| Overall Rating | Platinum |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 85.89 |
| Liaison | Jennifer Andrews |
| Submission Date | Oct. 24, 2024 |
University of New Hampshire
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
Jennifer
Andrews Project Director Sustainability Institute |
Is the institution currently a member of a national or international higher education sustainability network?:
The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):
AASHE
Second Nature Climate Commitment
Does the institution actively participate in a regional, state/provincial, or local higher education sustainability network?:
The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):
The New England Sustainability Consortium, is managed by the EPSCoR programs at UMaine and UNH in partnership with College of the Atlantic, University of New England, University of Southern Maine, Great Bay Community College, Plymouth State University, and Keene State College.
The shared collaborative vision of the consortium is to mobilize the collective capacity of New England universities and colleges to strengthen connections between science and decision making. Beginning with Maine (ME) and New Hampshire (NH), we capitalize on synergies between our respective R&D capacities to advance the theory and practice of sustainability science, which focuses on developing solutions to pressing societal problems involving the dual challenge of improving human well-being and protecting the planet’s life support systems. Given the importance of our shared coastal zone to our states’ economies and quality of life, this group’s initial focus is on scientific challenges related to the sustainable management of coastal systems. Specifically, we combine complementary research strengths to examine systems interactions between watershed processes and human activities that contribute to high populations of pathogenic bacteria in coastal waters, which in turn trigger decisions to close economically important beaches and shellfisheries. Decisions are currently made with inadequate scientific knowledge, and long-term trends demonstrate worsening coastal pollution. Thus, this coastal closure problem provides a promising model system for growing the consortium’s ability to investigate and strengthen the connection between science and decision-making.
The New England Sustainability Consortium is organized around achieving five major goals:
Building a national model for a cross-jurisdictional collaboration to increase and sustain scientific competitiveness;
- Achieving prominence in solutions-oriented research and expanding research capacity in sustainability science;
- Fostering the next generation of sustainability science professionals, preparing and diversifying the STEM workforce;
- Diversifying all aspects of human and institutional resources to achieve broad advances in innovation and competitiveness;
- Sustaining New England’s human, physical and social infrastructure, impacts and achievements by broadening scientific entrepreneurship, partnerships, institutional and external support.
In addition, we helped found and still participate in the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium: https://sustain.princeton.edu/northeast-campus-sustainability-consortium-necsc
The following are additional (non-higher-education exclusive) regional sustainability networks in which UNH plays and active and leading role:
• Food Solutions New England - http://www.foodsolutionsne.org/
• New England Municipal Sustainability Network http://www.nemsnetwork.org/
• NH Food Alliance - http://www.nhfoodalliance.com/
• Regional Association for Research on the Gulf of Maine - http://www.rargom.org
• Great Bay Real Time Environmental Monitoring Network- http://www.greatbaydata.org/
• The Stewardship Network of New England - http://newengland.stewardshipnetwork.org/
Has the institution presented at a higher education sustainability conference during the previous year?:
A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):
UNH presented at the AASHE conference in Boston in fall 2023, in a session entitled "Scope 3 Data, Reporting & Mitigation Strategies: An Interactive Session."
We also presented at the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium conference in a session entitled GHG Tracking in SIMAP: Scope 3 and Other Updates".
Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to an external higher education sustainability resource center or awards program?:
A list or brief description of the sustainability resource center or awards program and submission(s):
We submitted a case study of our experiential learning course, the Climate Action Clinic, to the AASHE Resource Hub. The Clinic uses the Sustainability Institute’s expertise and investment in the Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP), an online platform used by more than 500 organizations worldwide to understand, communicate, and manage their carbon and nitrogen footprints. The Clinic is designed to give students the carbon accounting and management skills that organizations are looking for, while helping organizations with their emissions reductions.
Has the institution had employees or students serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years?:
A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):
Allison Leach, SIMAP's former program manager, served as a co-chair of the Nitrogen Working Group (NWG) between 2017 and 2023. The NWG was formed to promote nitorgen footprint research and reduction amongst colleges and universities.
Jade Chalkley, UNH's Sustainability Peer Education Coordinator, has served on the Sustainability Student Leaders Symposium Board of Curators
Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:
Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Kelly participated in the AASHE mentoring program in 2022-2023 to mentor sustainability staff at another higher education institution.
In addition, the SIMAP Team has supported and mentored hundreds of campuses in their carbon management efforts over the past three years, hosting webinars, answering email inquiries, and holding free two weekly "office hours" session through which campus students, staff and faculty sign up to get 1:1 real-time guidance on their greenhouse gas questions.
Has the institution had employees or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the peer review activities:
UNH has ongoing mentorship relationships with many of the individuals who rely on SIMAP or who have relied on the free Campus Carbon Calculator™, to help them to complete their greenhouse gas inventories. We invest in making sure that our staff maintains expertise in international carbon accounting practices and protocols, for the public and private sectors, in order to be able to offer this guidance to our colleagues and peers through “how-to guides” and reports, webinars, one-on-one support via phone and virtual conferencing.
One example: SIMAP staff and student interns have conducted numerous in-depth, three-step formal data reviews of SIMAP users’ greenhouse gas inventories. We have completed more than 75 over the past six years, including several complementary reviews for campuses for whom the fee is prohibitive. See https://unhsimap.org/cmap/request-data-review
Optional Fields
UNHSI's SIMAP program partners with the GRITS sustainability project data management platform and have an API that allows users to transfer their data from SIMAP to the GRITS Platform.
We also partner with Second Nature to support members of the Climate Leadership Network, and in 2022 launched a new Reporting Platform for participants in the Climate and Carbon networks.
Website URL where information about the institution’s inter-campus collaborations is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.