| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75.40 |
| Liaison | Mary-Lee Townsend |
| Submission Date | Jan. 16, 2025 |
Western University
IL-69: Innovation E
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Name of the innovative outcome, program, or initiative:
Does the innovation represent a new, extraordinary, unique, ground-breaking, or uncommon outcome, program, or initiative that addresses a sustainability challenge and is not covered by an existing credit?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the innovation:
For 16 consecutive years, Western has recognized and supported members of the Western Community who have made positive contributions to advancing sustainability, through the Western Green Awards (in 2025, these have been re-named the Western Climate and Sustainability Awards). The Western Green Awards recognize an individual or team that initiates or supports an activity with positive environmental and sustainability outcomes, encourages participation and involvement, works together with others, groups and organizations to meet their goal, or demonstrates a sustainability effort or campaign. The purpose of the award is to help raise awareness of sustainability at Western University through the acknowledgment of community members (students, faculty, and staff) who have made positive contributions. are given out annually to students, faculty and staff
https://sustainability.uwo.ca/green_awards/index.html
Over the past three years, the follwing receipents have received green awards:
2022 Recipients
Donna Sasges
Donna Sasges has been a driving force in organizing and promoting the green composting program at WTS for about eight years. She coordinates volunteer schedules for each floor to manage the disposal receptacles, ensures there are always supplies available for the program, and actively promotes the initiative across the department.
"It just makes sense, doing our little part. It's definitely teamwork and everyone pitches in. The really great thing about these large green bins is that not only can you put in food scraps, but also biodegradable paper products, paper towels and napkins... it's a lot of 'waste' that's not waste. It's not going into the garbage and, instead, is going into the organics bin to feed the earth."
Dr. Nina Zitani
Dr. Nina Zitani is a biology professor, curator of Western's Zoological Collections, and founder and curator of Western's Biodiversity Gallery. An indefatigable supporter of biodiversity through education, research and personal example, Zitani is described as an inspiring champion of ecological responsibility and sustainability.
She equips students and community members with knowledge and motivation to rethink and rebuild their relationship with the land, water, plants and fungi that comprise our world. Her research includes discovering and naming 15 new insect species in Costa Rica, where she has led several cohorts of fieldwork students to a first-hand understanding of biodiversity and climate change.
Western Sustainability Leaders Program (WSLP) Student Team
The 2022 Western Sustainability Leaders Program (WSLP) Student Team is comprised of Brian Yang, Brittany Lau, Grace Farrow, Allison Pert and Rebecca Streef. This team represents student advocates who take action. They have led a number of initiatives that include sharing information about careers in sustainability; teaching students how to seed seeds and garden; offering career advice for environmentalists; collaborating with individuals and organizations on topics like sustainable fashion and food; and hosting a sustainability fair featuring a variety of environmental groups on campus.
They have worked with student groups to improve sorting for waste, food and recycling streams; and their leadership has helped students to shop locally, discover and support campus biodiversity, and celebrate holidays more sustainably.
2023 Recipients
Cogie Cogan
Cogie Cogan, undergraduate student in global studies at Huron University College, received the award for their numerous contributions to issues related to environment and sustainability.
As sustainability commissioner at the Huron Student Council, Cogan led a campaign to make the college a Blue Community by eliminating single-use plastic water bottles from campus. They also coordinated Shabbat dinners with plant-based recipes.
Cogan has actively advocated for the environment at different forums, including as delegate to the UN Environment Assembly in Kenya in 2022, guest speaker on waterway conservation, climate fellow at Duke University and founder as well as former director of Western Environmental Business club.
Cogan is also a recipient of the London Youth Green Leader Award.
Brendon Samuels
Brendon Samuels is a PhD student in biology. He is the first sustainability coordinator for the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) and led numerous campus clean-ups during the year, with the focus on the Thames River.
Samuels led the construction of a structure intended to be a template to help barn swallows breed. He also led initiatives to secure funds from multiple sources for this project. He successfully advocated to have bird-friendly decals added to reflective windows on campus.
Samuels also presented a motion for SOGS to endorse a letter against Bill 23 More Homes Built Faster Act, and successfully defended a motion relating to the bill at this year’s Canadian Federation of Students’ national general meeting. He also organized a demonstration against the bill with elected officials as speakers and over 150 attendees.
Craig Clifford
Craig Clifford is operations manager, procurement and facilities at hospitality services. He works with foodservice providers to ensure local, sustainable, ethically sourced supplies are secured for each area within hospitality services, which is a large department with annual food and beverage purchases over $13 million.
Clifford has been instrumental in securing contracts with many local suppliers. He also ensures sustainable, compostable and recyclable to-go containers and cutlery are available. This year, Clifford created a comprehensive list of all package containers with recycling instructions. He is at present planning for a fully sustainable packaging program for September 2023.
2024 Recipients
Allison Pert
Environmental Science and Biology student
“Whether picking up trash or educating others, Allison Pert exhibits a passion for implementing sustainability initiatives, as well as growing, learning and helping people,” her nominator writes.
Pert, a fifth-year student studying environmental science and biology, has helped guide and plan many sustainability events on campus, including teaching students how to save native seeds and how to cultivate pollinator plants.
As part of Western’s Sustainability Leaders program, which earned a Green Award in 2022, she has served as event lead coordinator and is the current co-lead student coordinator. She has rallied and inspired fellow students, leading campus cleanups, and through her social media posts, shares tips on how to limit waste and use recyclable materials.
Beyond Western, Pert helped coordinate a London Bug Day event to educate children about the role bugs play in environmental health and is a student educator with Let’s Talk Science. In 2022, Pert received the London Environmental Network Youth Leader Award.
Kierra Holowachuk
Mechatronics Engineering student and Ivey 2024 HBA candidate
Kierra Holowachuk is described as “an amazing advocate for sustainability, consistently demonstrating her commitment through coursework and her active involvement in both educational and engineering projects.”
Through her upper-year coursework at Western and at Ivey Business School, she is deeply engaged in subjects that focus on sustainability, such as systems thinking, with an aim to better understand the challenges and opportunities in creating a more sustainable future.
Holowachuk is vice-president of events for the Western Engineering Green Technology Club, which attracted a grant from the Western Sustainable Impact Fund to create a prototype of a device designed to remove carbon autonomously and efficiently from the atmosphere. The project has also been selected as a finalist in the OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge, where it will be showcased at the Carbon Unbound Conference in New York City.
She also served as vice-president of advocacy and director of outreach and public engagement for EnviroSynBio, a multidisciplinary group of Western students promoting environmental and synthetic biology across campus through events, lab opportunities and research conferences.
After she graduates from Western this June, Holowachuk plans to pursue a masters of science in sustainability management at Columbia University in New York City.
“Kierra actively contributes to a greener world, fostering a sense of belonging that embodies Western’s vision for a more prosperous, just and inclusive society,” writes her nominator.
Dr. Julie Strychowsky
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Dr. Julie Strychowsky believes simple changes in hospital operating rooms (OR) and multidisciplinary clinics can have considerable impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
An award-winning teacher in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and a pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), Strychowsky sees practicing environmental sustainability in the OR and in life as a moral and public health imperative.
She recently led a successful initiative to streamline surgical trays to only include surgical instruments and supplies necessary for the procedure, reducing processing impact and waste. She also implemented a reusable patient belonging bag program, replacing single-use plastic bags with a more environmentally friendly option that reduces carbon emissions and saves LHSC approximately $3,000 annually.
“Dr. Strychowsky is working one tray at a time to reduce carbon emissions at LHSC, raising awareness of the environmental impact of the operating room locally and in the national ear, nose and throat community,” her nominator writes.
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
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