University of Nebraska at Omaha
EN-3: Student Life

SustainUNO is an action-oriented student organization focused on improving sustainability practices on campus and educating students, faculty, and staff about sustainability problems and solutions.

Elected student leaders for SustainUNO host four meetings per month, one volunteer opportunity per month, and serve as voting members of the Chancellor's Sustainability Committee at UNO.

In 2021, SustainUNO successfully advocated for a composting program at UNO. SustainUNO students collaborated with student government to pass a resolution in support of a compost program. Additionally, SustainUNO students met with upper administration to secure program funding and operational support.

https://unomaha.presence.io/organization/sustainuno

SustainUNO in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability manage UNO's on-campus community garden. Produce grown in the garden in 2021 were donated to our on-campus Maverick Food Pantry. Student volunteers are provided information and training related to the importance of locally grown food and gain valuable skills about maintaining a garden.

In 2021, student leaders expanded our on campus garden from three raised beds to 13, which will significantly increase the amount of fresh produce that will be donated to our food pantry.
https://unothegateway.com/uno-community-garden-begins-to-sprout/
** Kristina to update webpage

Scott Cafe on campus incorporates fresh herbs into their products that are grown in their herb garden. The herb garden is maintained and managed by student workers within the cafe.
http://scottcampus.com/dining/

UNO's Maverick Food Pantry (MFP) serves all currently enrolled UNO students as well as faculty and staff. The mission of MFP is to contribute to UNO's culture of caring by providing food to those in immediate need and connecting them with resources in the greater Omaha area for long-term support. They are dedicated to eliminating hunger in the UNO community and increasing awareness of food insecurity and nutrition.

The MFP Program Manager (student position) sees to the day-to-day operations of the MFP. They recruit, coordinate, orient, and train pantry volunteers to complete tasks within the pantry. Additionally, they attend campus events representing the food pantry and coordinate food drives with campus/off-campus organizations.

https://www.unomaha.edu/student-life/civic-and-social-responsibility/maverick-food-pantry.php

The Sackett Sustainability Speaker Series is intended to stimulate interdisciplinary discussion, debate, and engagement around issues of sustainability, the environment, and society. The lecture brings creative, engaging thinkers and problem-solvers to campus in conjunction with Campus Sustainability Month each October. Speakers in the series will support UNO efforts to find sustainable solutions to environmental challenges such as resource management, climate change, waste reduction, and disposal, environmental degradation, ecosystem, and habitat destruction, as well the social and ethical issues surrounding these challenges. The series features a common reading, film, or creative work which interested students, faculty, and staff are invited to examine in advance of the presentation or panel discussion. All members of the UNO community and the general public are welcome to attend this speaker series, which is sponsored and hosted by the Sustainability Minor in the College of Arts and Sciences.

This event has been postponed due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021.

In 2019, Penny Sackett served as speaker for this event. Dr. Sackett is the 2014 recipient of the UNO Citation for Alumni Achievement, internationally known physicist and astronomer, as well as 1978 summa cum laude graduate of UNO who served as Chief Scientist for Australia from 2008 to 2011. In 2005, she helped discover the first-known Earth-sized planet orbiting a star other than the sun.
As the inaugural speaker, Dr. Sackett explored “Living as if we have a future on this Earth." The talk examined how humans are pushing the earth beyond its limits to maintain their standard of living, the concept of “planetary boundaries," and climate change and natural resource management.

https://www.unomaha.edu/community-engagement-center/news/events/2019/10/sackett-sustainability-series-oct19.php

https://events.unomaha.edu/event/uno_theatres_men_on_boats_9907?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=UNO+Events

https://events.unomaha.edu/event/2023_earth_day_of_service#:~:text=UNO%27s%20Earth%20Day%20of%20Service,Home%2C%20Handle%20with%20Care.%22

UNO's Outdoor Venture Center (OVC) continues to operate under LNT principles on all outdoor trips. Trips included rock climbing, stand-up paddleboarding, hiking, backpacking, and cross country skiing. The Assistant Director for OVC is certified as an LNT Master Educator through the National Outdoor Leadership School. Additionally, the OVC ran an Outdoor Leadership class that included an LNT trainer course.

https://www.unomaha.edu/student-life/wellness/campus-recreation/ovc/index.php

Dormitory composting program involves peer training and demonstrations.

Student workers are at the heart of UNO's Office of Sustainability. Over the last couple years, student workers have directly contributed to increasing the sustainability of our campus by managing and expanding our campus community garden to provide produce for our Maverick Food Pantry, developing and implementing our campus compost program, creating digital tools and resources related to a variety of sustainability topics available to the community, and managing our social media accounts.

https://www.unomaha.edu/sustainability/get-involved.php