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Project Updates for collection: Monarch Butterfly projects

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  1. Herbicide plans

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs

    Hello Brent and Morgan,

    I hope this email finds you both well. I recently discussed with Michael Ward, an NRES professor on campus, concerning the application of herbicide on the Orchard Downs plot. We believe the best plan of action is to apply herbicide to the entire plot as soon as possible, then again later in the fall. The goal is to have crop sciences/arboretum apply the herbicide on the plot. If you would like to discuss this further over zoom, let me know! 

    The semester-end is nearing, and I want to add that I will be on campus for most of the summer, so I will be able to work on the plot as we move forward. 

    Thank you, 

    Izabelle

  2. Wildflower Display at Lincoln Ave Residence

    Associated Project(s): 
    LAR Native Plants

    The following is a message from John Marlin. In this message, Marlin includes information about the wildflower display at Lincoln Avenue Residence (LAR), as well as photographs of the location:

    Hello,

     

    At the moment and for the next several weeks woodland wildflowers will be blooming at LAR, specifically to the north of the front steps, continuing past the edge of the building, and alongside the north east side of the building.  There are about 20 woodland species in the mix.  This is a fairly good example of the type of plants that could be placed in small beds around campus to help pollinators and provide visual relief.  The spring plants are especially nice to have around as students face the stress of finals and leaving their friends for the summer. I believe you would find a visit worthwhile. I would be glad to join at any convenient time.

     

    The project was initiated in 2016 by the LAR Living Learning Community.  In addition to the woodland plantings there are prairie and related plantings starting at the south side of the steps and continuing around the south side of the building to the loading dock.  An additional planting is in the courtyard by the dining room.  Various prairie species will bloom in sequence beginning now and through the fall.  These plantings compliment the nearby Red Oak Rain Garden.

     

    Over 50 students and community members planted the area.  A part-time intern helped maintain it for the first year and a half.  A $5,000 grant paid for the most of the plants and intern.  There has been very limited maintenance due to the virus and lack of funds for the intern.  The main problems are some weeds and aggressive spread of some of the native plants.  Insects and birds use the plantings and several classes have visited.

     

    There is a growing consensus in favor of locating pollinator pockets and other native planting around campus.  Once in the ground they require minimal maintenance.  A few seasonal student interns with some supervision could manage quite a few.  I hope there can be some action along these lines over the next few years.

    John C. Marlin, PhD

    Research Affiliate, ISTC, PRI

    marlin@illinois.edu

    217-649-4591

     

    Photo 1: Volunteers planting at LAR in September 2016

    Photo 2: Up-close photo of LAR flowers in April 2021

    Photo 3: Up-close photo of LAR plants, including flowers, in April 2021

    Photo 4: Photo of LAR plants and flowers underneath a tree in April 2021

    Photo 5: Photo of LAR plants and flowers in April 2021

     

  5. Free Native Bee Homes from The Bee Conservancy

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    The Bee Conservancy, an environmental NPO, is handing out hundreds of free native bee homes across the U.S. and Canada in hopes of boosting native bee populations.

    As part of its Sponsor-A-Hive program, the group is offering 500 native bee homes to community-focused organizations that support food growth, education, or ecological conservation. (Two hundred were awarded in fall and 300 are being awarded this spring.) Eligible groups include community gardens, nature centers, schools, tribal organizations, parks, and zoos. According to Guillermo Fernandez, founder and executive director of The Bee Conservancy, "We’re looking for organizations that share our passion to nurture local bee populations, create habitat for them, and support their communities and local food systems."

    Applications are open until the end of April 2021!

     

    Read more about The Bee Conservancy native bee home giveaway in the TreeHugger article.

  6. Earth Month is Here!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Earth Month
    Earth Week
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series
    iSEE Congress
    Boneyard Creek Management
    Sustainability at Career Fairs
    Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) [ARCHIVED]
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Solar Farm 1.0

    Earth Month is here! Can you believe it? I would like to first draw your attention to the iSEE Sustainability Calendar as a reference point for the many virtual and in-person events (maintaining COVID-19 safety and social distancing precautions) held this month and beyond. If you notice a missing event on the calendar, there is a link to submit an event yourself.

    Here are a few highlights:

    • TED Talk: Eco-Edition series - iSEE’s second TED Talk: Eco-Edition event, will be held from 7 – 8 PM CST, March 30. To complement our recent Plastic Free Challenge, this gathering will focus on plastic waste. Participants will view a prerecorded TED Talk, presented in September 2019 by Andrew Forrest: "A Radical Plan to End Plastic Waste." Afterward, all are invited to participate in a guided discussion and roundtable, hosted by Maddy Liberman (NRES/F&S Intern) and Shantanu Pai (ISTC/F&S). Registration is required; sign up here.
    • iSEE Congress – “The Future of Water”, April 6, 14, 20, 23 at noon. Over a series of Zoom webinars, iSEE Congress – Spring 2021 brings together a diverse group of researchers, educators, journalists, and activists to dive deeper into the topic. Our modified “teach-in” will introduce the Illinois campus and community to cutting-edge thinking from highly influential scholars on topics ranging from drought to the global politics of water to pollution, public health, and biodiversity.
    • Trash pickup event at Boneyard Creek, sponsored by iSEE and F&S, April 7, 3-5 PM. We will meet at 3 PM behind Engineering Hall and disperse from there (maintaining COVID-19 safety and social distancing precautions). Drop in and stay as long as you are able. Bags and supplies will be provided. More details here.
    • Sustainability Rocks on the Main Quad, April 8, 11 AM – 5 PM. Come paint a rock outside the Union with a sustainability/environmental theme (maintaining COVID-19 safety and social distancing precautions). Bring your own rock, or use one of ours! After you finish creating your rock, place it somewhere around campus for others to find! More details here.
    • Careers in Sustainability Panel Discussion (virtual), April 9, 12 – PM. Interested in careers in sustainability? Join us to hear a panel discussion from industry professionals and learn how the field is changing and how to pursue a career in sustainability. Registration is required; sign up here.  
    • Facilities & Services hosts a Virtual Open House of UIUC Solar Sites on Earth Day, April 22, 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. April 22 on Topia (must use a computer, not a smart phone), Click this link to attend the Open House
    • TED Talk: Eco-Edition series – Earth Month, April 29, 7 – 8 PM. In celebration of Earth Month, this month’s topic will focus on environmental activism and action with a discussion hosted by iSEE Communications Intern and Earth, Society, & Environmental Sustainability student, Maria Maring. Registration is required; sign up here.
    • UIUC Arbor Day Celebration at CCNet, April 30, at Noon, on Zoom, Click this link at noon on Arbor Day to join the CCNet Zoom call

     

    We invite you to participate in any of the above opportunities (or celebrate in your own way!) to get “Caught Green-Handed!” this Earth Month! Get featured . . . Click here to let us know how you’re celebrating the Earth. Please reach out if you have any questions. Be sure to sign up for the iSEE newsletter to stay up-to-date on more sustainability opportunities. Have a great Earth Month (and don’t forget to continue the momentum beyond April)!

    Check it out: 

  8. Progress meeting with F&S

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs

    Izabelle met with Morgan and Brent at F&S today. 

    • She shared that they met with Professor Mike Ward from NRES and get some advice, including herbiciding the full area, and possibly splitting the area in two for a pathway through the site for walkers.  To herbicide the full area, they are going to talk with Professor Ward a bit more and send us a plan for the herbiciding process.  Morgan said we will need a week to approve the plan, to make sure we have the reporting requirements handled correctly. 
    • They will also talk with Housing about their plans, to communicate with Orchard Downs residents appropriately. 
    • Red Bison has agreed to let them use the shed in the Arboretum and share tools.

     

  9. large sign frame arrived

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    The large sign frame for the Bee Campus signage was delivered to campus today.

    CUSTOM DOUBLE CANTILEVER DISPLAY (45 DEG)

    Vendor: @03979410 DRM INDUSTRIES CORPORATION

    Workorder: 10845244-001

  10. New compost tumbler at NSRC!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Compost at National Soybean Research Center (NSRC) [ARCHIVED]
    Food Waste Reduction

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In an effort to be more “green” today and every day, we now have a compost tumbler on the west side of the National Soybean Research Center, thanks to SSC funding. This is the first publicly-accessible compost drop-off on campus!

    Please feel free to take advantage of this opportunity to sustainably dispose of your fruit/vegetable scraps (without stickers), tea bags, coffee grounds/filters, eggshells, shredded paper etc. While this 60-gallon compost tumbler is housed at the NSRC building, this drop-off opportunity is available to all. Simply unscrew either end of the tumbler and drop your items inside. Attached are several photos of the location and setup, as well as a list of the acceptable/unacceptable items. 

    The end-product will ultimately be used to fertilize a pollinator garden at NSRC. More details to come. 

    Attached Files: 

  11. F&S March 2021 Insider: Solar Farm 2.0 & Geothermal Energy

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Geothermal at the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF)
    Illinois Geothermal Coalition

    In its March 2021 edition, the F&S Insider addressed two of UIUC's innovative sources of energy: Solar Farm 2.0 and Geothermal Energy. The story highlights the origin, installation, and wide array of benefits stemming from the projects.

    To read this story in-depth, please see the attached file below.

    Attached Files: 

  12. Progress meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs

    Izabelle, Morgan, and Brent met to discuss progress on the Meadow at Orchard Downs. Izabelle is going to select the preferred tools to purchase, and meet with Morgan on site on Sunday, 3/14/21, to put stakes around the outline of the first section to work on. Brent is going to get a work order set up to be able to place orders.

  14. Newsgazette Mailbag about campus renewables

    Associated Project(s): 
    Use Clean Power
    Solar Farm 1.0
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
    LEED Certification
    Geothermal Urbana-Champaign
    Off-campus Solar Farm 3.0 PPA
    Solar Urbana-Champaign
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan
    Use Clean Thermal Energy

    Renewable energy at the UI "How much power is each of the renewable (University of Illinois) sources generating? How many houses can each provide power for? Are there plans to add more than what we currently have? How many years does it take for the cost of each to be paid off? We have a growing interest in this and many homes now also have this."

    Morgan White, the UI's associate director of Facilities & Services for sustainability, has all your answers.

    As for power generation, she said that the UI's "on-campus solar arrays are now capable of producing over 25,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year and we purchase an additional 25,000 MWh/year from an off-campus wind farm in Illinois.

    "For a more comprehensive answer:

    "The (Illinois Climate Action Plan) 2020, objective 2.3.1 is: 'Use at least 140,000 MWh/year of clean power by FY25.' This objective is about clean power, which is different from clean thermal energy. As of 2020, there are three types of clean power options being pursued or used on campus.

    "1. Solar Energy on Campus: installing solar photovoltaic panels on campus property

    "2. Wind Energy on Campus: installing wind turbine generators on campus property

    "3. Power Purchase Agreements for Clean Energy: purchasing solar or wind power from off-campus

    "FYI, Solar Farm 2.0 is projected to produce 20,000,000 kWh/year. It began production at the end of January, so there will only be 5 of 12 months production in the FY21 totals (this current fiscal year)."

    As for the number of houses each can provide power for, White said, "At Facilities & Services, we use the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the average power use in an American home. It currently says, 'In 2019, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,649 kilowatthours (kWh).”

    "Thus, the FY20 clean power use on campus (30,635,993 kWh) was the equivalent of the power needed for 2,876 houses. Once Solar Farm 2.0 is operating for an entire year, that will be about 50,000,000 kWh/year of clean power use on campus, which is the equivalent to the power needed for 4,717 houses."

    And about whether more generation will be added, she said: "The recently released Illinois Climate Action Plan 2020 (iCAP 2020) includes a goal for increasing clean power use to 140,000 MWh/year by FY25. We are currently having internal discussions at the University of Illinois about initiating a large off-campus solar power purchase agreement to meet this goal. We are also continuing to pursue clean thermal energy solutions, such as geothermal. Additionally, large construction projects on campus are required by the state law to be LEED certified, and this will often entail the addition of clean energy systems for individual buildings."

    The payback period for each of these systems varies widely due to several factors, she said.

    "For example, the geothermal system for the Campus Instructional Facility is projected to pay for itself in 28 years, while Solar Farm 2.0 is saving money in year one," said White. "For local projects off-campus these programs are very helpful: the Solar Urbana-Champaign program typically finds solar installations to pay for themselves in six or seven years, and the Geothermal Urbana-Champaign program typically finds a geothermal system at a residential home can pay for itself within 10 years."

    https://www.news-gazette.com/toms-mailbag/toms-mailbag-feb-12-2021/artic...

  16. Meeting with project leader and F&S

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs

    Izabelle Jaquet met with Morgan White and Brent Lewis at F&S to talk about the steps forward for the meadow at Orchard Downs project.  Izabelle is the project leader, in the RSO, From the Ground Up, which meets weekly on Sundays.  She had previously talked with Jamie Ellis (from INHS) and Eric Green (the RSO's advisor), after taking over the project when Nicole Gamble left campus.

    We shared related files, including the attached file Brent had from a discussion with Housing back in 2019. We also discussed possible opportunities for collaboration, with groups like Red Bison and the Master Naturalists. There is also a possiblity that From the Ground Up may request a scope change to focus on a smaller section of the low-mow zone and a schedule extension due to the difficulty with coordianting events during the pandemic.

    Izabelle is going to work with her group to finalize their list of proposed plants, reach out to potential collaborative partners, and identify who should be included in a follow up call with F&S and INHS in late February. 

    Attached Files: 

  17. Local Solar projects shared at CCNet brownbag

    Associated Project(s): 
    Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) [ARCHIVED]
    Solar Power on Campus
    Solar Farm 1.0
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Solar Urbana-Champaign

    CCNet hosted several local solar panelists in January 2021. This Zoom meeting was also shared via Facebook Live:

    https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=429039901765435&ref=watch_permalink

    Join the CCNet mailing list to gain access to the Zoom and stay connected. http://eepurl.com/g8IM

    (video link corrected on 2-2-2021)

  18. Scope Change for Pollinator Awareness Sign

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Bee Campus USA

    The following scope change was submitted to SSC for the Pollinator Awareness Sign:

    Originally, there were no signs at all on campus showing how pollinator friendly the campus is. Now there are four; and the University is now considered part of Bee Campus USA. Now we want to add a bigger sign outlining the bee campus student organization, progress the campus has made, and changes the university implemented to be more pollinator friendly. This sign will include an acknowledgment of the SSC funding for the signs and for several of the pollinator friendly plantings around campus.

    The funding does not need to be increased, but we are requesting a schedule extension of one year.  The design of the sign is anticipated to take at least one month, so that students can assist with the content development, then the sign will be ordered, and since it may be winter –time when the sign is ready for installation, we may not be able to install it until the spring thaw. Please approve an extension to May 2021.

     

    Read the Scope Change in its entirety in the attached files below.

    Attached Files: 

  19. Article: Rapid Decline of News Coverage for Pollinators

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas
    Bee Campus USA

    Craig Chamberlain, a Social Sciences Editor for Illinois News Bureau, released an article highlighting the lack of coverage dedicated to bees in mainstream news. Supporting his article with a study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, it was found that the amount of attention dedicated to "pollinator population topics" has significantly declined over several decades.

    Read Chamberlain's article through Illinois News Bureau or the PDF in the attached files!

    Attached Files: 

  20. Sol Systems Blog about SEE Fellows student project

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Sustainability Minor
    Independent Student Projects

    Sol Systems published a blog today sharing information about the collaborations with the UIUC Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Fellows program, the campus-wide minor in sustainability.  

    "This past week, two groups of students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign presented to Sol Systems regarding their findings through the university’s sustainability minor capstone course. The students conducted an emissions audit for supply chain and land-usage for the university’s second utility-scale solar project, Solar Farm 2.0, a 54-acre, 12.3 MW dc system on the Urbana campus that is being developed by Sol Systems. The presentation and partnership served as part of Sol’s sustainability initiatives and acts as the foundation for building Sol’s framework for future and current solar project developments...."

    Read the full post online at https://www.solsystems.com/groundwork-for-solar-sustainability/. 

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