University of San Diego
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

The Office of Undergraduate Research identifies and provides funding to students to support research across a range of topics related to, and focused on sustainability. The Equinox Quality of Life Dashboard (https://www.sandiego.edu/soles/centers-and-institutes/nonprofit-institute/signature-programs/dashboard/#:~:text=The%20Quality%20of%20Life%20Dashboard,health%2C%20wealth%2C%20comfort%20and%20sustainability) supported by the Environmental and Leadership Hub in the Non-Profit Institute at the School of Leadership and Educational Sciences in conjunction with faculty research funds has supported 5 undergraduate students working on individual research components including Climate Change, Air Pollution, Water, and Beach Water Quality. The USD Green Fund is supporting a student analyzing carbon emission & workforce support in the supply chain and procurement processes. In-class research projects have occurred in Environmental & Ocean Sciences, Sustainable Supply Chain, Environmental Management, Sustainability in Sociology, and several Engineering courses; many of these projects have either been incorporated into the Climate Action Plan or the Energy Master Plan.

As a result of the strategic plan Envisioning 2024, the university established an internal funding mechanism to support student, staff, and faculty initiatives. Grants ranged from ~$10,000 (for an event) to $60,000 (to establish centers/hubs/long-standing committees) and awardees were encouraged and supported to look for outside funding to secure longer term success. Each year 10-12 programs were funded; the list below shows the program that incorporated sustainabiltiy as one of therir core themes:

Environmental Integration Lab
Western Science Meets Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Creating a Core Scientific Inquiry Course with Integration and Indigenous Science Resources
Water Justice Exchange: Fostering Synergistic Research, Teaching, and Solutions for Local Water Challenges
Equinox Project at USD
Environment and Social Justice Leadership Hub
Operationalizing USD's Next Generation of Sustainability Professionals Through Data and Leadership Development
Anchor Entrepreneurship: Combining Inclusion, Diversity, and Food & Beverage Innovation for Our Common Home
Design Thinking Studio
Food Studies Initiative at USD
The Mixtec Community Garden: Ways of Knowing, Being, and Doing
Urgent Challenges Collective - Homelessness and Food Insecurity
Engineering Exchange for Social Justice

The Copley Library serves the entire USD community with books, periodicals, databases, media collections, study spaces, library faculty, and more which includes various publications and means to provide a foundation for sustainability research.

Students and faculty can research over 1096 books/E-journals on sustainability and take advantage of the advanced set of databases. The library also enable student and faculty to find other research material across the well knit San Diego Library community that help source material that might not be currently available at Copley Library.