Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Conference 2023 (Boston, MA)
Approved: 8/20/2023
Funding Amount: $9,919
This proposal will provide funding for 8 students to attend the 2023 AASHE Conference and Expo in Boston, MA from October 29th-31st, 2023. This project aims to increase the practice of sustainability at UK by allowing a group of students to serve as knowledge ambassadors following the conference. These students will leave AASHE with innovative ideas regarding the implementation of sustainability on college campuses, which will ultimately have a greater impact on UK as a whole.
Tracing Shifts in Lake Tanganyika's Oxycline Using Modern and Recent Lake Sediments at Nkamba Bay (Zambia)
Approved: 8/20/2023
Funding Amount: $12,000
This study utilizes lake sediments to assess the impacts of global warming on Lake Tanganyika’s aquatic ecosystems. Lake Tanganyika’s sedimentary archive provides insights for understanding the environmental history of the human habitat surrounding the lake, the aquatic ecosystem, and can aid in the reconstruction of global paleoclimate.
Bluegrass Annual Discussions on Anthropology and Social Sciences (BADASS) Conference 2023
Approved: 9/6/2023
Funding Amount: $1,200
This proposal will provide funding for food, supplies, and advertising for the second BADASS conference which, this year, will focus on the topic of Environment. The call for abstracts invites students of all levels and disciplines to showcase their research on not only pressing environmental issues such as climate change and human impacts on biodiversity and natural resources but also any topic related to digital, cultural, linguistic, familial, and other environments.
Clastic Sediments in Wells Cave of the Cumberland Plateau and Their Hydrodynamic and Sedimentological Implications
Approved: 9/20/2023
Funding Amount: $9,360
This study will focus on using cave sediments to investigate the flood history of Buck Creek, a tributary to the Cumberland River, in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Using cave sediments, we can decipher historical flood patterns, evaluate the effects floods on sediment deposition, and assess changes in sediment quality due to land-use shifts over time. Alongside these analyses, the study will use radiocarbon (C14) to determine age of deposition and correlate past flood events to changes in landcover and determine if historic floods can be found within the sediment packages.
Developing and Evaluating Evidence-Based Communication about Waste Management at the University of Kentucky
Approved: 9/20/2023
Funding Amount: $900
UK Recycling and Dr. Cagle will partner on a research project analyzing the awareness and effectiveness of recycling messaging at the University of Kentucky, targeting all students, faculty, and staff. This will be a modified replication of the previously performed 2021-2022 study.
The first phase of this project will involve a survey of the UK community in the Fall 2023 semester to analyze their opinions and knowledge of recycling at UK. The second phase of this study will repeat the fall survey in the Spring 2024 semester to evaluate how or if their opinions have changed.
University of Kentucky Mycology Club Fungal Inoculation
Approved: 10/08/2023
Funding Amount: $272
This proposal will provide funding for a UK Mycology club event that invites club members as well as all members of the UK community to participate in a log inoculation in order to introduce people to a method of growing mushrooms. This event will provide a hands-on demonstration to get people excited about growing mushrooms, a nutritious food source, from fallen logs.
Kentucky Climate Consortium (KYCC) Visioning Workshop to Increase Climate Collaboration and Engagement in Kentucky Higher Education
Approved: 10/22/2020
Funding Amount: $10,169
This funding request is to support the development, delivery, and synthesis of results of an interactive virtual whiteboarding workshop designed to explore and create a vision for the future of climate collaboration across Kentucky, with a focus on the role institutions of higher education can and should take as places where students learn how to tackle big problems and physical operations can serve as a model to the rest of the Commonwealth. The workshop has 3 objectives:
- Have a candid conversation around the current and future states of climate collaboration in Kentucky.
- Build connections with fellow climate work practitioners. Share challenges, opportunities, and best practices.
- Provide recommendations for the Kentucky Climate Consortium’s next phase based on participants’ needs, experiences, and insights.
Gato Del Sol VII
Approved: 11/29/2023
Funding Amount: $12,500
This proposal will fund the development of the UK Solar Car team's next solar car: Gato Del Sol VII. This car, which is completely student built, requires a vast array of components to run properly and safely from only solar power. Furthermore, the team's main goal with the car is to win in races against other colleges’ solar cars, events which promote the development of sustainability-minded engineers. While their current car is fully functioning, it is no longer within the regulations of the races UK annually competes in, requiring us to build a new car to carry forward our mission of sustainably promoting University of Kentucky engineering.
Core Partnerships and Council Overhead
Approved: 11/29/2023
Funding Amount: $92,134
This proposal funds several long-standing partnerships between the Office of Sustainability (Student Internship Program), Office of Undergraduate Research (Summer Research and Creativity Fellowships), and the SSC, as well as the SSC Student Director Stipends and partial funding for a full-time position within the office of sustainability that will dedicate at least one third of their time to supporting the council and helping enhance the impact of funded projects. The funding for the director stipends and the partial funding for the full-time position represents operational overhead for the council, or funding needed to ensure the council has the leadership and support needed to continue to enhance the impact that it is having on the campus.
Pictured: Students from the Sustainability Internship Program 2024-2025 cohort, funded by the Core Partnerships project.
Dimensions of Political Ecology (DOPE) + Conference
Approved: 11/29/2023
Funding Amount: $10,170
Since its origin in 2009, the DOPE conference has been centered around decolonial, feminist, and critical scholarship and activism. DOPE has always engaged scholars and activists from a wide range of backgrounds from all over the world, whether or not they identify as political ecologists, including folks working in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. This proposal provides funding for honorariums, speaker travel and lodging, advertising, food, and miscellaneous expenses for this year’s conference to continue DOPE’s long-standing tradition of creating a space for participants to foster praxes of radical care, abundance, reciprocity, and interculturality.
Kentucky Climate Consortium (KYCC) Student Art Contest
Approved: 1/21/2024
Funding Amount: $5,278
This proposal will facilitate an open-call submission contest divided into four submission categories: 2D, 3D, Photography, and an Open category meant for non-visual and multimodal art pieces such as songs, poems, short stories, music videos, etc. Submissions will be guided by a prompt that will correlate with the annual theme of the Kentucky Climate Symposium. Each submission will be displayed all day in a gallery at the 2024 Kentucky Climate
Symposium, held at the Gatton Student Center on University of Kentucky’s campus. The four winners and four runners-up will be invited to attend the Symposium with mileage and accommodations provided to ensure equitable access. The four winners will also be invited to participate in the event as featured speakers in an interview-format session to share their interpretation of the prompt, their process, and their artistic vision.
Impact of Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Mitigation on Wildlife Communities in Central Appalachia (Phase 1)
Approved: 1/21/2024
Funding Amount: $65,378
The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change is a national project with multiple sites in varying forest types across North America, with the overarching goal of developing best management practices for forests to successfully mitigate climate change impacts on the plants and animals found within them. Robinson Forest is being added to the program as a site to represent central Appalachian forests which are currently lacking in the project. This proposal will primarily fund (~81%) four University of Kentucky student interns at a living wage so they can gain experience collecting field data, communicating science to the general public, and create individual research projects to be presented at a professional conference.
In addition to those three students, these sites are regularly used for field labs/trips for multiple classes at UK including but not limited to: FOR 365 (~15 students annually), FOR 370(~40 students annually), FOR 510(~25 students annually), FOR 515(~25 students annually), FOR 520(~25 students annually), NRE 320 (~20 students annually). Expectation would be that the students in these classes would be exposed to the collected data within their classes as well as utilize the project field materials (i.e., cover boards for amphibians, trail cameras) as part of their class activities helping them gain hands-on experience within the classes.
UK Student Interns for The Arboretum (2024 Cycle)
Approved: 1/21/2024
Funding Amount: $20,815
This proposal will fund five UK student internships in two discrete areas of The Arboretum: the Kentucky Children’s Garden (KCG) and the Walk Across Kentucky (WAKY) Native Plant Collection. KCG interns will be responsible for developing and delivering daily programming about environmental topics. Student interns working in the native plant collection will be directly involved in environmental stewardship through management of The Arboretum’s collection and natural areas and through ex-situ conservation of Kentucky’s natural heritage and biodiversity.
Solar Umbrellas at Alumni Commons
Approved: 2/18/2024
Funding Amount: $9,632
This proposal will fund two solar-powered charging stations on campus in Alumni Commons. The charging stations are picnic tables with three 70-watt solar panels which are implemented in the awning. All the power generated during the day is stored in a battery at the base of the awning stand. Each awning support houses 2 USB receptacles located in a weatherproof housing, and 2 USB C receptacles also located in a weatherproof housing. The main goal for this project is to give the UK students a comfortable sitting arrangement in an outdoor setting that promotes social interactions, and sustainability.
Survey to Determine the Impact of Climate Communication in Higher Education
Approved: 2/18/2024
Funding Amount: $3,980
This project consists of a student-wide survey to analyze UK students’ involvement with and opinions on climate change. We are specifically interested in whether higher education has any effect on their knowledge and worry levels about climate change. Though the survey will ask many questions, the aims are to find a more appropriate approach to explaining what experiences are effective at helping students understand and care about climate change. Funding for this project will goes towards marketing and participant compensation.
Bluegrass Greensource Sustainability Summit 2024
Approved: 2/18/2024
Funding Amount: $980
This proposal seeks to cover registration costs for 20 students to attend Bluegrass Greensource's annual Sustainability Summit on April 10th. The Summit was created to empower attendees to create change in our business, homes, and communities. This year’s topics include local food and food deserts, regional transportation and trail systems, and complete streets. For full information on the Summit, please see here: https://bggreensource.org/sustainability-summit/.
Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase
Approved: 2/18/2024
Funding Amount: $990
Funding for this project will cover food expenses for the annual Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase. This year's 13th annual Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase theme is Just Futures. We call upon participants to engage with questions of justice, futurity, and time, confront regional stereotypes, and consider what a just future might look like. We are particularly interested in fostering an opportunity for interdisciplinary dialogue among emerging Appalachian undergraduate and graduate scholars, activists, and community members. The 2024 13th Annual Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase will be held at the Health Kentucky Research Building on Saturday, March 9th, and we will expect around 50 people in attendance.
UK TreeCATs (Collegiate and Citizen Arboriculture Training): Developing Advocates for Urban Forests
Approved: 3/3/2024
Funding Amount: $14,002
This proposal will enable the UK Urban Forest Initiative (UFI) to host the TreeCATs workshop, now in its eighth year, and to support two TreeCATs student summer internships. The TreeCATs and internship programs are designed to offer knowledge and build professional experience in the field of urban and community forestry to UK students and applicants across Kentucky. This ultimately magnifies their future professional opportunities and facilitates career paths. To date, TreeCATs workshops have graduated 101 students, and 13 UK student TreeCATS veterans have been hired as summer interns. Multiple TreeCATs alumni have leveraged the acquired knowledge and professional connections into careers in urban planning, tree care, environmental inspection, coordinating sustainability efforts.
Ntebe, Rwanda Spring Tap and Water Collection Tank
Approved: 3/3/2024
Funding Amount: $14,070
This proposal will fund the Engineers Without Borders University of Kentucky Chapter to design and install a water collection tank for the Ntebe community in Rwanda. This tank, capable of holding 17,000 Liters of water, is fed from a gravity spring in the community. The community currently is collecting water from the single pipe connected to the spring and the water is running continuously. Residents need to wait in line to fill their containers and transport the water to their homes. The tank will be designed to provide five taps so more than one person will be able to use the water source simultaneously allowing for easier access to the water. Moreover, the tank will allow for water preservation, since the water will be collected overnight, and it will not be wasted as it currently spills out onto the ground. The tank will also have a water sanitation system to provide clean, potable water, since currently the water is contaminated resulting in major sickness within the community.
Plant for the Planet 2024
Approved: 3/3/2024
Funding Amount: $2,500
The proposed project seeks to plant 20 trees on UK’s Campus, in the traffic island on Alumni Drive in between the Arboretum and UK Athletics fields. This project will:
- Increase campus biodiversity by planting a diverse mix of native trees on the project site
- Beautify the Alumni Drive corridor by increasing tree cover in the planting site (enhancing the aesthetic experience of passers by from campus and the surrounding community)
- Improve soil and water quality through reforestation
- Contribute toward campus tree canopy goals
- Engage students from ENS 202 and HON 301 (and others) to help with site prep, planting, and cleanup. (This fulfills a service learning requirement in ENS 202 and HON 301.)
Sustainability Challenge Grant Program, Year 10
Approved: 3/24/2024
Funding Amount: $33,333
This proposal will partially fund the 10th year of the Sustainability Challenge Grant program. The purpose of the program is to engage multidisciplinary teams from the University community in the creation and implementation of ideas that will promote sustainability by simultaneously advancing economic vitality, ecological integrity, and social equity. Each project funded to date has had a high degree of student participation though the nature of that participation is not prescribed and varies from project to project. Students are gaining valuable experience in project coordination, curriculum development, community outreach, public speaking, report preparation, and research. The first five years of the program (33 projects) have documented the following student impacts:
- 3300 UK Students have engaged with these projects (average: 100 student engagements per project)
- 27 Students have served as part of project teams (average: 1 student per team)
Wildcat Wheels Bicycle Library
Approved: 3/24/2024
Funding Amount: $115,000
This proposal will provide partial funding for a new, modern, and purpose-built $1.5 million bicycle shop that will allow more students to access repair services to keep their bicycle in good, safe working order. Additionally, the new bike shop will give more space and resources for members of the UK community to learn skills in bicycle repair that will allow them to keep using their bike as a method of transportation even after they leave the UK community.
University of Kentucky Beekeeping Club Apiary Expansion
Approved: 3/24/2024
Funding Amount: $5,352
Funding for this project will go towards expanding the UK Beekeeping Club’s apiary at the UK Horticulture Research Farm (South Farm) and establishing a smaller one on-campus. The bees that will go into the new colonies will come from either wild caught swarms or local beekeepers. This will provide a strong, locally adapted group of hives that will be best suited to live, grow, and pollinate in our area. The on-campus apiary will serve to provide education, social inclusion, and student involvement that is more accessible to students living on-campus. This project will allow students to see how honeybee colony's function, learn and participate in the role of a beekeeper, learn what products bees produce and how to harvest them, and many other skills.
Developing and Evaluating Evidence-Based Communication about Waste Management at the University of Kentucky
Approved: 3/24/2024
Funding Amount: $5,000
UK Recycling and Dr. Cagle have partnered on a research project analyzing the awareness and effectiveness of recycling messaging at the University of Kentucky, targeting all students, faculty, and staff. The second phase of this study repeated the fall survey in the Spring 2024 semester to evaluate how or if their opinions have changed.
Funding for this project will go towards a Summer Undergraduate Research Award stipend for one student to compile and analyze data from both semesters, compare it to data from past semester, and compose a report with the goal of identifying further areas of improvement for recycling on campus.
Student Sustainability Council 2024 Fall Retreat
Approved: 04/21/2024
Funding Amount: $1,953
Funding for this project will cover transportation, meals, and cabin rentals for the SSC's annual one-night fall retreat at Robinson Forest. Fall retreat is designed to help new and returning members of the Council acclimate to the SSC's culture and functions in a more comfortable setting than standard SSC meetings. New members in particular will benefit from the information, discussions, and collaboration that are central to the retreat.
Hydration Stations for Fall 2024 Move-In
Approved: 04/21/2024
Funding Amount: $10,000
For many years, UK distributed up to 30,000 single use plastic water bottles during the fall move-in to keep parents, students, and volunteers hydrated. This resulted in a surge of single use plastic bottles that ended up littered around the campus, in the landfill, and in the recycling stream. In the summer of 2022 UK Sustainability, UK Housing, and UK Recycling began working on a multi-year effort to pivot from single use plastic bottles to hydration stations and refillable options for the move-in. After a successful pilot in 2022, the partnership went full scale in 2023, reducing the number of single use plastic bottles distributed by 90% and filling the equivalent of 21,000 bottles at the hydration stations. In 2023, UK Auxiliary Services paid the full price for renting 8 hydration stations from Event Water Solutions (approximately $20,000).
Funding for project will split the cost for the hydration stations with Auxiliary Services for the fall 2024 move-in.
