June 2013 Sustainability Profile: Madeleine Turner & ESLP

Each month, our newsletter features a person or group on campus that is working toward a more sustainable world. This month's profile features the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP), a multidisciplinary and collaborative student-led organization that offers an accredited 5-unit and 2-unit course every spring quarter focused on sustainability. Students partner with guest lectures and create student-led sections to implement sustainability into the UC Santa Cruz and greater community.

We interviewed Madeleine Turner, currently a Collaboration and Networking Sphere Organizer for ESLP, to learn about her experiences with sustainability at UCSC.

This year's ESLP organizers. Madeleine is in the middle row, second from the left.

We asked Madeleine what she thinks about sustainability and how it relates to her life at UCSC.

Name: Madeleine Turner

Title: Collaboration and Networking Sphere Organizer for the Education for Sustainable Living Program

Year & Affiliation: First year, Oakes College

Favorite Green Tips: I’d say try to walk and bike everywhere as much as you possibly can.  I literally don’t ever take the bus unless I’m going downtown (I live on-campus) or I’m seriously running late to something.  Not only can you save energy this way, but you’re automatically adding time to exercise and relax throughout the day.  

What does "sustainability" mean to you? With the word “sustainability,” I think of simplicity.  Our lives are often so busy and complicated.  How will anyone be able to change what they’re doing in order to be more sustainable, if they can’t even stop and evaluate what’s happening right now?  If everything was simpler, maybe the problems and solutions to becoming more sustainable would become simpler too.

How does sustainability relate to your role at UCSC? As a Collaboration and Network Organizer in ESLP, I’m here for getting the word out about the cool stuff going on with us. If you don't want to miss anything, like us on Facebook!

How do you practice sustainability in your daily life? I choose to spend as much time outdoors as possible. This way I’m not using electricity, and I’m not buying things I don’t need. I also believe that being close to nature helps me to foster good intentions about treating our earth well.

Have you had a favorite sustainability moment at UCSC? My favorite sustainability moment so far was going to my first General Gathering.  It was the first Wednesday ever of my entire college experience.  Somehow my friend Sativa, an ESLP organizer, recruited me that night as an intern. From that moment, my entire year’s path was changed in an immeasurable and awesome way.

Madeleine will be next year's Chancellor's Undergraduate Intern for the Education for Sustainable Living Program. Congratulations, Madeleine--we look forward to the great work you'll be doing with ESLP in the future!

To learn more about ESLP and its accomplishments this year, click on the photo below!

Contests & Funding: June 2013

Yale Food Systems Symposium

The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies invites proposals for the Yale Food Systems Symposium in October 2013. The event will address ecological and socio-economic processes of food production, consumption, climate change and rapid urbanization through panels, working groups, roundtables, poster presentations and papers. Proposals are due by July 1.

Deep Nature Connection: Collette Streight

Written by Collette Streight former Interim Climate Action Manager at the Sustainability Office

For most of human history, we lived deeply connected to the Earth and other people out of necessity for survival. We had to be keenly aware of our surroundings in order to have enough to eat and drink, to make medicines, to be sheltered, and to avoid being preyed upon. We moved our bodies regularly, relied on our senses and communities, and followed the rhythms of the sun and the seasons. Only in the last several hundred years have we diverged dramatically from this way of living. The way we interact with our world today is extremely different from how we evolved to do so over the last 200,000 years.

Collette removing invasive French Broom

This sudden radical shift causes grave impacts on our health and well-being as well as that of other species and all ecosystems on Earth. While it would be impossible for us to go back to the "old" way of living, we can take the wisdom and knowledge that has been passed down to us from traditional cultures across the globe and apply it to our daily lives now. The Deep Nature Connection core routines and practices are a way of doing just that. These routines have been developed over decades of study, observation, research, and practice, and mimic what we used to do naturally in order to survive in the wild. 

Bike Generator at Sustainability End of the Year Celebration

The single greatest key to becoming deeply nature-connected is to give your full attention to what is happening in the wild world around you in any given moment. By intentionally stretching yourself to listen to the farthest sound, the quietest sound, the number of sounds, and the pattern of sounds in each direction or by focusing on feeling the wind, sun, earth, and temperature while being outside, you strengthen your natural capacity to be fully present and aware. Over time, latent, but potent neural pathways will open in your brain that enable you to experience life in a new electrified way. Quite naturally your mind will quiet down, your body will relax, and you will feel like you are an irreplaceable part of the amazing web of life.

To learn more about Collette's deep nature connections visit www.awakeningwild.com

June 2013: Internships, Employment, & Volunteering

IDEASS Accepting Applications for Interns for 2013-2014
Turn your ideas into reality!  Do you have your own sustainable project design with potential to make a real community impact, but you aren’t sure how to make it a reality? Apply to Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS), a team-based 3-quarter internship program that provides students with real opportunities to work on local sustainability challenges with community partners or sponsors. Please click here to apply today for fall enrollment!                                                                                           

Two IDEASS students who are currently working on 
making the bike routes to and from campus safer, so that
more people feel inclined to bike more.  

Education for Sustainable Living Program Internship Opportunity
The Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) is looking for Collabnet Interns! The Collaboration Network sphere is responsible for outreach and communication for ESLP. This includes, but is not limited to, creating posters, tabling, reaching out to newsletters, class announcements, communicating with other organizations, and more. Interns outreach to promote opportunities with ESLP by facilitating, interning, or taking the course.  Experience with graphic and website design is encouraged but not mandatory.

Find or Upload Projects to Sustainability Project Clearinghouse
Interested in getting involved in a campus sustainability project, but don't know how? Are you looking for partners for your current project? Have you completed a project that you would like others to learn from? Visit the Sustainability Project Clearinghouse, a centralized database of UCSC sustainability projects, today! You can view published projects or upload your own projects and ideas. For training on how to upload a project, please contact Shauna Casey at scasey@ucsc.edu.

National Fellowship Program: Deadline July 1
The Environmental Leadership Program's National Fellowship Program offers intensive leadership and skills training and national networking opportunities. Through retreats, their curriculum helps emerging leaders hone their leadership styles, improve their strategy and organizational development, and strengthen their outreach to diverse constituencies. It consists of two multi-day retreats in September 2013 and January 2014 and access to 4 hours of professional coaching. For information on eligibility, cost, dates and locations, and how to apply, visit the National Fellowship website.

Berkeley-Based Urban Adamah Residential Leadership Training Program
Urban Adamah, based in Berkeley, CA, is a three-month intensive residential leadership training program for young adults ages 21-31, that integrates urban organic farming, social justice work and progressive Jewish living and learning.  Applicants do not need any farming or Jewish knowledge to participate, only the passion to make positive change in their own lives and in the world.  Summer program is June 9 – Aug 30, and fall program is Sept 8 – Nov 22.  Admissions to the fellowship are rolling. Visit the website to fill out an application.

Farming Institute Immersion Program Accepting Applications 
The Farming Institute is a unique, fast track, 11 week farming immersion program taking place on two organic vegetable farms in Eastern Iowa. It is designed to equip emerging farmers of all ages to fulfill a dream. During the program, students will complete a business plan for their future farm and learn about the land, the business of farming and the farming process. If you have any questions contact Kate Edwards by email or by phone at 319-333-2980.

Internships with WaterLab Wastewater Recycling Research Facility
WaterLab Research Facility studies wastewater recycling and how to use recycled water to conserve unused water reserves.  The lab is still in the process of being built, with a working reverse osmosis system and a slow sand filtration system (built by undergraduate interns). Present interns have been brought on to learn about wastewater recycling and to contribute muscle power to build the treatment units, but those roles will shift and expand as the facility progresses.  Learn more about WaterLab and internships by contacting Eli Weintraub and via the Center for Integrated Water Research website.

Apply to Volunteer with Sprout Up
Sprout Up is a non-profit program that looks for undergraduate volunteers to help bring lessons of environmental science and sustainability to local elementary school classrooms. They are college student founded and are an operating non-profit organization that is always seeking new instructors. So apply if you would like to be apart of an education that brings forward sustainability awareness to the next generation of children.  

Inward Bound Mindfulness Education Wilderness Retreat
Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) is excited to announce their first mindfulness-based Wilderness Retreat in Northern California from July 19th-28th! This retreat is ideal for a young person with a strong connection to the natural world and an interest in mindfulness and self-awareness.  If this means you, register now!  If you have any questions, contact Shelby Leigh.

AHA Bolivia Sustainability/Social Responsibility Internship
This combined internship, learning workshop, and cultural experience program is designed to introduce students to socially responsible business practices, international business, and environmental respectfulness in business. Program includes: practical internship, learning modules and accompanying activities (6-8 hours per week), accommodation (shared housing), artisan site visits, Spanish classes (6 hours per week), and airport pick-up. The cost is $2700 for 4 weeks. For questions, or to apply, send your resume and a letter of interest to Cecilia. Time Commitment: July 17-18, 2013.

SF Environment Summer Jobs and Internships
Interested in finding an environmental summer job or internship in SF? Check out the SF Environment website where there are many listed opportunities for college students.  SF Environment offers a handful of summer internships and jobs involving environmental transportation for around San Francisco.  If this sounds interesting to you, apply soon for this coming summer.  

Apply for SEE-U, Summer 2013

Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates (SEE-U) is seeking applicants for it's summer session. SEE-U is a program that seek to highlight ecologically impacted areas of the world for undergraduates of all majors.  You travel to your choice of one of the four beautiful yet endangered ecosystems where you live and learn about the particular challenges that area faces.  Hosted through Columbia University, you ear 5 science credits while going abroad with other students and learning about environmental concerns on an international level.  



The University of Vermont's Campus Sustainability Leadership Program
Earn a Professional Certificate in Campus Sustainability Leadership in one week! Learn how to bring change through transformative, financially sustainable innovations at your institution! And learn from leaders in the sustainability field at the University of Vermont's award-winning green campus.  Be a part of the change! Time commitment:  June 24-28, 2013. 

Registration Now Open for the CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference
This unique event is jointly organized by independent/private colleges, California Community Colleges, California State Universities, and the University of California creating the opportunity for dialogue across institutions.  The conference will be held from June 23rd-27th at the University of California, Santa Barbara and will cover topics like Climate Action, Waste Management, Transportation, and Curriculum! So check out the conference online and register! If you have any questions, contact Katie Maynard, the Event Manager.   

New! Green Labs Program

Beginning in early Fall 2012, a small group of students and staff gathered in the College 8 Cafe to discuss the idea of creating a program to make UCSC labs more sustainable. Who knew that in the next months to come - a team of 7 members could initiate and design a Green Labs Pilot Program and accomplish their goals!

The group comprised of three students from the Sustainability Office: Rielle Indya Green from the Climate
Action Team, Elizabeth Lin from the  Zero Waste Team, and Casey Wing from the Green Office Certification Team; two students from PowerSave Green Campus: Delia Bense-Kang and Nick Nigro; and two members of Environmental Health and Safety: Justin Delemus and April Anstey.

Program Creation:

Vision: The Green Labs Program seeks to improve energy efficiency and increase green purchasing and waste reduction through behavior change, physical improvements, and education.

Goals: To create a program that comprises of different determinants of sustainability and to pilot the program in 2 labs. The Green Labs Team completed the pilots of 2 labs Spring 2013.  Partch and Saltikov labs were the first to undergo the Green Labs Certification element.  This process included a comprehensive assessment and the labs were scored based on the result.  The Green Labs Team graded the labs on how well they tested in each of the 3 program goals (energy efficiency, waste reduction, and green purchasing).  

So what were the results? This year the Green Labs Team established a framework to evaluate and improve UCSC labs. Part of the program involved the certification of 2 pilot labs - this goal was completed with great enthusiasm and results! The Green labs team followed up with labs on recommendations that lead to positive behavior change.

More than that, through the other aspects of the program - Green Labs Team implemented reminders and found ways to save energy on campus! UCSC lab buildings use 46.7% of campus energy - so places where we could reduce this were essential! Lab equipment is high in energy usage - but there are so many areas where simple behavior modifications can save energy (thus campus $$ and GHGs).  One of these areas are fume hoods, these are ventilation devices that are used to limit the amount of toxins and chemicals people are exposed to.  Unfortunately these devices keep a constant flow of air and use the amount of energy per year equal to 3 to 5 houses.  One way the Green Labs Team helped to reduce this energy consumption was to place stickers on all fume hoods on campus to remind the labs to keep them shut when not in use.  This way the airflow is greatly reduced.

UCSC Green Labs is a successful and growing program that will continue into future years!

Green Office Certification: Student Perspectives

As we near the end of the school year, the Green Office Certification (GOC) team is looking back at all we have accomplished and what lies ahead. Here are two accounts from GOC associates that will be graduating this June.

"My job as GOC program associate is to assess other offices on their sustainable practices and give them recommendations to become more sustainable. I have performed behavior, energy, and waste assessments for numerous offices across campus, and I have generated recommendation reports to further educate office members. While the participating office members are learning and benefiting from our program, I also have learned a lot along the way. Not only did I gain critical job skills, such as communication and analytic skills, I also expanded my knowledge of, and passion for, sustainability. During the assessments of each office, I always learn new things and become more inspired by the office’s innovations."

-Allen Chang

"I have worked out of the Sustainability Office for two years now, first as a Campus Sustainability Intern and then as a Green Office Certification Team Member. I am approaching my last few weeks as a UCSC undergraduate which means I also had to undertake the scary, nerve-racking process of getting a job. During my interviews I had the same question asked of me: “What is Green Office Certification at UCSC”? I was surprised how interested people were in what I have done for sustainability during my academic career. One employer even told me she is currently working with a certification group similar to GOC and took pleasure in letting me know that their most recent building was LEED Certified! Needless to say, I am quite happy this employer was the one to offer me a full-time position! I will be looking forward to new and different ways sustainability may incorporate itself in my career after college, both at this new company and any other future work environment."

-Christian Frederick

Both of these guys will be dearly missed next year, but we know that their experience working in the Sustainability Office has provided them with the resources to excel beyond college. Good luck you two!

If you are interested in learning more about Green Office Certification or the work we do, check out our website or email greenoffices@ucsc.edu. And if you are interested in working with us, or any other sustainability org, view our job listings website.

IDEASS Feature Project: Making the Best of an Oil Grease Mess

Written by Hanna Haas, IDEASS Outreach Coordinator 

Greasy, gross, and... green? Students in the Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) program are working with the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf to turn leftover restaurant grease, otherwise a waste product, into fuel, an asset that will contribute to making the Santa Cruz Wharf even greener.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ori Kedar, who has volunteered to work as a mentor with a team of three IDEASS students, Kevin Dang (Environmental Studies and Economics), Shyon Kishani (Chemistry), and Matt Claxton (Chemistry). The team meets regularly with Jon Bombaci who is the acting Supervisor for operations on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.  

Together they are contributing to a larger effort to help Santa Cruz demonstrate what can be done to live more sustainably by concentrating on something that most people either assume to be a waste product or simply ignore: the yellow grease leftover from restaurant fryers.

Collectively, the restaurants leasing space on the Santa Cruz Wharf produce a significant amount of yellow grease, and the team is looking at how to transform what is now treated as a waste product into an asset.  Specifically they are looking at the potential to process yellow grease on site. The yellow grease can be transformed into a fuel stock that can be combusted to run a generator, which produces electricity. Additionally, as Kedar explained, they are also looking at the potential for incarceration of organic solid waste, which would produce heat to run a steam turbine generator and produce electricity.

The students have also been looking at what infrastructure would be necessary to produce such an alternative waste disposal system and the net associated costs. To do this the team has been collecting data to prepare an economic assessment of what it is currently costing the wharf to remove the grease along with other solids in the waste stream. They will present these figures to stakeholders at the Master Plan meeting before making recommendations to invest in proposed solutions.

IDEASS is a 3-quarter service-learning course offered through Baskin Engineering in cooperation with the Environmental Studies Department but is open to qualified students from any major. This year,  IDEASS successfully launched 11 ambitious sustainable design projects – most of which directly involve off-campus organizations and professionals working to make innovative advances in creating what some have recognized as the  emerging “green economy.”

According to Kedar, IDEASS is “a great opportunity to use what you learn in the class about sustainability and apply it to the real world.” He suggests that by working in the community, “you have an opportunity to work with different ethical organizations, [and] leave a mark.” He adds, “If you find an area you are interested in, you can make a career. Many times, if a project doesn’t get completed, they may hire students to see it through.”

What an opportunity! If you would like to apply to IDEASS, please visit the IDEASS website to fill out the application online, or email the IDEASS instructors for more information at ideas@ucsc.edu