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  1. iSEE Newsletter 03/01/2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

     

    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

    OFFICE OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

     

     

     

    		 March 1, 2022

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    Magazine Features U of I Basalt Project

    A University of Illinois team researching the use of basalt rock for "enhanced weathering" of farm fields was recently featured in Anthropocene magazine. Spreading rock dust could boost crop yields and lock up vast amounts of carbon. Researchers Carl Bernacchi, USDA Agricultural Research Service Plant Physiologist; Evan DeLucia, Arends Professor Emeritus of Plant Biology; Ilsa Kantola, soil ecologist and iSEE Visiting Research Scientist; and Stephen Long, Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology, discussed their work with the magazine's Dan Ferber. The Illinois work is part of the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M) and was funded in 2021 for five more years of studies in the now nearly $3 million project.

     

     

     

     

     

    Scott Tess from the City of Urbana meets with Environmental Leadership Program students in the iSEE Collaboratory. Credit: Mark Herman/iSEE

     

    		  

    ELP Updates: Projects and Visitors

    iSEE's Spring 2022 Environmental Leadership Program is rapidly nearing its conclusion. The students and instructors have been meeting since January to hear from governmental and advocacy representatives as well as academic experts — and pursuing their own projects as they prepare to make presentations to local and state government officials. For the latest on the ELP, please check out the blog by iSEE Communications Intern Kratika Tandon, a member of the 2022 cohort!

     

     

     

     

     

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    Plant Model Expert to Highlight Crops in silico Symposium

    Registration is open for the 6th Crops in silico (Cis) Symposium and Hackathon on May 11-13, to be held virtually through the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). The keynote will be delivered by Leah Band of the School of Biosciences and School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Nottingham, who creates models to gain understanding of plant growth and development. Trained as a mathemetician, Band has collaborated closely with experimental biologists in her work. Stay tuned for more details about the keynote and other presentations by visiting this website, and register here! >>>

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Green and white banner advertising the "Use the Bin" recycling pledge at U of I.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    		 Upcoming Events & Opportunities

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Engineering a Greener Future Mural. Calling all student artists! Help create a mural showcasing sustainability initiatives and green technology research on campus. “Engineering a Greener Future” will be featured in the main gallery of the Siebel Center for Design (SCD) during the Fall 2022 semester. Sponsored by the Student Sustainability Committee and hosted by SCD, the project is designed to put a spotlight on sustainability initiatives like Solar Farm 2.0 and inspire students to participate in sustainable actions! Applications are due Friday March 4! >>>

    Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference (ECEC). Registration is open for ECEC22, co-hosted by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant! Keynote speakers are Scott Coffin, a Research Scientist with the California State Water Resources Control Board; and Abby Hendershott of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Out of an abundance of caution, the conference has moved from a hybrid format to fully virtual. Undergraduate scholarships covering registration fees are available.
    Saturday-Sunday | April 27-28, 2022 | Register

    Nomination Deadline March 4 for Social Justice Awards. The Diversity and Social Justice Education Program’s Annual Social Justice Awards honor unsung members of the U of I campus and community who have sought to address marginalization, oppression, and/or privilege in their communities. Nominations for outstanding undergraduates, graduate students, staff/faculty members, alumni, and registered student organizations will remain open through Friday, March 4. You can nominate yourself or someone else by visiting this website >>>

    Breaking the Plastic Wave: Solving the Plastic Pollution Problem. Plastic has become ubiquitous in our lives, from disposable bottles to microbeads in body washes, and plastic waste is piling up in our terrestrial and aquatic systems. Jim Palardy, Project Director of the Conservation Science Program at The Pew Charitable Trusts, will give an overview of the current trajectory for plastic pollution and highlight a better solution for the environment, the economy, and communities. This Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) webinar is an iSEE-certified green event!
    Noon-1 p.m. | Thursday, March 10 | Register

    Watch the Sustainability Training Video! Help our campus reach "herd sustainability" by watching our video and filling out a short survey. You'll learn about everyday actions you can take to get your semester off to a sustainable start and build an environmentally responsible campus! Visit our website to watch now>>>

    Green Your Lab With Our New Toolkit! Facilities & Services and iSEE have developed a Greener Labs Inventory Toolkit to help facility liaisons and principal investigators track energy usage in their labs and identify more sustainable practices, such as leaving items unplugged or upgrading equipment. For questions, email mbwhite@illinois.edu.

    C4 Social Media Internship Available! The Champaign County Climate Coalition (C4) is looking for several social media/marketing interns to share information, resources, and opportunities with the county-wide community. Applicants must have enthusiasm for climate action and experience with marketing and social media; graphic design experience appreciated. This is an unpaid internship. To apply, email your resume and/or a letter of interest describing your qualifications to Savannah Donovan at sydonovan@urbanaparks.org.

    Check out iSEE’s Illinois Sustainability Calendar for a full list of events!

     

     

     
       

     

    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

    Suite 350 National Soybean Research Center MC 635
    1101 W. Peabody | Urbana, IL 61801
    Contact: sustainability@illinois.edu

     

     

     

    Facebook

    Instagram

    Twitter

    YouTube

     

  2. Weekly Update: New hires

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, We’ve got a backlog of bikes in need of test rides/final tune-ups that I’ll happily attend to with the warmer weather this week. We’ve got a new batch of hires starting as well.

    This week I’ve got trainings with staff and I’ll start game-planning with my team for our ramped-up programming for March/April. Warm weather = more bikes.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 17
    Sales: $356.50

    Bike (refurb): 1 for $160
    Build-a-Bike: 1 for $30
    Memberships:  2 for $60

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  4. Terry Guen, TGDA, presentation at TBH

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Landscape Master Plan (CLMP)
    Sustainable Landscapes Plan

    Terry Guen’s practice has brought ecology back to communities through high-profile technical projects in landscape and urban design. TGDA is a nationally recognized designer of urban public spaces and ecological landscapes. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, TGDA designed landscapes for Ikenberry Commons and the recently completed Siebel Center for Design.

    March 3, 5:30–6:45 pm • 134 Temple Buell Hall (Plym Auditorium), 611 E. Lorado Taft Drive, Champaign, IL.

    Conor O'Shea • Department of Landscape Architecture

    baseline_wifi_black_18dp.png This opportunity is available online.

    Stanley H. White Lecture: Terry Guen, Principal and Founder, TGDA

  5. Mason Bee House Workshop

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    Join Piatt County Master Gardener Kent McFarland as he explains the importance of having a Mason Bee House in your garden, and walks you through the steps of building one using recycled and natural materials. Registration is required; $15/person, includes all materials.

    March 26, 10–11 am • Registration Deadline: 3/18/22 • Greenhouse Auditorium at Allerton Park & Retreat Center

    Olivia Warren • Allerton Park & Retreat Center

    Mason Bee House Workshop

  6. Update on Charging Stations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    From: Robert O'Daniell <rodaniell@att.net>
    Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2022 5:05 PM
    To: White, Morgan; Slezak, Paul
    Cc: DeLorenzo, Stacey; Prasad, Sarthak
    Subject: I guess I spoke too soon Re: I’m happy to report

    The ChargePoint locations at B4, D22 and E14 are all down. Disappeared from the ChargePoint app and will not charge. (Discovered Sunday noonish at E14 when I failed to begin charge. Standing beside the charger the App said no chargers nearby) Checked the other locations. All three locations have same message on the screen.

    Robert K. O'Daniell
    Photographer Emeritus-News-Gazette
    PO Box 2085
    Champaign, IL 61825
    217-352-1493

    Attached Files: 

  7. Update on Charging Stations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    From: Robert O'Daniell <rodaniell@att.net>
    Sent: Friday, February 25, 2022 1:43 PM
    To: White, Morgan; Slezak, Paul
    Cc: DeLorenzo, Stacey; Prasad, Sarthak
    Subject: I’m happy to report

    The chargers at B4 are back - showing up on the Where to Charge apps again. (Began Feb 24th)

    The damaged screen still not replaced at D22 ( supply chain issue ? )

    On an odd note in the last week or so – I failed in an attempt to charge at E14. Possibly a weather issue and there are indications that others have indeed charged. I have not yet tried again. Possibly a one time issue.

    During that attempt I became aware of some kind of issue with 3G on all three of those charging stations. ATT shut down Feb 22 and Verizon and T-mobile will both shut down 3G by the end of the year. All 3 ChargePoint locations indicate “Illini charging / Off network 1” and a warning message. I did drive by and cars are indeed charging at B4 and at D22 in spite of that message.

    ( images below )
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    As a retired person I’ve taken on the project of making it easier for people buy and transition to EVs. And to do what I can to improve the infrastructure needed for the EVs.

    Robert K. O'Daniell
    PO Box 2085
    Champaign, IL 61825
    217-493-8129

    Attached Files: 

  8. Time-sensitive Petition to raise SSC fees by $3.94

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Green Leadership Council (GLC)
    Sustainable Campus Environment Fee

    Note: Deadline was extended to March 1

     

    "Hey guys! The SSC needs your help! We are currently circulating a time-sensitive petition to raise SSC fees by $3.94. We need over 2,000 signatures by February 22! https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/529864641?referrer=https://shibboleth.illinois.edu/ 

     

    Right now, the SSC collects $14 from each student via the Cleaner Energy Technologies Fee and the Sustainable Campus Environment Fee, which together is called the Illinois Green Fund. This money goes into a pot, and the SSC allocates that pot of money toward student- and faculty-led sustainability projects. This fee hasn't increased in years, despite increases in tuition and national inflation. To continue to adequately support sustainability projects, we need more funding! 

     

    If we don't hit our mark, the SSC won't be considered for more funding :( Please please please sign this, promote it on your social media, and send it to your general members." Maria Maring (2-16-2022)

  10. Weekly Update: Uni High Agora Days classes; Maintenance Class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week we held our Uni High Agora Days classes from Tues – Fri. It went very well with all the students engaged in learning and tinkering on the bikes. One student even said they’d return to volunteer, which was great. All 3 of the bikes were mostly done by week’s end. We also received some quality donations from a local bike shop and started overhauling those bikes for sale. I’ve also hired a new Program Assistant to help me out off-hours.

    This week I’ll be meeting with the Urbana Parks District to discuss our Maintenance class we’re collaborating on next month and getting more bikes ready for the sales floor. We’ll see how busy we are today with the very warm weather.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 11
    Sales: $91
    Memberships: 2 for $60

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  11. 2021 Tree Campus Higher Education Application Approved by the Arbor Day Foundation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has once again been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus USA member. Specifically, the Tree Campus High Education program reviewed the Tree Care Plan, in addition to other requirements, to grant our campus the title of an offical Tree Campus. Below is a brief summary of what is needed to obtain this recoginition, each year. 

    "To obtain this distinction, your campus has met the five core standards for sustainable campus forestry required by Tree Campus Higher Education, including establishment of a tree advisory committee, evidence of a campus tree care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for your campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and the sponsorship of student service learning projects. Your entire campus community should be proud of this sustained commitment to environmental stewardship."

     

  12. February 16, 2022 Illini Lights Out Data

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out

    At the February 11 Illini Lights Out event, 4,297 light bulbs were shut off, saving $623.38 in energy costs. This also prevented 5.3 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, which is the same amount of CO2 as what would be emitted by fully charging 638,987 cell phones. That's a big impact!

    Illini Lights Out is a certified Green Event! Click this link to learn how to green-certify your own event.

    The next Illini Lights Out event of the semester is Friday, February 25th, at 5:30 pm, and you can sign up for that event using this link if you haven't done so already.

  14. Weekly Update: Build-a-bike, Uni High Agora Days class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Support Youth Sustainability

    All, Picked up 4 – 5 bikes from Urbana last week which were promptly claimed as B-a-Bs or tagged for shop builds. This week we have our Uni High Agora Days class coming in Tues – Fri. This will reduce our open hours on Wed/Fri to 4 – 6p.

    I’ll be picking up 5 bikes from Champaign Cycle on Tuesday afternoon, too. That should get us towards a good number of bikes on hand.

    The numbers:

    visitors: 10
    Sales: $324
    Bike (refurb): 1 for $180
    Memberships: 3 for $90

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  15. HVAC and Air Quality Assessment Project Meeting (2-11-2022)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy-Efficient HVAC Infection Control

    Dhuvaraj Gambhire and Ali Khan met with Morgan White on 2-11-2022 to discuss how they can acquire a Notice to Proceed and access to the Atmospheric Science Building for testing.

    They will get a quote from Sterling, which will allow them to get a Purchase Order (PO). After they get the PO, they can get a Notice to Proceed and access to the building.

  16. Campus Tree Advisory Committee Meeting - February 2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    On February 10, 2022, the 2022 Campus Tree Advisory Committee met to complete the following:

    • Review the charge letter
    • Discuss the success of the 2022 Tree Campus Plan
    • Plan Arbor Day 2022 events
    • Discuss policy revisions regarding tree damage replacements
    • Discuss the creation of a campus nursery

    See the attached file to read the meeting notes. 

    Attached Files: 

  17. 2022 Tree Committee Formed

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    The 2022 Tree Committee is now formed.

    Serving on this committee are the following individuals: Kevin McSweeney (chair), Brent Lewis, Morgan White, Ryan Welch, Jay Hayek, Andrew Lamoreux, Eliana Brown, Sinead Soltis, Julia Marsaglia, and Jack Reicherts. In the 2022 Tree Committee Charge letter, Dr. Ehab Kamara defines the responsibilities and duties for the advisory body.

    See the charge letter in the attached files.

    Attached Files: 

  18. Big Ten & Friends Network Event, Exploring University Sustainable Lab Certification Programs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Big Ten & Friends Sustainability
    Green Research Committee

    The following email describes an online session about various Green Lab Certification Programs.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: Vandenbergh, Lydia Bodman
    Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2022 8:35 AM
    To: Vandenbergh, Lydia Bodman
    Subject:BTAF Sustainable Lab Programs Presentation and Discussion - Feb 24th

     

    As Higher Education Institutions develop their Climate Action Plans, one opportunity repeatedly arises: culture change in our approach to research. The US Department of Energy estimates that lab buildings consume anywhere from three to ten times the energy and water of administrative and classroom buildings and generate high amounts of single use plastics and hazardous wastes. One question is, how to change the culture without compromising the integrity of the science? 

     

    Members of the Big Ten and Friends Network are encouraged to join together on February 24th at 11am EST to learn how three universities are promoting change in their campus labs using three variations on a green lab certification program.  

    • Ken Keeler, from the University of Michigan, will kick off the meeting describing the University’s decade-long successful program that combines a lab self-assessment and staff visit. Over 200 labs have worked through this program, but it requires substantial staff time. Ken will describe their exploration to tap efficiencies.  
    • Next is Tim Lindstrom, who leads the University of Wisconsin at Madison Green Lab Program, which is similar to the Michigan’s assessment model, but integrates a student internship component to support the labs’ efforts. 
    • University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Nick Ciancio will showcase his four-year effort collaborating with MyGreenLab’s certification program, a unique pilot that UAB is eager to expand. 


    The session will conclude with time for discussion with the panelists. Please register to join in this inspirational presentation and exploration of culture change.  

    Register here  

     

    After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information to join meeting. We are purposefully limiting the invitation to BTAF’s members to encourage a fruitful discussion, but we will record the session and make it available to share with other colleges and universities.  

     

    Lydia

     

    Lydia Vandenbergh (she/her)
    Associate Director of Employee Engagement and Education
    Sustainability Institute

    Penn State University

    The Pennsylvania State University campuses are located on the original homelands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora), Lenape (Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe, Stockbridge-Munsee), Shawnee (Absentee, Eastern, and Oklahoma), Susquehannock, and Wahzhazhe (Osage) Nations.  As a land grant institution, we acknowledge and honor the traditional caretakers of these lands and strive to understand and model their responsible stewardship. We also acknowledge the longer history of these lands and our place in that history.

    Check out our programs:
    sustainability.psu.edu/greenteams
    sustainability.psu.edu/greenpaws

     

  19. Jan. 28, 2022 Illini Lights Out Data

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out

    At the January 28 Illini Lights Out event, 2,781 light bulbs were shut off which saved $403.45 in energy costs. This also prevented 3.4 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, which is as much as the average car would emit from driving 8,544 miles. That's a big impact!

    Illini Lights Out is a certified Green Event! Click this link to learn how to green-certify your own event.

    The next Illini Lights Out event of the semester is Friday, February 11th at 5:30pm, and you can sign up for that event using this link if you haven't done so already. 

  20. Weekly Update: Restocking bikes and parts for sale

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, With the snowstorm last week, we were closed on Wednesday but were able to reopen on Friday. Visitor numbers took a hit with a foot of snow and whiteout conditions (no surprise there). This week I’ll get some bikes from Urbana (snow derailed that plan last week). We’re down to the dregs of steel-rimmed 3 speed schwinns—bikes I’m not exactly comfortable selling in the dead of winter considering their compromised braking/stopping. Our donations of late have all been Walmart-level, unfortunately. We’ve got about 8 bikes on the sales floor as of now.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 16
    Sales: $180
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tire/tubes: 4 for $30

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

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