| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78.00 |
| Liaison | Katie Maynard |
| Submission Date | Feb. 29, 2024 |
University of California, Santa Barbara
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Katie
Maynard Sustainability Coordinator Geography & Sustainability |
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indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement:
A student intern was hired as a UCSB Global Food Initiative Ambassador. In this position, they were asked to reach out to student organizations to learn about what they were doing, connect them to campus administration, and connect them to each other. The Ambassador helped with coalition development across student organizations. They also helped to expand open two way communication between students and campus administration. The student was able to learn about a variety of different student campaigns related to campus sustainability and local food systems. The student also learned about how to create change within a large institution.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Public Engagement?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Public Engagement:
Three UCSB student interns, Maria Castillejo Huanosta, Lukas Oleinski, and Jay Miranda helped UCSB to get public feedback on the new UCSB Sea Level Rise (SLR) Adaptation Plan. The plan is a broad overview of how UCSB plans to adapt its buildings, infrastructure, beach access, and natural elements and resources to sea level rise in the coming decades. It addresses problems and necessary actions that will arise in the short term (1-10 years), intermediate term (10-30 years), and long term (30-100 years). It also outlines five different areas that will be affected, including Coal Oil Point Reserve and North Campus Open Space, West Campus Bluffs, the Campus Lagoon, Lagoon Road, and the Goleta Slough. The student interns received weekly mentorship from a Campus Sustainability Professional and learned about JEDI informed climate resilience planning.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Air & Climate:
A UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Masters Group Project for the MEMS Program, WattsUp, works on an Electrification Study for Housing, Dining, & Auxiliary Enterprises (HDAE). In order to meet UCSB’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2025, campus’s HDAE looks to reduce scope 1 emissions by replacing natural gas appliances with electrical counterparts. The Watts Up! Electrification Study compares and quantifies the cost of such retrofits to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario across three different locations and building types: dining commons, residence halls, and apartment housing. Potential changes in prices of natural gas and electricity prices were found to be minimally impactful on the total cost premium of electrification, but most significant for the apartment housing retrofits. This was a required element of their Masters Degree Program and allowed the students to practice with a real world situation on the campus. The students’ clients were HDAE and Campus Sustainability.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Buildings?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Buildings:
An Intern with UCSB Sustainability, Taylor Byrd worked with the UCSB Sustainability and Housing, Dining & Auxiliary Enterprises (HDAE) to implement a UCSB Residence Hall & Apartment Energy Competition during February of 2023. Taylor successfully got UCSB students living in campus housing to participate in the challenge and take meaningful steps to reduce their energy use. Taylor met with a professional staff member from UCSB Sustainability weekly to receive mentorship and training related to this project. Students in the Residence Hall Energy Competition learned about ways that they could reduce their impact on the environment and how the energy use of their building contributes to our campus' overall impact on the environment. Taylor also worked on another project during the winter to educate students about the proposed policy changes to the climate section of the Sustainable Practices policy and encourage students to provide feedback.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Energy?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Energy:
UCSB PACES, our green department certification program, worked with the UCSB Natural Reserve System to identify projects that would reduce energy and improve sustainability at each of their reserves. The student interns working on this project, Joseph Quan and Lauren Sullivan, got to learn about how to do energy efficiency within more rural environments. They learned about state of the art window options, how to protect new energy technologies from rats and other pests that are more common in natural reserves, renewable energy systems, efficient water heating systems, etc. They also learned about the importance of renewable energy in rural environments for resilience.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Food & Dining:
Two student interns, Nayeli Campos-Munoz and Christine Afework, with weekly mentorship from the Director of Sustainability developed a best practice guide on how to implement the UC Healthy Vending Guidelines of the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices. This guide highlighted outreach and educational options to encourage students to make healthier choices while remaining body positive and inclusive. These interns also developed tools to assess the current amount of healthy spend within vending machines
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Grounds?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Grounds:
CCBER promotes the teaching of diverse undergraduate courses in EEMB, Environmental Studies, and Geology. It also supports faculty, staff, and student research interests by providing field and lab-based resources. In addition, CCBER houses regionally focused collections of terrestrial plants, algae, and vertebrates, as well as an extensive plant anatomy collection. The Center satisfies the University's obligation to provide stewardship of campus lands, rich in biodiversity. Through the ecological restoration program, the Center encourages land restoration on and near campus. The Kids in Nature outreach program fulfills K-12 educational goals, while staff and faculty curators provide scientific information and advice to private entities.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Purchasing?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Purchasing:
An Intern with The Laboratory Resources, Advocates, and Teamwork for Sustainability (LabRATS) Program, Alexandra Drobny conducted a review of Thermo Fisher Scientific products that the company listed as environmentally preferable products to understand and assess the criteria used. This is important for laboratory equipment as there are very few third party certifications available for laboratory equipment. Lab freezers can be energy star certified, but most other laboratory equipment is not eligible for third party certification by EnergyStar. The intern compared energy use across companies and product lines, looked at energy-efficient features, etc. The results of which are being used to help inform our procurement decisions. Alexandra met with a professional staff member from UCSB Sustainability weekly to receive mentorship and training related to this project.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Transportation?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Transportation:
Bike to Work Month Programming - May is bike to work month for UCSB as we participate in CycleMAYnia. CycleMAYnia is a public/private collaboration using community resources and South Coast Measure A Bicycle and Pedestrian funds to organize activities for the community. During May of 2023 more than 23 events and activities countywide were offered. Of the Events held, UCSB hosted 4 events. Allinta Tadesse, an intern with UCSB Sustainability helped to plan these events and collaborated with our partners at the County and UCSB. Allinta met with a professional staff member from UCSB Sustainability weekly to receive mentorship and training related to this project.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Waste?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Waste:
Make it Last Challenge - For National Tech-Equity and Zero-waste month an Intern with UCSB Sustainability, Allinta Tadesse partnered with several other campus groups, including As Recycling, the Zero Waste Committee, UCSB Thrive, and STRI to host the Make it Last Challenge which included themed events throughout the month of January 2023 focused on repairing and caring for our belongings. The month also included a pledge challenge which encouraged students to take individual actions to reduce their waste. Allinta met with a professional staff member from UCSB Sustainability weekly to receive mentorship and training related to this project.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Water?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Water:
Board members learn common operating processes for philanthropic organizations, including ethical treatment of funding applicants and lessening power dynamics between funders and funding recipients. They learn lot about different organizations and research labs that are working on local coastal initiatives and campus policy on project management and compensation. Students are also learning about coastal and watershed management and are using the information to make better decisions on proposals regarding watershed health and other watershed projects. On top, students are getting to hear innovative ideas about water from faculty in the field.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning:
Internship Working on Climate Hazard Assessment - A student intern, Jay Miranda, under the Climate Action Fellowship worked on building resilience to climate change for UCSB and the UC System as a whole. The intern worked on outreach & engagement by creating informational material (digital flyers, social media posts, overview sheets) & organizing/hosting events. After that, the intern began to collaborate with Emergency Management at UCSB & other UC campuses to create & assist in completing a climate-focused Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA). Additionally, the intern started UCSB's climate-focused HVA by creating/conducting surveys to involve faculty, students, and staff in the process and we are finalizing a model to be used in the completion of climate-focused HVAs at UCSB & across the UC system.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
The UCSB Sustainability Department houses the UCSB CalFresh Advocate team including 17 student interns, that helps students to access healthy and sustainable food through the CalFresh benefit program (referred to as SNAP outside of California). This essential program allows low-income students who are eligible for CalFresh to learn about their eligibility and how to apply. Eligible students can then receive benefits to use at grocery stores to access the food they need.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance?:
No
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance:
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Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
Yes
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
A student intern, Michelle Shteynberg, with weekly mentorship from the Director of Sustainability developed a guide to health and wellbeing practices for supervision of remote and hybrid employees. This encourages the opportunity for remote work, while offering guidance on how to support employee wellbeing in remote settings.
Website URL where information about the institution’s living laboratory program is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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