planning had speakers who were architects, planners, government administrators, and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority president. These speakers gave us such a glimpse of sustainability in action and a chance to be inspired by people whose careers matched our aspirations. Get more mileage from speakers by arranging for them to speak at a public event at the university as well as more intimately with just your class.

8. Utilize the sustainability officer and other staff. The sustainability officer of the university is not only someone who can implement sustainability in campus operations, but he/she is also a knowledgeable professional with real world experience who can be called on to work in the classroom. At some schools, the sustainability director teaches a freshman seminar to introduce students to sustainability. Some schools have the sustainability director co-teach Intro to Environmental Studies or the Senior Capstone Seminar with a faculty member. Similarly, sustainability officers can be called on to give presentations, conduct orientation, or lead workshops on sustainability to raise awareness among students, faculty, and staff.

9. Encourage study abroad. A semester or year abroad studying sustainability is a life changing experience. Schools with resources can consider sending their faculty abroad to lead research and teaching in environmental studies at an exotic location. Swarthmore College teamed up with Pomona College and Macalester College to offer a study abroad program in Globalization and the Natural Environment in collaboration with the University of Capetown in South Africa. If the school cannot start its own program, it can allow students to earn academic credit by studying abroad at other universities. At Smith College, students are able to get Smith credit AND financial aid to study abroad at universities all over the world without having the program be directly administered by Smith. Find environmental studies programs at other universities and see if your school would allow students to earn academic credit by studying abroad. In addition, organizations like Living Routes take college students to ecovillages around the world to learn about sustainability and permaculture.

10. Develop faculty. Many faculty are interested in sustainability but don’t know where to start with integrating them into their courses. They don’t have to reinvent the wheel and they don’t have to do it alone. By organizing a faculty development workshop, you can invite faculty from other universities who have experience teaching sustainability in their disciplines to come teach your faculty. The Piedmont Project and the Ponderosa Project are early models of faculty workshops that have inspired similar gatherings at other universities. Conducted in a retreat setting, these workshops can be a vital time for reflection and discussion about the curriculum.

Finally, here are a few books about sustainability and education:

Orr, David. Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect. 2004.

Rappaport, Anna. Degrees that Matter: Climate Change and the University. 2007.

Bardaglio, Peter. Boldly Sustainable: Hope and Opportunity for Higher Education in the Age of Climate Change. 2009.

Timpson, William. 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Sustainability: Connecting the Environment, the Economy, Society. 2006.

Blewitt, John. The Sustainability Curriculum: The Challenge for Higher Education. 2004.

Everyone has heard mutterings of a new composting system on UMBC campus this semester, but some people are still unsure about the facts. What can you compost and where? What are the benefits of composting and why should I bother?

Composting is a system of decomposing or breaking down biodegradable materials such as lawn clippings, leaves or unwanted food to produce rich, nutritious soil that can be used for growing plants.
This process helps to stem the large streams of waste that go into landfills and reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides. Compost also can be bought and sold, transforming what would once be "trash" into a commodity that can help to stimulate the economy.

So how is this system of composting working at UMBC? At this point, composting is already effective in the True Grits dining hall. When you put your dirty dishes with your uneaten food on that conveyor belt, it is later scraped into bins by the staff and sent a composting facility in Delaware, eventually becoming soil.

This semester, composting has been extended to The Commons, but this system is a little more complicated because it is up to the student, staff or visitor at UMBC to separate your "waste" into the correct containers.

In The Commons, all food scraps can be composted from any of the locations. You can also compost the new Pepsi cups (made from corn), and Fresh Fusions and Wild Greens have switched to compostable food containers and eating utensils. Large salad containers and parfait cups from Outtakes should also be placed in the compost bin.

So where are the compost bins in The Commons? Unfortunately, as of right now, there is only one compost bin the Commons. It is located to the right of the "Dream Machine" by the doors to The Commons near the breezeway.

At this point, it is just a regular trash can with a sign that says "Compost," but facilities management is working on ordering a set of new bins with separate containers for the various types of waste.
These new bins will be divided into three different sections: compost (food scraps and specified containers from Fresh Fushions, Wild Greens, and Outtakes), recycling (bottles and paper products) and landfill (trash, everything that doesn't belong in the aforementioned containers.)

We will also have new recycling bins in other parts of the campus. UMBC's academic buildings are switching from a "single-stream" recycling system to a "dual-stream" system. Instead of putting all recyclables in one bin, this new system will divide recycling items into two separate parts, one for paper and one for glass, plastic, and cans. This will be helpful in allowing UMBC to gain profit from selling cardboard and other materials instead of simply paying for waste to be brought off campus.

For now though, stick to using the single compost bin by the back doors of The Commons near the breezeway. Every time that you make the effort to walk over to the compost bin with that last bit of your uneaten Salsaritas burrito or to double back to The Commons after class to compost your Pepsi cup, you're helping to recreate and rebuild the circular systems of nature that work so well.