| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 53.20 |
| Liaison | Olivia Shehan |
| Submission Date | Dec. 24, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Wellesley College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Jessica
Hunter Environmental Studies Program Coordinator Environmental Studies |
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indicates that no data was submitted for this field
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Is the institution utilizing the campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in the following areas?:
| Yes or No | |
| Air & Climate | Yes |
| Buildings | Yes |
| Dining Services/Food | Yes |
| Energy | Yes |
| Grounds | Yes |
| Purchasing | No |
| Transportation | --- |
| Waste | Yes |
| Water | Yes |
| Coordination, Planning & Governance | Yes |
| Diversity & Affordability | --- |
| Health, Wellbeing & Work | Yes |
| Investment | No |
| Public Engagement | Yes |
| Other | --- |
None
A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Air & Climate and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
ES 300, the capstone environmental course in Environmental Studies, has conducted a Greenhouse Gas inventory and plan for the school, in conjunction with facilities staff. They are planning to perform this analysis again this Spring of 2016.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Buildings and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
ES 300 2014 Project: Making Wellesley a LEEDer in Sustainable Design: The Synthesis of Wellesley's Sustainable Building Guidelines. The College has taken this report and used it as a starting point for developing larger College sustainability guidelines.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Dining Services/Food and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
ES 300 2013 Project: Food is Not Trash: Redefining Wellesley's Waste Culture by Composting. At the request of the Office of Sustainability, the Environmental Studies major capstone class spent the semester researching and developing the most effective strategies to recommend to the college in order to implement campus-wide composting and reduce the amount of food wasted. The college is currently implementing composting at dining halls as a direct result of this project!
Additionally, ES 103: Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability looks at food on campus and is studying the difference between conventional and organic practices. This research is being used by other professors and classes on campus to study everything from microbes to soil contaminants.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Energy and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
ES 300 2015 Project: 2015: What Powers Powerful Women: The Future of Energy at Wellesley College. At the request of our Office of Sustainability, the Environmental Studies major capstone class spent the semester researching and developing the most effective strategies to recommend to the college in order to make an informed decision on the future of energy on campus. Staff and Faculty from across campus were involved in this project, and results will inform future campus energy decisions.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Grounds and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
We utilized the Science Center Meadow as a class project for the biological control of Purple Loosestrife by introducing Gallerucella beetles. The populations of the beetles have continued to increase and it has continued to provide significant control to one of the most invasive wetland species on the East Coast.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Purchasing and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
unknown
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Transportation and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
unknown
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Waste and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
ES 300 2012: Waste Reduction: Ensuring Wellesley's Pursuit of Sustainability Doesn't End Up in the Trash. The class assessed sustainability implications of the College's waste system, by estimating the total amount of waste produced annually and the material content of the waste stream, and by analyzing the environmental impacts of the materials and disposal processes through a life cycle assessment (LCA).
Also see ES 300 Food Waste Project.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Water and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
Every year, ES 101 (Fundamentals of Environmental Science with Lab) samples water from Lake Waban on campus and data is complied and referenced by future classes and the college. This year GEOS 101 (Earth Processes and the Environment with Lab) students are sampling water from Paramecium Pond to obtain similar water quality data. Other courses also have campus projects involving water: BISC 201 (Ecology with Lab), and GEOS 201 (Environmental, Health, and Sustainability Sciences with Lab).
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Coordination, Planning & Governance and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
ES 312 Environmental Policy Seminar class has a Group Policy Project:
You will be placed in a group that will work, during the course of the semester, on influencing (positively!) some aspect of environmental behavior at Wellesley. Find a local environmental problem that no one is successfully addressing. Figure out how to address this problem, and implement your solution. (Bear in mind that there are many possible ways to influence behavior.) Because you will have to make some progress on the problem you choose during the course of the semester you will need to be realistic in your goals; the evaluation of your progress will, however, take into consideration the ambitiousness of your goal.
We placed this project here since it's related to directly changing policy on campus!
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Diversity & Affordability and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
unknown
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Health, Wellbeing & Work and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
For an Economics class project, the benefits manager in human resources was interviewed to assess benefits to faculty and staff at Wellesley College.
Additionally, a student working on an independent study collaborated with the Assistant Director Health Education to study the barriers to the barrier method.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Investment and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
unknown
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Public Engagement and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
See Coordination, Planning & Governance project from ES 312 Environmental Policy course.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory in Other areas and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
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The website URL where information about the institution’s campus as a living laboratory program or projects is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.