University of New Hampshire
ER-18: Sustainability Research Incentives

Undergraduate and graduate student research in sustainability is strongly encourage and support at UNH through the following programs:

1. Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) and Graduate Research Conference (GRC). Entering its 12th year in 2011, the URC is a celebration of academic excellence at the University of New Hampshire. At the week-long symposium, hundreds of UNH students from all academic disciplines present the results of their scholarly and creative research in one or more of over twenty professional and artistic venues campus-wide. Sustainability is a strong focus and cuts across all colleges and presentations, including presentations by Sustainability Internship Program students.
A few specific examples of sustainability research include a 2007 project titled "Community Dinners Feeding Folks with Sustainability and Nutrition," a 2008 project titled "Developing a Climate Action Plan for UNH," "Water Resources Assessment of Appledore Island, ME," a 2009 project titled "Sustainability- Small Town Carbon Calculator ," and "UNH- S.T.A.R.S Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System." Students are mentored by faculty and present their research to University community and the broader public, and are rewarded with awards and scholarships. Students also gain from the tremendous personal experience in presenting their research in a professional setting.

http://www.unh.edu/urc/ and http://www.gradschool.unh.edu/grc.html

2. The UNH Sustainability Academy, the UNH Carsey Institute, the UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Engagement and Outreach, the UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Research, and all colleges and institutes offer a variety of support for UNH students and faculty engaged in sustainability research:

http://www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/research.html
http://www.unh.edu/research.html
http://www.unh.edu/engagement/
http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu

3. The Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research offers several programs with funding for students to pursue research locally and abroad. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) supports students with their research and creative projects by funding Undergraduate Research Awards (URAs) and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURFs).
In addition to this research support, UROP offers presentation grants to assist with travel expenses and registration fees associated with students presenting project or research findings at a conference or professional meeting off campus. The Center's International Research Opportunities Program (IROP) funds nine weeks of research in a foreign country during the summer of junior year. Students conduct research under the guidance of a foreign mentor and experience the challenges of designing and executing a research project while living in a different culture.

http://www.unh.edu/undergrad-research/

4. The University Advising and Career Center (UACC) and Sustainability Academy partnered to form the Sustainability Internship Program (SIP) in Spring 2009. Many of the internships within SIP involve extensive research focused on sustainability (e.g., a student in the University Office of Sustainability researching for STARS, a student with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services researching current efforts and barriers to implementation of the NH Climate Action Plan). All students that participate in SIP also present their research at the Undergraduate Research Conference.

www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/internship.html

Faculty research in sustainability is strongly supported and encouraged by UNH through the following programs:

1. Sustainability Academy, including a new Sustainability Research Collaboratory and Faculty Fellows in Biodiversity, Climate, Food and Culture:

http://www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/research.html

2. The UNH Carsey Institute and its focus on rural communities, families and development: http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu

3. UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Engagement and Outreach (including Research & Engaged Scholars Academy):

http://www.unh.edu/engagement/
http://www.unh.edu/engagement/scholars/
http://www.unh.edu/engagement/research/

he Outreach Scholars Academy, which debuted in the fall of '04, is a faculty development program, designed to enhance faculty success in outreach scholarship within the disciplines. At UNH, engaged scholarship is a mutually-beneficial collaboration between the university and external partners for the purpose of generating and applying relevant knowledge to directly benefit the public. The Academy supports faculty who are developing and engaging in mutually beneficial collaborations with external partners. The Academy's goal is to identify, mentor, and work with faculty from across the institution who are interested in Outreach Scholarship. The principles of Outreach Scholarship (research in service of society, collaboration with external partners, etc.) blend very well with those of sustainability, and much research fostered by the Academy is related to sustainability.

4. UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Research: http://www.unh.edu/research.html

All of this research support is done under the context of UNH's strategic plan (“Breaking Silos, Transforming Lives, Reimagining UNH: The University of New Hampshire in 2020"): http://www.unh.edu/strategicplanning/

For inquiries regarding the Carsey Institute, please call (603) 862-2821.

For inquiries regarding the Undergraduate Research Conference please contact Lynne Cooper at (603) 862-1997.

For inquiries regarding the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research, please call (603) 862-4323.

For inquiries regarding the Sustainability Internship Program, please contact Jason Whitney at (603) 862-4136.

For inquiries regarding the Outreach Scholarship Academy, please call (603) 862-1997.