UConn Office of Sustainability

Meet our amazing alumni! Mara Tu worked for the Office of Sustainability from 2018-2021. She graduated in 2021 with a with a double major in Environmental Science and Urban and Community Studies. She then receiving her master’s degree from the Tufts University Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program. She currently hopes to bring her values of social justice, community care, and radical empathy to the important affordable housing work happening at Allston Brighton CDC. She has broad experience interning and working in many different organizations, including at a museum, alternative protein company, catering company, bagel shop, City of Boston office, and planning consulting firm.

Meet our amazing alumni! After graduating from UConn in 2023, Maggie Singman spent about a year working at an Calvert Impact, an impact investing nonprofit based in the DC area. There, she helped the organization apply for the National Clean Investment Fund, a grant program that acts as the investment arm of the Biden Administration's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the largest investment in climate change in U.S. history. After being successfully awarded, Maggie transitioned jobs and moved to an island off the coast of central Maine. At the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, Maggie teaches marine biology and ecosystem science to students of all ages through an engaging exploratory curriculum, with an emphasis on how rising ocean temperatures are changing life above and below the surface.

Learn more about COP29 - the United Nation's Climate Change Conference! Stay tuned to meet our fellows! #UConnTalksClimate

Pulitzer prize and National Book Award-nominated author, John Vaillant, will be at UConn! Join him for a talk on the intersection of climate change, fire and fossil fuels on Thursday October 10 at 4pm in the Konover Auditorium. Free and open to the public! #UConn Penguin Random House

Glad our Environmental and Social Sustainability Grants program is helping University of Connecticut-Stamford students in need access fresh greens! Congrats to grantees Victoria Almazán and Joanna Pirog and their mentors Laura Bunyan and Rosa Rizzo. "Offering produce, which like yogurt also needs refrigeration, is something Husky Harvest Stamford hasn’t been able to do in large quantities because, as for any pantry, finding a supplier is challenging." "But in yet another new initiative this year, Stamford will take a stab growing its own." "Bunyan credits her research assistant, Victoria Almazan ’26 (SSW), with obtaining an Environmental and Social Sustainability Grant from UConn’s Office of Sustainability within the Institute of the Environment to purchase an indoor hydroponic system, known as a Flex Farm. The indoor vertical farm, when working at its maximum, can grow more than 394 pounds of produce annually." #UConn Fork Farms

The Teale Lecture Series kicks off this year with Dr. Benjamin Sovacool talking about Energy Justice. Free talk is at 4pm in Konover Auditorium TODAY. All are welcome. Dr. Sovacool is Professor of Earth & Environment at Boston University. His research focuses on renewable energy and energy efficiency, the politics of large-scale energy infrastructure, designing public policy to improve energy security and access to electricity, the ethics and justice of energy, and building adaptive capacity to the consequences of climate change. With much coverage of his work in the international news media, he is one of the most highly cited global researchers on issues bearing on controversies in energy and climate policy. Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability #UConn

Attend the Clean Energy Engagement Fair from 3-4:30pm on Monday! Over 20 organizations, employers and departments will be tabling and eager to talk about ways to get involved in Clean Energy in Connecticut. Register at the link below (note that it's part of a day long Clean Energy Summit, but you don't need to attend the whole day in order to attend the fair). #UConn https://lnkd.in/eGEAYUNU

Meet our amazing alumni! We'll be highlighting intern alumni over the next few months. Samuel Kocurek worked with the Office of Sustainability from 2021 to 2023. He graduated from UConn with degrees in mathematics and environmental science. Sam is currently a second year graduate student at the University of Michigan- School for Environment and Sustainability. He focuses on Geospatial Data Science and Sustainable Development. Sam is heavily involved with Nature Rx at UM and is currently planning a 'Nature for Wellness' Symposium where he will have speakers from UM and external organizations to help advise the university on necessary next steps for health and sustainability. Sam also works at the UM Office of Campus Sustainability where he primarily assists with their state-of-the-art green labs program as well as their zero-waste initiatives and sustainable grounds.

Grantee in the news! In the area of Horsebarn Hill behind Jacobsen's Barn, there is an ongoing construction project to create an outdoor classroom pavilion for professors and students to utilize! Isaac Betts (CAHNR) '23 in partnership with UConn Forestry, received an "Office of Sustainability Environmental and Social Sustainability Grant" to enable this project. Visit the link below to learn more about project progress and volunteer opportunities. Additionally, head to our UConn Office of Sustainability website to learn more about grants and projects! #UConn UConn College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources

Want to grow your own food in a mini hydroponic farm? Our Environmental and Social Sustainability Grantees, Audrey Larson and Lucy Ledesma can help! Their Seeds2Sustain program will help fight food insecurity on campus, enhance student agricultural knowledge, and improve food sustainability. Apply to be part of the program by September 11 here: https://lnkd.in/eCwxn2dr #UConn