Sustainability Newsletter

Joe Fullerton will be joining the OS as our new Director on April 7th. Fullerton has over 15 years of experience as a sustainability leader and change maker. In his most recent role, he was the Director of Energy and Sustainability Programs at Prospect Silicon Valley, which is a San Jose California based non-profit dedicated to accelerating the adoption of equitable cleantech solutions.

For nearly a decade prior, he served as the Energy and Sustainability Manager at San Mateo County Community College District. Here he led local and statewide efforts to advance sustainability internships and career development pathways for students as well as charting a path for decarbonization for the entire 115 California community college system by 2035.

“I’m thrilled to be working with faculty, staff, students and the expansive UConn campus community as Director of the Office of Sustainability. I’m committed to leading sustainability efforts with a laser focus on inclusive engagement, equitable empowerment and meaningful enrichment,” shares Joe Fullerton.

UConn: 10 Years as a Certified Tree Campus USA
For the 10th year in a row, UConn received our Tree Campus USA Certification. This certification is given by the Arbor Day Foundation to university campuses that effectively:

• Maintain a Tree Advisory Committee
• Manage their campus trees and a tree care plan
• Observe Arbor Day
• Develop connectivity with the community beyond campus borders to foster healthy urban forests
• Strive to engage their student population utilizing service learning opportunities centered on campus and community forestry efforts.

This certification is the result of the hard work of faculty, staff, and students from around the university. To observe Arbor Day this year, UConn will be planting 4 class trees to commemorate the class of '23, '24, '25, and '26 at the Office of Sustainability's Earth Day Spring Fling on April 19th at 1:00 PM.

Come on down and join many of our EcoCaptain Interns in a DIY Tote Bag Event at the Werth Forum! We anticipate many attendees, so bring your friends for fun, food, and a free tote! Please contact West EcoCaptain Intern Dylan Steer (dylan.steer@uconn.edu) with any questions.

Join us in celebrating the 20th anniversary of our Earth Day Spring Fling (EDSF) event on Wednesday, April 19th from 11:00 - 2:00pm. The EDSF event brings together thousands of students, faculty, staff, and others from the University community to gather and interact with a multitude of environmental-related exhibitors and vendors. The event features an outdoor zero-waste barbeque catered by Dining Services offering vegan, vegetarian, and sustainable food options.

This year, there will be a party-peddler bike open for students to ride along a designated sustainability route from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, an Outdoor Yoga session Led by UConn Rec instructors from 12:00-1:00pm, the Class Tree Planting run by the Arboretum Committee and the Office of Sustainability, an Environmental Arts show on Fairfield Way, and tabling from local and student environmental organizations.

This day is meant to be a celebration of the Earth and sustainability efforts and we look forward to seeing you there. Check out the Office of Sustainability Instagram (@uconnos) for more information.

The Busby and Charter Oaks EcoCaptain Interns are teaming up to hold a Busby Path Clean Up! Students will meet outside Busby near the path on April 19th at 2:00 PM. We hope to see you there as we make our campus cleaner in celebration of Earth Day! Please contact the Busby (erin.heslop@uconn.edu) and Charter Oaks (matthew.barrows@uconn.edu) EcoCaptain Interns if you have any questions.

This upcoming Earth Day, come join the annual UConn Student Alumni Association (SAA) Oozeball Tournament. Our office will be collaborating with UConn SAA to make this iconic Husky event more eco-friendly.

As we find out which team is the true Wizards of Ooze, we will be running a waste-diversion station, where students can lounge about and divert their food-waste products properly. The proceeds from this event will also be going to our sustainability fund, so make sure to pop by and learn about what we will be using the fund for! As you partake in this Husky necessity, we ask for you to reduce your footprint literally by taking your shoes home, since UConn SAA and our office do not have a place to wash and/or throw them away. We cannot wait to dive on this Earth Day and have a magical time!

Spearheaded by the Buckley EcoCaptain Intern Amanda Stowe, join us for a campus-wide cleanup to celebrate Earth Day! Students can check in at the table on Fairfield Way to grab supplies and drop off what they collected. We all can play a role in a cleaner campus so stay tuned for more information!

On April 27th, Andrew Gonzales will be presenting his talk titled “Biodiversity Science & Solutions for the Anthropocene,” the last event of the 2022-2023 Teale Lecture Series. Gonzales is a professor and Liber Ero chair in biodiversity conservation in the department of biology and the director of the Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science at McGill University.

Head to Konover Auditorium in the Dodd Center at 4:00 PM. on Thursday, April 27th to hear his fascinating talk!

Office of Sustainability Internships
Undergraduate students work as interns at the Office of Sustainability to provide leadership, collaboration and advocacy for sustainability at UConn. The 10-hour per week positions involve hosting campus sustainability engagement events, carrying out UConn's strategic sustainability plans, and researching best environmental practices to improve sustainability at UConn. This position provides current undergraduates with the opportunity to gain excellent work experience, hone and grow leadership skills, and make personal and professional connections that last a lifetime.

 
Join our fun team of high-achieving and passionate undergraduate student interns! The OS hires interns during the spring semester, to begin work in the fall semester and continuing throughout the academic year. 
 

Apply to Become a UConn@COP28  Fellow
Be a part of this year's cohort of UConn@COP Fellows at COP28 (UNFCCC Conference of Parties), taking place in the host city of Dubai! Our annual application is coming out soon, so keep an eye out for this opportunity to apply to this immersive, once in a lifetime experience that brings together diplomats, leaders, environmental activists, and other delegates within the environmental sphere who come together to negotiate and discuss progress in addressing climate change on a global scale. Gain a unique, firsthand perspective on international negotiations and global efforts to combat climate change and promote climate justice! Anyone with an interest in the environment/sustainability and from any major is encouraged to apply.
 

Get Outside this Spring in the Hillside Environmental Education Park (HEEP) 
Are you looking for a way to get outside this Spring? The Hillside Environmental Education Park (HEEP) is a 165-acre preservation area located on UConn’s North Campus. The park includes a network of hiking trails extending north from a trailhead near the C-Lot to Hunting Lodge Road and Discovery Drive. If you're interested in getting outside, check out our website which includes more information about how the HEEP came to be and the services it provides! 

Environmental Leadership Awards: March 22
The Environmental Leadership Awards were held on March 22nd. The Office of Sustainability celebrated environmental leaders across UConn and recognized their efforts. Winners were representative of the undergraduate student population, graduate student population, faculty, staff, and varying UConn groups. 

To learn more about the winners, check out the link below!

Environmental Involvement Fair & Green Careers Panel - March 30
Environmental clubs gathered for the first eco-focused involvement fair yesterday. It was great to build connections between clubs and recruit students interested in being part of the strong eco-community at UConn. The fair was followed by the Green Careers Panel, which was really insightful - big take-away message: WRITE AWESOME COVER LETTERS! We will be posting a recording of the panel discussion in the next few months.