Boston University
EN-3: Student Life

BU Beekeeping BUMC Climate Action Group* ** Cleantech Club Emerald Review Energy & Environmental Law Society* Energy & Sustainability Club* Engineers Without Borders Environmental Student Organization (ESO) Epsilon Eta FeelGood BU Food Is Medicine Collective Geological Society Global Development Community Global Environmental Brigades Global Water Brigades Marine Science Association Net Impact Grad* Net Impact Undergrad Nutrition and Dietetics Club Outdoor Club (BUSM) Outing Club Public Interest Project* Student Food Rescue (SFR) Student Government Environmental Affairs Student Government FEAST Committee Student Nutrition Awareness and Action Council (SNAAC)** Student PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) Students of Color for Public Health (SPH grad) Sustainable Ocean Alliance thECOlogy* The Urban Garden Initiative Urban Planning Association* Veg Club * Open to grad students ** BUMC-focused groups Descriptions are available in the additional documentation section. More information: https://www.bu.edu/sustainability/take-action/student-groups/ https://bu.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations

The Warren Towers Rooftop Mini-Garden sits atop Tower C of Warren Towers. The garden began as a Campus Climate Lab project in Summer 2021 and had renewed funding into the Spring 2022 semester. In FY2023, with the additional funding, the scope of the project was expanded and the number of student managers increased. In Spring 2022, the project began the process to become an officially recognized student organization. The project still includes 10 varieties of tomatoes, 5 varieties of peppers, lettuces, root vegetables, and brassicas are grown by a group of volunteers in repurposed milk crates and distributed to the greater Boston University community for free. The garden promotes sustainable agriculture, creates a productive green space on campus, and engages the student community. https://www.bu.edu/igs/research/campus-climate-lab/research-projects/archive/

The Community Service Center (CSC) provides students with various student-led programs that helps enhance their leadership skills. One example is the Student Food Rescue program. Student Food Rescue gives BU Students the opportunity to learn, engage, and act towards achieving a more food-just society. Volunteers go on weekly food routes where they transport donated food from grocery stores, bakeries, and farmers' markets, and deliver them to our roster of community partners that include food pantries, homeless shelters, and low-income housing units. More information located at: https://www.bu.edu/csc/opportunities/programs/ BU Sustainability interns manage the Sustainability Help Desk, which promotes sustainability on campus and gives out free reusable bottles, mugs, and LED light bulbs to individuals who join the sustainability@BU app challenge. At least once a week, the Sustainability Help Desk gives students and staff an opportunity to learn about daily sustainable habits and University sustainability resources. It operates at high-traffic student areas in both the George Sherman Union and the School of Medicine lobby. This program took a recess from September 2020 to October 2021.

The BU MIINT (The MBA Impact Investing Network and Training) Program aids in thoroughly guiding students through an 8-step investment process: Investment Thesis + Sourcing Strategy, Final Sourcing List, Impact Analysis, Company Form, Due Diligence Plan, Investment Memo and Presentation Draft, Final Investment Memo, Final Investment Presentation. The program strives to replicate the operations of an early-stage venture capital fund by giving students the opportunity to work with a company of their choice as long as it meets the given criteria. As part of the criteria, students must choose a sustainability-related sector- Education, Public Safety, Financial Inclusion, Healthcare, Environment - that overall encompasses their project. BU is listed as a participant incorporated into the MIINT Program. More information located at: https://turnermiint.org/our-network/participants/

BU hosts many sustainable events on campus throughout the year. These include guest speakers discussing issues ranging from environmental policy and renewable energy to global climate change. Institutes at BU, such as The Initiative on Cities (IOC), the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and the Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) and schools such as the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies hosted the following webinars and panels in FY2023: - Sustainability, Health Equity, and Antiracism in the 21st Century (IGS) - Film Screening: Entangled (IGS, BU Sustainability) - Boston Terror: the origins of ecological genocide in your backyard (and how you can stop it) (Sustainability, Office of Senior Diversity Officer, Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, IGS) - Boston Healing: Indigenous Voices Film Panel (Sustainability, Office of Senior Diversity Officer, Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, IGS) - Developing Technologies for a Sustainable Future (IGS) - Environmental Cultures, Power and Equity (IGS) This year we piloted the 'Earth Day 365,' a new series of events across Boston University that highlight how the importance of protecting our planet should not just be something we focus on solely on Earth Day, but every day of the year. Nearly 40 events and activities were part of the 'Earth Day 365' line-up that were organized by numerous administrative and academic departments as well as student groups. Examples of webinar, speaker event series were: - Emerging Scholars Colloquium on Environmental Justice (School of Social Work) - Conversation with CleanTech on Engineering Coral Reefs (CleanTech Club) - Justice, Energy & Transport: Key Climate Mitigation Insights from the IPCC Report (Institute for Global Sustainability) - International Conversation on Ecological Justice (BU School of Theology, Faith & Ecological Justice Program) - Detoxifying Commerce Conference (Earth & Environment Department) - Jacques Pépin Lecture Series: Grain and Fire (Gastronomy) - BUA Earth Day Panel (Boston University Academy) https://www.bu.edu/sustainability/earth-day-365/#:~:text=Earth%20Day%20365%20is%20a,every%20day%20of%20the%20year More information located at: https://www.bu.edu/igs/blog-events/calendar https://www.bu.edu/ioc/events/events-calendar https://www.bu.edu/pardeeschool/pardeepride/calendar

Rag Rugs and Rugelach - April 7, 2023; BU Sustainability and BU Arts Initiative for April’s First Friday: Rag Rugs and Rugelach event. At the event, students used recycled textile waste to weave their own customized rugs and eat delicious rugelach. The Arctic Environmental Humanities Workshop Series: Started in September 2020 by The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. Featured many intersections of art and the environment focused on the Arctic communities. They describe it as "a collaborative enterprise that is robustly interdisciplinary and brings together diverse expertise of humanistic scholars, artists, and researchers drawn from international circles. Presentations and conversations will take place in varied formats, all online and freely accessible to all those interested. The perspectives and participation of northern communities and people will be particularly valuable and encouraged." In FY2023: - November 28, 2022 - “Climate Repair and Governance: Science and Ethics"

BU Fitness and Recreation Center offers a course (PDP OE 101 Introduction to Outdoor Adventures) that provides an overview of the Leave No Trace principles to members of BU where they dive into the principle to understand "what does it mean [and] how does it show up?" More information at: https://www.bu.edu/fitrec/what-we-offer/fittreks-outdoor-programs/academic-credit/ The FitTreks Outdoor Program, hosted by the Boston University Fitness and Recreation Center, offers a wide range of activities, including rock climbing, kayaking, stand up paddling, camping, snowshoeing, skiing, backpacking, and more. The workshops and trips were open to everyone and the program also offered gear rentals and leadership opportunities. https://www.bu.edu/fitrec/what-we-offer/fittreks-outdoor-programs/fittreks-trips/ The BU Outing Club (BUOC) is a student-led organization that plans dozens of outdoor events throughout the year including hiking, biking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, canoeing, and more. Its mission is to promote an appreciation for the natural environment through outdoor recreational activities. More information located at: https://buouting.wordpress.com/

The First-Year Student Outreach Project (FYSOP) offers incoming Boston University students a unique opportunity to get settled in their new community by performing a week of community service before classes begin. A focus on the environment is one of the service options available to applicants of the program. Students in the environment FYSOP group explore how environmental degradation impacts people and communities, and then use what they have learned to take positive actions through community service in the Boston community. The program aims to educate first-years and staff about the environment & justice and to empower them to enact meaningful change. More information located at: https://www.bu.edu/csc/programs/fysop/

In the first BU Living Learning Community, Earth House, the very act of day-to-day living is the focus of inquiry and the physical Earth House facility is the shared focal object of examination. All of the things that students and teachers normally think of as being means to an end of education – eating, commuting, showering – are inverted and transformed in Earth House to become primary topics of inquiry. As mundane as these daily activities may seem, they are actually the basis for the survival of our civilization and define our relationship with our fellow humans and our planet. More information located at: https://www.bu.edu/sustainability/projects/earth-house/

BU Sustainability employs students from Boston University to develop, promote and implement sustainable practices throughout the University. The student interns work with the Associate Vice President for University Sustainability, Sustainability Director, Assistant Director of Communications, Engagement Manager, Zero Waste Manager, Sustainability Director for Dining Services, and Director of Data Analytics, and also collaborate with different organizations on campus throughout the year. Ranging from graphic design and metrics management to outreach and certification coordination, BU Sustainability offers its interns professional experience and responsibilities in sustainable development. BU Sustainability also offers summer work through the Sustainability Ambassadors program for the undergraduate orientation and year-long opportunities through the Resident Sustainability Leaders program. More information located at: https://www.bu.edu/sustainability/jobs-internships/ The Community Service Center, through its First-Year Student Outreach Project and Alternative Service Break programs offering environmental and justice themes, hires students as service and trip coordinators. More information located at: https://www.bu.edu/csc/opportunities/programs/ The Resident Assistant of the Earth House, a BU specialty community residence, is hired by the University to support its residents who share a passion for the environment and an interest in exploring areas such as climate change, biodiversity, renewable energy, and environmental policy, as well as to promote sustainability and sustainable actions on campus. More information located at: https://www.bu.edu/sustainability/projects/earth-house/

This represents FY2023 BU Metrics.