University of California, Davis
EN-3: Student Life

Aggie Trading Post is a student-run organization providing a sustainable alternative to fast fashion. It encourages conscious consumption and creativity. https://www.instagram.com/aggietradingpost/?hl=en

Aggie Reuse Store’s mission is to “divert materials from landfill and redistribute them at low cost for reuse and repurposing” and sells “used or discarded items for a low cost to students and the community”. https://aggiereuse.ucdavis.edu/

Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) at UC Davis promotes direct student engagement with working professionals in environmental fields, as they prepare to transition from an academic to professional setting. https://epm.ucdavis.edu/aep-uc-davis

CalPIRG - Davis chapter (student-governed) CalPIRG is a grassroots public interest group that lobbies for issues that they believe are relevant to the general public. They mainly focus on higher education, clean energy, hunger and homelessness, forest protection, and voter registration.

(https://calpirgstudents.org/chapters/uc-davis/ )

Campus Center for the Environment promotes student involvement in campus sustainability efforts. CCE encourages environmental stewardship through workshops, open dialogue, and specific student led projects. It also encourages collaboration between environmental and sustainability focused student groups and relevant departments on campus. (https://cce.ucdavis.edu/)

The Climate Reality Project Campus Corps at UC Davis (student-governed) is a chapter of the international Climate Reality Project, founded by former Vice President Al Gore. Its focus is on mobilizing the UC Davis community to reverse climate change through education. The organization is open to all students who are concerned about climate change regardless of major or political affiliation, and seeks to stimulate interdisciplinary conversations and climate action. This organization will also serve as a community for those worried about climate change and aggregate resources to swiftly act on the most pressing issue of our time. http://climaterealityatucd.weebly.com/

The Davis Alt. Protein Project provides an inclusive space for multidisciplinary collaboration and networking among students interested in alternative protein foods. It strives to build a health, sustainable, and just food system by creating a vibrant and robust community for alternative protein research and innovation at UC Davis. (https://www.davisaltpro.org/)

Davis Scuba is a student operated organization stationed at UC Davis. The club aims to promote interest and education relating to scuba diving, marine ecology and biology, ocean conservation, and environmental awareness. (https://www.instagram.com/davisscuba/?hl=en)

Doctors without Borders of Davis has a purpose to raise awareness and knowledge about current global humanitarian issues, support Doctors without Borders advocacy campaigns, and encourage and support students in the pre-Health plan. (https://www.facebook.com/FriendsMSFUCDavis/)

Engineers without Borders was established to help developing areas worldwide with their development needs, while involving and training internationally responsible students. https://ewbucd.weebly.com/

The Environmental Club at UC Davis (student-governed) aims to connect students with similar interests and help them stay informed about environmental issues. The club also encourages interaction with the local environment through outdoor activities and conservation service projects, as well as socials and guest speakers. (https://www.instagram.com/davis_environmental_club/?hl=en)

The Environmental Law Society provides a forum for law school students for environmental information and networking. The members attend community events, regional conferences, and discuss pending legislation. They network with the professional community for support, guidance, and information about environmental law. Students are encouraged to explore a variety of environmental and natural resource issues. ELS hosts an annual Environmental Law Conference where speakers and practitioners discuss current issues in environmental law. ELS also supports Environs, the Journal of Environmental Law and Policy at King Hall, and the Water Association of Law and Policy. (https://students.law.ucdavis.edu/els/ )

The Environmental Project is a student organization that builds a water treatment system for a competition but also builds knowledge, confidence, and friendships. Participants are exposed to the Environmental Engineering field (design, management, teamwork) and are judged on sustainability, treatment efficiency cost, and an oral presentation. (https://ucdenvironmentalproject.weebly.com/)

The Environmental Toxicology Club provides a place for students to get involved with the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology. (https://aggielife.ucdavis.edu/etoxclub/home/)

Experimental Community Garden is “an inclusive space for people to learn about sustainable gardening, enhance health and well-being, engage in experiential learning, connect with community, and practice environmental stewardship”. https://ediblecampus.ucdavis.edu/gardens/ec

Food Recovery Network at UC Davis is a local chapter of the nation-wide Food Recovery Network, and is made up of UC Davis students who want to help feed the community and reduce food waste. Members of this club deliver surplus unsold food from vendors to places that feed the local community and help spread awareness about food waste and hunger. Its mission is to fight food waste and combat food insecurity. https://housing.ucdavis.edu/dining/food-recovery-network/

The Environmental Sustainability Student Coalition (ESSC) was created to address a need for more communication and collaboration among environmental organizations on the UC Davis campus. The mission of this student led collaborative organization is to address sustainability challenges by forming long-standing partnerships amongst UC Davis student environmental organizations. https://essc.ucdavis.edu/

Formula Racing at UC Davis is a student design team that is challenged to design, build, and race high-performance, environmentally-conscious vehicles. https://frucd.org/

Girls’ Outdoor Adventure in Leadership and Science (GOALS) is a free summer science program for high school girls and gender-expansive youth to learn science hands-on while backpacking through Sequoia National Park. In a two-week immersive program led by UC Davis and National Park scientists, GOALS scholars learn how to design and conduct field-based scientific experiments while developing leadership and outdoor skills. https://www.facebook.com/girlsoutdoorscience/

Hard Tech Campus is an organization focused on the development of sustainability projects into products, with a focus on projects that utilize technological advancements in either hardware or software to achieve one of the following target areas, with respect to UN Sustainability Goals 2 and 9 (Industrial change), 2, 3, and 6 (Health, hunger, clean water, sanitation), 7 and 11 (Products for consumers), and 14 and 15 (Environmental clean-up). https://www.hardtechfund.com/htc

The Marine Science Club aims to connect and foster the interest for marine science within the Davis community. https://marinesciclubdavis.weebly.com/

Net Impact Davis (student-governed) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to fostering a network of business leaders who use the power of business to create a positive net social, environmental, and economic impact. Members are graduate students, typically from the Graduate School of Management, who are constantly searching for new and innovative approaches to socially responsible businesses that make a positive impact on the world. https://gsm.ucdavis.edu/post/net-impact

The Net Impact undergraduate chapter at UC Davis aims to foster an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability in our community. During the course of an academic year, undergraduate student members will work to propose a local issue, develop a potential solution, test it in the local setting, and produce an analytical review of their work. The group supports social, cultural, and environmental entrepreneurship and help students get funding for their high-impact projects.

Physicians for Social Responsibility is motivated by the idea of “preventing what we cannot cure.” As such, it focuses on issues ranging from environmental toxins, nuclear war, and climate change to gun violence and healthcare for all.

Science Says is a group of young scientists looking for better ways to communicate science with the public and each other. https://davissciencesays.ucdavis.edu/

Sprout Up at UC Davis provides environmental education to 1st and 2nd graders. College student-instructors strive to promote sustainability throughout the community. https://www.sproutup.org/ucd

Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity, And Sustainability SEEDS (student-governed) SEEDS is a program of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). This club is about promoting ecological science in a number of ways, and encouraging underrepresented students to explore the field of ecology. SEEDS will help aid students in the transition from college to career by broadening students' perspectives with eco-trips and guest speakers. https://davisseeds.weebly.com/

Student Energy at UC Davis has a mission to build a community of student energy leaders, share cross-disciplinary knowledge about the energy system, and take action to accelerate the transition to a resilient, decarbonized, and equitable energy future. https://www.studentenergydavis.org/

Student Selfless Service provides service to the community through events and projects aimed toward giving back. Projects include environmental and community work.

The mission of the Student Sustainability Career Fair Committee is to address the current lack of information regarding opportunities for students who wish to work towards a sustainable future. Through career fairs and social media platforms, we strive to provide equitable access to environmentally-focused firms, nonprofits, and governmental organizations for students interested in environmental science, policy, and justice. https://www.instagram.com/asucd.sscf/

Sunrise Davis is part of the national movement of young people dedicated to stopping the climate crisis and creating millions of good jobs in the process. It is the hub in Davis fighting for a new Green Deal. https://www.facebook.com/SunriseDavis/

The Sustainable Environmental Design Club is an on-campus student organization with an intention to support those interested in sustainability and design. While a club major, we welcome all students in learning about sustainability, building professional skills & resumes, growing community, providing guidance, promoting career-based events, among other explorations. https://www.instagram.com/ucdsedclub/

Surf Club is a student-run organization to schedule surf trips and environmentally-friendly efforts. Its mission is to bring together a community of positive, water-minded individuals and strive for self-improvement. https://www.facebook.com/SCUCD/

The Zero Waste and Sustainability Club (student-governed) aims to help the UC Davis campus reach the zero-waste goal. Not only will this club focus on campus sustainability, but it will also aim to make our individual lives more sustainable on and off campus, and aim to change the unsustainable habits of the world outside of the UC Davis campus. The club will involve students in many hands on zero-waste campus projects that reduce and eliminate the campus waste from going into landfills, and other environmentally sustainable projects. https://zerowasteucd.wixsite.com/website

For more information, visit general page for UC Davis environmental student organizations: https://eppc.ucdavis.edu/environmental-organizations

ASUCD Coffee House Rooftop Garden - A sustainable urban garden consisting of hydroponic garden towers placed on the rooftop of the Memorial Union building. This project, funded by the student fee funded TGIF (The Green Initiative Fund) sustainable project funding program, the goal of this ongoing project is to increase student access to fresh food through a collaborative enterprise between ASUCD Coffee House and the Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center. These hydroponic towers are water, energy, and space efficient and the project creates an opportunity for leadership development, educational opportunities and outreach, and contributes to sustainable food production on campus.

Resident Garden @ Segundo - Student Housing and Dining Services manages a garden space in the Segundo Housing area. It is a space for on-campus residents to learn about organic gardening, local produce, edible plants, how they are grown and cared for, and how they can be prepared after harvesting. The garden also provides opportunities for student leadership and community involvement. The space is managed by part-time student staff members, and supported by resident volunteers and sustainability interns. During the academic year, the Resident Garden Coordinator hosts weekly open volunteer hours for on-campus residents to help with garden tasks such as weeding, watering, planting, and harvesting. Garden-centered workshops are also hosted for Student Housing residents. Residents can also apply to adopt a small plot in the garden to steward their own space. Participants are provided with mentorship from the Resident Garden Coordinator and access to tools.

Student Farm (run by Agricultural Sustainability Institute) - Since its inception in 1977, the Student Farm has served the UC Davis students and faculty, farmers, gardeners, school children and many others. Its unique program centers around three principles: A focus on sustainable agriculture principles and practices, an emphasis on in-field, experiential learning, The encouragement of student initiative, creativity and exploration. We have a 9-acre Market Garden that supports a CSA and sales to the Dining Services and Coffee House, and to the on-campus Farmers Market. We also have a one-acre garden with vegetables, perennial fruit trees, native plants, herbs and flowers. We have an additional acre where food is being grown for donation to the student run Pantry and other organizations on campus. We are an example of one form of urban agriculture, in that we are a small farm that is on a campus that is integrated into the town. 21.5 acres of the Student Farm are certified organic.

Arboretum and Public Garden – The Arboretum and Public Garden includes the historic Arboretum, a 100-plus acre campus and regional amenity comprised of demonstration gardens and scientific collections.

For more information, visit the following websites below.
Resident Garden: https://ediblecampus.ucdavis.edu/gardens/resident-garden
Student Farm: https://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sf/our-farm
Arboretum gardens list: https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/places-to-see

Aggie Compass

The Aggie Compass is a student run resource center that provides basic needs resources, guidance, and emergency services to all UC Davis students experience housing who are facing challenges accessing adequate food, stable housing, or financial resources. The center helps students navigate access to housing programs, provides CalFresh enrollment assistance, and all types of support navigating basic needs resources and services. The Aggie Compass mission is to ensure that every student has safe, secure housing, access to healthy food, and financial stability, that will help them succeed at UC Davis and in life.

Unitrans

Founded in 1968, Unitrans is a unit of ASUCD which operates the transit system serving the UC Davis campus and the entire City of Davis. Over 250 students are employed, filling all the operational positions (driver, supervisor, dispatcher, trainer), as well as numerous positions in maintenance, administration, and management. Over 23,000 passengers are carried each weekday, and over 4.0 million per year. Students gain tremendous experience relating to many aspects of sustainability in working at Unitrans. The entire enterprise is devoted to providing a more sustainable means of transporting thousands of people each day by using the bus instead of a car. Notably, the Causeway Connection is an all-electric bus service that runs between Davis and Sacramento helping to reduce regional emissions and traffic along the I-80 Causeway. Service is provided on 48 buses. Unitrans is committed to ultimately phasing out all compressed natural gas buses and replacing with electric buses. Phase 1 of Unitrans’ electrification program has already resulted in the purchase of 6 electric buses, with 8 more due to arrive by the end of 2024, as well as the installation of 14 charging stations at the bus yard. U

Coffee House (CoHo)

The ASUCD Coffee House is a $4M, multi-platform, break-even operation staffed by 5 full-time and career employees, a handful of student managers, and over 250 student employees.

The Coffee House uses its purchasing power to support the companies, practices and ideals that help the local and global community. Coffee is organic, fair trade, and shade-grown, giving maximum benefit to the farmer and the land on which the coffee is grown and the Coffee House works to make organic and locally-grown fruits and vegetables available to customers whenever possible. In addition to making sustainability-conscious purchasing decisions, the Coffee House believes in the importance of educating its customers on the benefits of living a sustainable lifestyle. Local and organic food items are labeled accordingly, creating an awareness of the path that their food has taken and how the customer’s food selections can impact the global community. Each quarter the CoHo conducts waste audits to evaluate the efficiency of landfill diversion efforts for both consumer and behind-the-counter waste. Sustainability staff and interns at the CoHo help provide training and educational signage related to waste and food.

Aggie Reuse Store

The Aggie Reuse Store promotes sustainability and creative reuse by diverting materials from the landfill such as clothes, books, school & office supplies, and housewares, etc. The store recently transitioned to a mutual aid model where all items are available at ZERO COST for students and the larger community. It holds workshops on environmental advocacy and issues to help the community move to more sustainable lifestyles, and on creative reuse to teach people how to repurpose items available in the store. Its goal is to divert as much waste possible from the landfill and encourage others to reuse. Aggie ReStore was inspired by the work of Design professor emeritus Ann Savageau who collected campus and community waste for use by students in her sustainable design class. Professor Savageau found the amount of materials overwhelming but their creative reuse potential limitless. The graduate students that started the Aggie ReStore hoped that salvaging some of these items from the trash will benefit people affected by rising tuition and living costs while also supporting Professor Savageau’s original mission to spread environmental awareness through creative reuse.

The Pantry

The ASUCD Pantry is a student-run, student-led organization that provides food and other basic essentials to UC Davis students and staff who would like support in acquiring food and other basic necessities. The Pantry also helps distribute some surplus food collected by the Food Recovery Network.

Student Farm

UC Davis Student Farm is an educational site that includes the Ecological Garden and Market Garden. The Ecological Garden brings in elementary or middle school students that learn about their food and UC Davis students and interns that learn how to maintain a garden, fruit trees, and chickens. In addition, beds in the Ecological Garden and Market Garden are used for a sustainably grown flower production business. Flowers are sold to events on campus and through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription program. The Market Garden has a certified organic CSA (community-supported agriculture) basket year-round for UC Davis students, staff, and faculty. The Market Garden has also sells produce to Dining Services, the student-run CoHo and through the UC Davis Farmers Market. In addition to providing delicious and local produce to the UC Davis community, the Market Garden allows for students and interns to learn about sustainable agriculture as they help harvest vegetables, set up irrigation, sow seeds, and transplant plants or glean produce to avert food loss and address student food insecurity.

Project Compost

Project Compost is a student-run organization under ASUCD that teaches people how to compost through regular workshops and tabling events. In addition, Project Compost offers a paid service to pick up a portion of the organic waste generated on campus, including kitchen scraps from the CoHo, fruit from pomology labs, and plant matter from greenhouses, and composts it on campus. Student volunteers help maintain the compost pile, and finished compost is used by local gardeners, such as those in the Domes, Experimental College gardens, or the Tri Co-ops.

For more information, visit the following websites below.

Aggie Compass: https://aggiecompass.ucdavis.edu/

Coffee House: Coffeehouse.ucdavis.edu/sustainability

Aggie Reuse Store: Aggiereuse.ucdavis.edu

The Pantry: Thepantry.ucdavis.edu

Project Compost: https://projectcompost.ucdavis.edu/

Unitrans: https://unitrans.ucdavis.edu/

The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF)

The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), a campus program hosted by UC Davis Sustainability and supported by student fees, offered students, staff, and faculty the opportunity to develop and launch innovative sustainability projects on campus, and to have a greater impact on sustainability within the UC Davis campus and the immediate region. The Fund awarded between $100,000 and $200,000 each academic year to projects that positively impact students through increasing educational opportunities, promoting environmental awareness, engaging in sustainability research, advocating for climate and environmental justice, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy and water efficiency, limiting the amount of waste created on campus, and encouraging healthier, more planet-friendly lifestyles. To be considered, proposals must articulate the undergraduate student role in the project proposed for funding. Priority is currently given to projects that involve undergraduates and that are located on the central UC Davis campus. The proposals are evaluated by an annually appointed primarily undergraduate TGIF Committee.

The TGIF program was established in 2016 for a period of 5 years. The program ceased collecting student fees in Spring but has continued to fund projects into the AY 22-23 and plans to continue operating through Spring 2024.

For more information, visit the following website: https://tgif.ucdavis.edu/

Environmental Law Society Annual Symposium: Each year, through Environmental Law Society students organize a symposium which brings experts from around the region and the country to provide their perspective on important current issues. The goal of the 2023 symposium titled “Walking the walk toward an equitable future: The urgent need to center environmental justice in law and policy” was to foster discussion and educate about community environmental justice goals, the government resources available to accomplish these goals, and the strategies to ensure these goals are met when systems fail. https://students.law.ucdavis.edu/els/symposia/

Annual Sustainability Summit hosted by UC Davis Sustainability: The goal of this annual event organized by UC Davis Sustainability is to honor the sustainability achievements of the university, recognize student, staff, and faculty leaders who help create a more sustainable campus as Sustainability Champion Award recipients, and provides student programs and groups with an opportunity to share their accomplishments over the last academic year. For the 2022 Sustainability Summit student organizers invited Intersectional Environmentalist author Leah Thomas to share with audience members, especially students, how to become advocates for recognizing and educating about intersectional environmentalism. https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/sustainability-events/summit

The ASUCD Student Sustainability Career Fair is a conference networking event hosted annually to connect UC Davis students to career opportunities related to Sustainability. Attendees network with dozens of sustainability organizations from the Capitol region and receive professional development guidance and training. https://eppc.ucdavis.edu/student-sustainability-career-fair

The Energy and Efficiency Institute hosts a weekly speaker series titled “Energy Bites” to present a wide variety of topics related to energy efficiency, decarbonization, and other topics. Presentations are designed to be accessible, broadly relevant, and concise. https://energy.ucdavis.edu/events/

The Wild Energy Seminar series cohosted by the Institute for the Environment, Energy and Efficiency Institute, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office in Fall 2021 offered a series of presentations aligned with the theme of “Energy and the Environment in Transition”. https://environment.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk12456/files/media/documents/WIld%20Energy%20Fall%20Quarter%20Flyer.pdf

Plant Sciences Symposium 2023 theme “Plants in the climate crisis”. A hybrid symposium organized and hosted by UC Davis graduate students to share plant science research from scientists at all career stages. http://plantsciencesymposium.ucdavis.edu/

ASUCD Environmental Policy and Planning Commission (EPPC) hosted a Sustainable Cooking Workshop in Spring 2023 which addressed methods for reducing food waste, saving water and electricity when cooking, and making environmentally conscious choices when grocery shopping. The cooking event concluded with a panel discussion from members of the Davis Alternative Protein Project, the Davis Homemade club, and the ASUCD Pantry.

Agricultural Sustainability Institute – Annually hosts and coordinates many events related to sustainable agriculture and food systems, including a Healthy Soils Demonstration Workshop, the

Polycultures and Permaculture Conference – International hybrid online conference event, and Uprooting Racism in the Food System.

https://asi.ucdavis.edu/news-events

Tempestry Textile Art Display – To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in April 2020, UC Davis Sustainability coordinated a team of volunteers to contribute to a textile art project (displayed virtually due to limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic) that represents 50 years of climate change from 1970 to 2020. Each temperature tapestry (or “Tempestry”) represents a year of daily high temperatures in Davis, CA. Cooler colors (blues and greens) represent cooler temperatures while the reds are the highest temperatures. https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/sustainability-events/tempestry

Climate Raising Mural Design Competition: A 21st century “barn raising” - A mural design competition and webinar speaker series of artists and activists. Mural designs asking artists to visualize how agriculture might be part of the climate solution in the Sacramento valley were submitted by 27 UC Davis students. The winning mural was installed on a local barn provided by local environmentalists and community developers. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/help-paint-climate-action-mural

https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/news/climate-raising-challenge-21st-century-barn-raising

Whole Earth Festival - The Whole Earth Festival began in 1969 as a small art class project (“Art Happening”) on the UC Davis Quad. The students used art to teach visitors about the realms of activism, wellness, and environmental sustainability in an interactive and creative way, with music, dance, community, crafts, and education. Following the United Nations’ recognition of Earth Day in 1970, the event was renamed to the Whole Earth Festival, fondly nicknamed as “WEF,” and has since evolved into a free student-run event, attracting over 30,000 visitors annually on Mother’s Day weekend. Supported by hundreds of volunteers, WEF is a zero waste event with volunteers actively sorting recyclables and compost from bins and all food vendors encouraged and supported to utilize reusable dishes instead of single use items. The festival demonstrates a commitment to expression, acceptance, sustainabiltiy, and community. https://wef.ucdavis.edu/

Earth Day Sketch Crawl – With support from UC Davis Sustainability, each Earth Day Pete Scully, renowned urban sketch artist and UC Davis staff member, hosts a sketch crawl where participants are invited to observe and discuss how drought has affected the local environment while also learning and practicing techniques for documenting it’s beauty in loose, creative sketches. https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/sustainability-events?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D159384754

Zero Waste Music Festival – The Zero Waste and Sustainability Club partnered with the City of Davis to host an outdoor concert in the city’s central park. In addition to hosting several local bands, the event had local vendors and organizations present to share information about sustainable resources and advocacy opportunities available at UC Davis. https://theaggie.org/2023/05/03/zero-waste-and-sustainability-club-hosts-concert-in-central-park/

Cross Cultural Center – Culture Days

The Culture Days program celebrates and recognizes the rich cultural traditions of the four historically underrepresented communities in higher education. The following quad events are organized and sponsored by the Cross Cultural Center:

Black Family Day - This event was first started by students from the Black Student Union with the intent to celebrate themselves and to take a stand against the historically and culturally exclusionary ideologies on campus. Every year marks a monumental step towards black empowerment and strengthening of families. The family reflects the resilience, diversity and openness of black culture.

La Gran Tardeada - La Gran Tardeada is a day long celebration for the Chicanx/Latinx community to come together for food, music and dance. Honoring old traditions and creating new ones, this day focuses on celebrating all intersectional identities and experiences within this beautiful community.

Powwow - Powwow, as practiced today, is a social gathering intended to provide the campus and local community a space to learn about, engage with, and celebrate the traditions and cultures of Indigenous peoples, and bring visibility to the vibrancy of Native American music, dance, and arts. 

https://ccc.ucdavis.edu/programs-and-services

UC Davis Campus Recreation: Outdoor Adventures (institution-governed) offers hiking, camping, backpacking, whitewater rafting and kayaking trips to spectacular natural areas in California and beyond. In addition, Outdoor Adventures offers comprehensive healthcare classes in CPR and first aid training. All aspects of the trips, from the carpools to get to the locations to the leave-no-trace practices used on the trail and at camp, enforce Outdoor Adventure’s strong dedication to the sustainable treatment of the environment. They teach participants about the importance of treating the environment with respect by staying on designated paths, cleaning up litter, and reducing noise pollution. Mostly, they get people outdoors that might not otherwise have the chance. Participants are able to see and experience the beauty of their environment, and in return, gain appreciation for these places and the motivation behind the sustainable practices needed to preserve them.

For more information, visit the following website: https://memorialunion.ucdavis.edu/outdoor-adventures

The Campus Community Book Project (CCBP) promotes dialogue and builds community by encouraging diverse members of the campus and surrounding communities to read the same book and attend related events. Since 2002 the book project—a signature initiative out of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—advances the mission to improve both the campus climate and community relations, to foster diversity, and to promote equity and inclusiveness.

2019-2020 - Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge; Theme: Gun violence

2020-2021 - Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me by Ellen Forney; Theme: Mental health

2021-2022 - How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi; Theme: Social justice in practice

2022-2023 - Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons and Punishment by Zach Norris; Theme: Transformative justice and police reform

First-Year Aggie Connections (FYAC) is a fun and interactive program for all new freshmen, transfer and international students. "Connections" are small groups based around a shared purpose, interest or theme and meet regularly for one academic quarter. This program aims to foster fun experiences that empower students to navigate their first year at UC Davis. During the reporting period 17 FYAC addressed themes related to Sustainability, including Car(e)free Aggies, Sustainability for the Win!, Earn While You Learn: Explore ASUCD, Success with Houseplants: Knowledge to Create your own Urban Jungle,Food For Thought, Global Aggies Facing Global Challenges, Aggies Gone Wild(life), Investing to Change the World, and Your Turn: How Would You Solve Climate Change?.

The Global Affairs SDG Internship provides an opportunity for UC Davis undergraduate students to actively contribute to campus engagement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), gaining knowledge of organizational strategy, campus and external coordination, and communications and analytical skills to support this global agenda. The focus for the SDG internship program in 2022-23 was aligned with SDG 2: Zero Hunger. In support of this theme, SDG interns hosted a student-run virtual symposium on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how students are leading efforts to address SDG 2: Zero Hunger during the 2023 UN SDGs Action and Awareness Week. UC Davis SDG Interns interviewed student speakers from around the world about encouraging local agricultural production, reducing food waste, and engaging communities to facilitate food distribution.

The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Annual Sustainability Report is organized around a central theme that allows each campus to provide additional information about efforts related to the annual theme. 2020 – Resilience: From Coronavirus to Climate Change; 2021 – Sustainability: Toward Climate Justice; 2022 - Building Community Partnerships.

Embrace Reuse: Reusable Utensil Campaign – UC Davis Sustainability and Student Housing and Dining Services (SHDS) have collaborated on a reusable utensil distribution campaign in 2022-23 themed around furthering efforts to reduce single use plastic utensils used on campus.

Global Affairs hosts the Global Campus Theme, which engages the entire UC Davis community in discussions, learning, discovery, and action on topics linked to one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2022 theme was Transformative Energies: Repowering and Empowering the Planet.

For more information, visit the following websites below:

Campus Community Book Project archives: https://ccbp.ucdavis.edu/archive

First-Year Aggie Connections (FYAC): https://opportunity.ucdavis.edu/programs/aggie-connect

Embrace Reuse: Reusable Utensil Campaign : https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/zerowaste

Global Affairs SDG Interns: https://globalaffairs.ucdavis.edu/un-sdgs-uc-davis/internship

SDG Action & Awareness Week: https://universityglobalcoalition.org/sdgactionweek/

UCOP Annual Report on Sustainable Practices: https://www.ucop.edu/sustainability/policy-areas/annual-reports.html

Global Affairs Global Campus Theme: https://globalaffairs.ucdavis.edu/campus-global-theme

Student Housing and Dining Services has Living-Learning and Shared-Interest Communities themed with various sustainability topics that integrate social and recreational activities an optional academic and/or experiential educational component. In addition to living within the community, residents have the opportunity to participate in a one or two unit seminar typically offered during the fall quarter. Once per week, faculty or staff lead discussions on a variety of topics related to the community. Some communities offer experiential education options which include service or volunteering, field trips, or hands on opportunities to learn more about the community.

In addition, Student Housing and Dining Services shifts the focus of sustainable education from on-campus sustainability at the beginning of the year, to living sustainably off-campus during the final quarter of the year. This includes topics like how to shop and cook with zero waste principles in mind.

The UC Davis Sustainable Living and Learning Communities (SLLC) is a grassroots educational initiative that explores a broad range of principles and practices related to agricultural, environmental, and social sustainability. The SLLC is composed of 8 organizations - the Student Farm, The Domes, ASUCD Gardesn, Tri Co-Ops, D-Lab, Project Compost, Feminist Research Institute, The Woods - that are related both through their shared values and their physical proximity within a relatively undeveloped area in the heart of West-Campus. Each of these organization has sustainability, experiential learning, and community integrated into values, education efforts, and mission statements. Each organization provides programming related to how to live a life aligned with sustainability values.

Helmet Hair Don’t Care - In exchange for completing a short bike education training, this program provides students, staff, and faculty with free bike helmets. The goals of this program are to increase access to safe and comfortable helmets, increase awareness of safe biking behaviors, and create a welcoming and safe biking environment at UC Davis.

Lit Not Hit - Transportation Services, in partnership with ASUCD Bike Barn, provides no cost bike lights to all UC Davis Affiliates who complete a pledge and short education program on dusk to dawn bike safety. The goal of this campaign, Lit Not Hit, is to increase the awareness of our Aggie Cyclists around common biking mistakes and how to avoid them.

Student Health & Counseling Services Teaching Kitchen - The SHCS Teaching Kitchen is a program for students that offers free cooking demonstrations with curriculum that emphasizes nutrition and culinary education, and skill building. Along with teaching students how to prepare their own nutritious food, while keeping cost and time management in mind, this training program also emphasizes sustainability by encouraging the use of seasonal and local foods when able.

For more information, visit the following websites below.

SHDs Living Learning Communitie: https://housing.ucdavis.edu/academics/living-learning-communities

Sustainable Living and Learning Communities: https://sllc.ucdavis.edu/

Helmet Hair Don’t Care: https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/health-and-wellness/physical-activity/helmet-hair-dont-care

Lit Not Hit: https://taps.ucdavis.edu/litnothit

Student Health & Counseling Services Teaching Kitchen : https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/health-and-wellness/nutrition-and-food/teaching-kitchen

UC Davis has a wide variety of compensated student opportunities, including both hourly paid positions and stipended positions. Generally student employment opportunities are posted on the centralized student recruitment platform Handshake, which is facilitated by the UC Davis Internship and Career Center. This platform can be searched using keywords to allow students to specifically identify sustainability-focused positions.

UC Davis Sustainability:

Zero Waste Coordinator (2) Two student coordinators work part time year round to support the Zero Waste Program on campus through education, outreach, audits, research and analysis. They also provide operational support through special waste pickups.

Green Workplace Coordinator (2) One to two student coordinators work part time year round to maintain the Green Workplace Program in certifying green labs and offices on campus and related programs such as the International Freezer Challenge.

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Analyst (1) One student analyst works part time during the academic year and up to 30 hours during the summer to support the Office of Sustainability in creating the campus greenhouse gas inventory.

Bonnie Reiss Climate Action Fellows (5) Split between UC Davis and UC Davis Health, these fellows work part time during the academic year to promote the Carbon Neutrality Initiative through engagement efforts such as tabling, workshops, social media, and special events, or through research projects

Campus Sustainability Data Analyst (1) ) One student works part time year round to assist with assessment of campus sustainability efforts through data collection and analysis to support responses to external rankings, ratings, surveys and reports.

TGIF Student Assistant (1) Supports The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) Grant Program Manager in administering TGIF funds, coordinating TGIF Committee, preparing project proposals for review, and other administrative tasks.

TGIF Committee (~7) The TGIF Committee is a majority undergraduate committee tasked with acting as stewards of the student fee funded TGIF program, reviewing proposals, making decisions regarding fund allocation, advising potential applicants, and creating outreach materials to broaden awareness of the program.

Student Housing and Dining Services:

Sustainability Peer Educators (6 students, employed during academic year, paid). SPES are employed part time during the academic school year. Their responsibilities include: peer-to-peer sustainability education with residents through tabling, workshops, and other programs and competitions, such as the annual Energy & Water Challenge; create content for social media; write content for weekly sustainability and nutrition newsletter; maintain sustainability bulletin boards in the Residence Halls and Dining Commons; and collaborate with the other student sustainability staff on campus.

Resident Garden Coordinator (2 students, employed year-round, paid). The Resident Garden Coordinator oversees the Resident Garden @ Segundo and coordinates garden maintenance and planting plans. They also develop and facilitate garden-focused educational programs for Student Housing residents.

Sustainability Student Assistant (1 student, employed year-round, paid)

Part-time during the academic year with the option of full time during winter and summer break. Duties include assisting the Sustainability Manager with waste diversion strategies, sustainable purchasing tracking, water meter readings, updating spreadsheets quarterly for waste, energy & water, and LEED documentation for Student Housing projects. Duties including assisting the Sustainability Specialist with marketing and communications materials content development, engagement program data entry and analysis, and support for waste diversion programs during move-in and move-out.

Student Farm:

Up to 23 students work at the Student Farm each year as Lead Student Farmers. In this paid role, they mentor students interning for credit and help with farm and garden planning and managing.

Arboretum:

The Arboretum has 20 student coordinators who work 300 hours each, every year, leading the Learning by Leading projects and helping engage student interns. Projects include habitat enhancement and vegetation management on the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve, actively managing invasive weeds, planting local native plants to improve habitat, maintaining the trail network for public access, designing and planting sustainable gardens, conducting community outreach, working in the nursery, as well as data collection for future project implementation.

Facilities Energy and Engineering:

Facilities Energy and Engineering provides part time student employment opportunities for up to 5 students working on green building certifications and 3 engineering students .

Aggie Surplus:

Aggie Surplus employs a team of 3-4 students working part-time during the academic year and up to 20 hours during the summer, who assist with daily store management through inventory and sales of the surplus items that are diverted from landfill for reuse.

World Climate Simulation First Year Aggie Connection - During the Fall of 2022, UC Davis Sustainability and Global Affairs collaborated to offer a First-Year Aggie Connection titled “Your Turn: How Would You Solve Climate Change? Tackle Climate Change Through Learning and Modeling Solutions”.
The UC Davis Humphrey Fellows co-led this educational opportunity. Established in 1978, the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program brings accomplished mid-career professionals from countries with developing and emerging economies to the United States for professional and leadership development. Undergraduates and Humphrey Fellows all used the C-ROADS Climate Change Policy Simulator to hold a World Climate Simulation event. C-ROADS is a free, award-winning computer simulator that helps people understand the long-term climate impacts of national and regional greenhouse gas emissions reductions at the global level. The World Climate Simulation is an in-person role-playing exercise of the UN climate change negotiations. Through the simulation, participants get to explore the necessary speed and level of action that nations must take to address global climate change.

https://www.climateinteractive.org/c-roads/

https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/news/humphrey-fellows-put-students-drivers-seat-climate-action