Clarkson University
EN-3: Student Life

Engineers for International Sustainability: EIS is working with developing communities on sustainability projects, promotes the training and development of globally aware and internationally responsible engineers, students, and professionals. They work with a community in Uganda on sustainability projects.
Sustainability Club: Is a student-run, project-based organization focused on making the campus more sustainable and providing sustainability education to students. They work with the ISE to develop projects and outreach activities. One example is that for Earth Week, the club puts on activities every day of the week (M-F) that promote sustainability in some shape or form. In the Spring of 2022 some of the events included beeswax wrap making, tabling about invasive species, reusable bag decorating, a sustainable menstrual product demonstration and tree planting.
New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) is a professional society for Environmental Engineering students. They broaden their professional skills with community (e.g., highway clean up) and professional activities.
In addition to these we have an environmental engineering honors society, a garden club and a clothing insecurity club. Information on the different sustainability-related clubs can be found here: https://knightlife.clarkson.edu/organizations

A cold-climate greenhouse designed is used for research and education to evaluate the sustainability of year-round local produce. It's also used by the campus garden club, some classes, and the grounds department. Garden Club hosts herb sales and also provides plants for plant giveaways on campus. A vegetable garden that is operated by students started in 2016. They received a Sustainability Fund grant for this. Some of the produce produced by the greenhouse is used by the dining facilities, such as herbs.

A short video on the Greenhouse and garden can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVcBOSVsb7A

In addition the Institute for a Sustainable Environment has partnered with a local farm to offer students a discounted CSA membership. The university partners with a local farm, Birdsfoot Farm, to serve as a pick up location for a local CSA Program. The ISE helps promote the CSA to students who live in apartments on campus.
Information on the CSA can be found here: http://birdsfootfarm.weebly.com/uploads/4/0/6/6/4066056/student_csa_2023.pdf

In our B.H. Snell Building we have a student run cafe called Java Stop. This program was initiated by students in our business program and students manage the entire business. They collect and compost their coffee grounds and food waste and also promote the use of reusable coffee cups by their customers. JavaStop, which is newly established, is working with the sustainability office work to integrate sustainability into their business even more.

The sustainability statement from Java Stop: "At Java Stop we are committed to minimizing our environmental footprint by using compostable or recyclable materials and implementing energy-efficient practices in our operations. We believe in fostering a culture of responsibility and conservation, ensuring that every cup of coffee enjoyed at Java Stop contributes positively to both the Clarkson community and the planet."

We partner with neighboring universities to host an annual ""Sustainability Day"" conference and a Green Living Fair. The conference includes presentations from faculty, students, and community members. Recent keynote speaker for the conference included Robin Wall Kimmerer and Curt Stager. The Green Living Fair includes many for profit and not for profit sustainability stakeholders in our region.
There is also a weekly seminar series run for Clarkson environmental graduate students. This gives them a chance to practice presenting their research.

We have displayed Indigenous art throughout the campus that has strong environmental imagery. As an example here are sections of bios or artist statements from a couple of the artists whose work we show.

1.Amado Pena: His art celebrates the strength of a people who meet the harsh realities of life in an uncompromising land and his work is a tribute to the Native Americans who survive by living in harmony with an adversarial, untamed environment. His artwork is inspired by places such as Canyon de Chelly, Spider Rock, Monument Valley, Enchanted Mesa, Acoma, and Black Mesa. These sites are part of an enduring landscape that speaks of the ancient heritage of a region that is now known as Arizona and New Mexico. Amado's artwork is defined by its bold color and form and dynamic composition. Through his art, he communicates his vision of a land, its people and their art.

2. Emmi Whitehorse: To make art, the act of making art must stay true to a harmonious balance of beauty, nature, humanity and the whole universe. This is in accordance with Navajo philosophy. I have chosen to focus on nature, on landscape. My paintings tell the story of knowing land over time - of being completely, micro-cosmically within a place. I am defining a particular space, describing a particular place. 3. Dan Namingha: Dan is from the Tewa-Hopi tribe. He has been showing professionally as an artist for over forty years. His works command unwavering respect for the earth and spirit of his ancestry, the beautiful heritage that is the heart of his creativity. He is constantly drawn to his roots so deeply embedded in ceremony yet allows us only a guarded glimpse of his sacred traditions; the spirit messengers, the kachinas representing blessings, ancestors and cloud people ... all of these forming the interim of visage between the physical and the spirit world.
Dan paints and sculpts the imagery of his homeland and his peoples, always with the integrity instilled in him by that depth of belief and love of spirit. Drawing and paintings was a natural part of Hopi childhood. It gave him a way to express his strong feelings about the culture and environment leading to a path of creative freedom. Dan feels that change and evolution are a continuum; socially, politically, and spiritually and that the future of our planet and membership of the human race must be monitored to insure survival in the spirit of cultural and technology diversity. He says that only then can we merge the positive and negative polarization and balance so necessary to the communal spirit of the universe.

In addition, "Sustainability Day" includes cultural events and installations as well. Examples include the land acknowledgements for all Sustainability Day events, a presentation by Ilarion Merculieff, and a river installation called Convergence. Sustainability Day incorporates a "words before all else" opening by our Akwesasne neighbors.

Clarkson University Outing Club is our largest student club. They follow Leave No Trace principles and get training in wilderness first response. They have chairs (students in charge of specific areas) for climbing, camping, white water, paddling, mountain biking, etc. They lead orientation outings for interested incoming freshmen and they lead weekly trips into the Adirondacks. They also take an active role in the maintenance and monitoring of our extensive on-campus trail system in the Clarkson Woods.

Learn more about the outing club here: https://knightlife.clarkson.edu/organization/cuoc

The First Year Seminar (F22) focused on the UN SDGs as a theme throughout the semester and the basis for their semester project. The students had to interview an office and collectively define the SDGs that were accomplished by the work in that office.
The SDGs were also used in the Honors Program community service class to help students understand the importance and relevance of the work being done in the agency they supported through their service commitments.

The Sustainability Club does a number of events that teach sustainable skills. During Earth Week 2023, the club held an event to teach students how to mend and sew articles of clothing that may be damaged. The club, during earth week and during the Fall of 2022, held an event where students could make their own beeswax wraps to help reduce the amount of plastic they use. The students have also hosted craft nights for holiday decorating that used recycled materials.

We typically hire 8-10 undergraduate student sustainability interns. These students work within the Inst. for a Sustainable Environment to implement sustainability programs / projects on campus (work in dorms, sustainable office certification, green labs program, data collection for STARS, sustainability week, solid waste trainings, land restoration workshops, etc.). The facilities and services department hires interns to work on energy efficiency, standard operating procedures and sustainable grounds projects. The Construction Engineering Management group has a consulting group that does complete streets projects

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Clarkson has other sustainability related programs and clubs. For example we have a Doctors Without Borders club, finance students work in a program to help low income families with their taxes, there is a fish and game club (fish and game groups are key conservation stakeholders in our region), a timber bridge building team that often builds for recreational trails, several service oriented greek communities, minority advocacy clubs (Black Leaders Advocate for Change, Gender and Sexuality Alliance club, Brother to Brother, Circle K, Clarkson Intercultural Ambassador, Clarkson Peace Action, Vegetarians/Vegans club, Clean Snowmobile club, Clothing Insecurity Association, National Society for Black Engineers, Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, Women and Wellness club, etc.)

Data from FY22 and FY23