Pollinator Plant Plans Sent to Taylor University
F&S provided the attached files to Kerry Shanebrook, the Grounds Superintendent at Taylor University, in regards to pollinator plants under solar arrays.
F&S provided the attached files to Kerry Shanebrook, the Grounds Superintendent at Taylor University, in regards to pollinator plants under solar arrays.
Representatives of the Engagement SWATeam (Ann Witmer, Alexa Smith, Sammy Yoo) met with iWG representatives (Morgan White, Meredith Moore, Ximing Cai) for a tactical discussion on the team's strategy. Specific topics discussed include:
Meeting minutes are also attached.
Please watch the meeting recording here: Combined Bike to Work Day and Light the Night meeting on June 8, 2021.
Also, attached are the meeting notes for Light the Night, agenda for this meeting, and a draft of the sponsorship/fundraising letter from Champaign County Bikes.
This is a list of projects that need students to work on. It will be updated periodically by sustainability staff members, the last update was 6/8/21:
The Annual Meeting for Big Ten & Friends (BTAF) will be held on July 22, 2021. Preliminary details for the meeting were outlined in a message from Lydia Vandenbergh, the Associate Director of Employee Engagement and Education at Penn State University, and Amy Butler from Michigan State University:
Hi everyone,
When we last convened in February, there was interest in holding a half-day annual meeting this summer. We are scheduling the annual meeting for July 22 from 9 am - 12 pm EDT and will follow up with a calendar invitation.
At this meeting, we will address administrative business, including voting on chairs and creation of a BTAF website. We will also have ample time for discussion. We are seeking your input on what would be of most value to you for discussions:
Please complete this short pre-meeting survey by June 18 to nominate chairs and provide your input on discussions topics will be of most value to you.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Amy and Lydia
RailSplitter Wind Farm provided the May 2021 Buyer's Share amounts by hour, totaling 2053.1 Megawatt hours. See attached file.
RailSplitter Wind Farm provided the April 2021 Buyer's Share amounts by hour, totaling 2357.6 Megawatt hours. See attached file.
Entomology Today released an article highlighting the strategy and benefits behind pairing solar energy with pollinator habitats. Supporting its claims with UIUC and Iowa State initiatives, the article discusses content such as the scorecard approach, efficiency of the positioning of planted vegetation, and restrictions from geographic locations.
Read the article on Entomology Today. Or, refer to the PDF of the article in the attached files.
Kelly Allsup, University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator, is hosting a Swallowtail Butterflies Webinar on June 14, 2021, from 12-1 pm.
During this presentation, Kelly will tell you what plants need to be put in your garden to help 6 species of swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! Make sure to tune in via Zoom to learn more.
Here's an interesting solar power / art installation: https://smartflower.com/.
Dear Colleagues,
Further developing and encouraging the use of active transportation modes that promote walking, bicycling, and public transit is one of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s strategic initiatives. The F&S Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan FY21–FY26 defines how the campus will continue to improve and manage the transportation network over the next five years by focusing on safety, connectivity, sustainability, and reliability.
The TDM department collaborates with regional transportation planning partners and units across campus to implement policies and take actions to enhance pedestrian safety, increase mobility choices, and move the university closer to achieving carbon-neutrality Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) objectives for transportation.
TDM strives to ensure effective asset maintenance, reduce single-occupancy vehicle usage, foster bicycle-friendly activities, transition to green vehicle fleets, integrate electric vehicle charging stations, and strengthen commuter options on campus. These wide-ranging efforts build on recent successes:
As the facilities and grounds at UIUC transform, so do the transportation infrastructure and programs needed to support our growing micro-urban area. The campus will continue to make advancements and serve as a living learning laboratory for research and academic collaboration that provides accessible, effective, and innovative transportation options for all mobility modes.
Cordially,
Dr. Mohamed Attalla, MBA, P.Eng.
Executive Director, Facilities & Services
The University can be a leader in Active Transportation by encouraging students, employees, and visitors to get out of the car-centric mentality. People on campus can walk, bike, take a bus, ride with a friend, or use a Zipcar to get around. It is simple and healthy to not own a car on campus.
The final stage of the Solar Farm 2.0 project is wrapping up this month with the planting of a native pollinator habitat. The farm will serve as a major demonstration and research site for pollinator-friendly solar arrays, with more than 6.5 million flowering plants and native grasses around the 54 acres of panels creating a natural habitat for birds and beneficial insects. With this second solar farm, the campus has achieved clean energy goals outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) nearly four years ahead of schedule. Clean energy production will now support roughly 12 percent of annual campus electricity demand. Congratulations to Facilities & Services for all of the hard work on this important project; iSEE and its SWATeam members were proud to provide key support for Solar Farm 2.0 by pushing for an increased renewable portfolio in the iCAP. Students in iSEE's sustainability minor also helped assess the new array's carbon footprint!
Jessica Nicholson, one of the authors of ISG Sustainability Gen-Ed Requirement Resolution, sent the following updates on 5/12/21:
================
Good Morning,
I hope you all are well. Thank you all for expressing interest in the resolution to create a Sustainability Gen-Ed requirement. Towards the beginning of the semester, I shared this resolution with each of you and most of you let me know that you would like to stay updated on the status of the resolution. Many of you have endorsed this resolution as faculty members, sponsored as members of ISG or UC senate, or provided additional support and guidance. That being said, I appreciate all of your support and involvement.
I have a few updates on the progress of our resolution and I want to invite you all to participate in a working group that will draft a formal proposal based on our original resolution. The purpose of this proposal is explained below, so please read through and fill out the attached form if you are interested in being involved. Feel free to share this message and this form with anyone else who you think may be interested as well.
Sustainability Gen-Ed Proposal Working Group Interest Form: https://forms.gle/dfKfTKwaocMpKovi8
We have added some supporting materials to the appendix of our original Sustainability Gen-Ed Requirement resolution, so the updated resolution is attached below for your reference. I also recently gave a brief informational presentation to the UC senate about our initiative. This presentation contains some valuable information about our next steps and plan to write a proposal, so I have attached the slides for your reference if you want to take a look.
Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rMDHj0NpwaJR8TSPg7o9WsONWnnXDGEoEvWIFHwvXK4/edit?usp=sharing
ISG Senators Dana, Creen, Tyeese and I have consulted with iSEE, the Gen-Ed Board, and the Educational Policy and Senate Executive Committees of the UC Senate to determine how best to bring our Sustainability Gen-Ed resolution to the UC senate floor as a binding piece of legislation. Based on input from all of these groups, we have decided to draft a formal proposal that adds critical information to our original resolution.
Unlike our original resolution, this proposal will contain sections that detail steps the University must take to implement the Sustainability Gen-Ed requirement. Our proposal will include logistical considerations such as resource reallocation to courses that fulfill the requirement and the needs of each academic unit. These additional sections should minimize confusion and concerns over the implementability of our Sustainability Gen-Ed requirement. In order to write these sections into our full proposal, we need to meet with each academic unit to understand their specific needs and determine how this requirement should be implemented within their unit. We also need to determine factors such as current capacity, estimated seat demand, and additional seats needed among courses that fulfill the Sustainability Gen-Ed requirement.
These considerations are critical for a new Gen-Ed requirement, so they will be the main focus of our working group when we write the proposal. We welcome you all to join our working group, and we particularly value any experience you can share regarding course logistics to help with the considerations above. Please fill out the form above if you want to get involved in our working group or are interested. Let me know if you have any questions or comments, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you!
Jessica
--
Jessica J Nicholson
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Class of 2022
College of Engineering | Mechanical Engineering
Illinois Student Government | Engineering Senator, Chair of Internal Affairs
Illini Rotaract Service Organization | District Rotaract Representative
This year, we awarded 38 green certifications on our campus! Congratulations to all! This includes 28 events (including iSEE Congress and the “TED Talk: Eco Edition” series) seven Greek chapters (including gold-level awards for Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Zeta Beta Tau), and three offices: International Student & Scholar Services, Department of Communication, and Department of Chemistry Administrative Office. Learn more about all of iSEE’s Certified Greener Campus programs.
Greek Chapter Gold Certifications:
Greek Chapter Silver Certifications:
Greek Chapter Bronze Certifications:
The City of Urbana created a beautiful word collage image depicting its definition for Recycling! The image is attached in the files below.
The City of Urbana is now partnering with Nexamp to bring solar savings opportunities to the community. This program is available to low and moderate income residents, including renters who do not own local property. The program provides solar power, through the existing electrical distribution network using solar panels that are being installed at the closed Urbana landfill.
Nexamp is holding two information sessions for Illinois residents to learn how they can enroll in a community solar program. These events will be held on:
The flyer for these events can be found in the attached files below.
The 350 square-foot pollinator garden at the National Soybean Research Center is planted! The weather was beautiful and we had a fun time hearing plant stories and learning about our very own native species from Layne Knoche. Check out our Facebook post here.
Huge thank you to Layne Knoche, Eliana Brown, and the whole Red Oak Rain Garden team, Eric Green, Michael Dzianott and the Red Bison team, Joey Kreiling, Blake Cedergren, and the From the Ground Up team, and all friends who helped out with the planting.
Stay tuned for more fun!
The Spring 2021 iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ) highlighted a diverse array of campus initiatives that made this year's Earth Month one to remember. Ranging from hosted events to sustainable energy, the article discusses the launch of the "TED Talk: Eco Edition" series, Solar Farm 2.0, community trash pickup, and more!
Read the article in the attached files below.
The Spring 2021 iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ) was released with the following message from Madhu Khanna, the Interim Director of iSEE:
Dear Colleagues,
Attached, please find the Spring 2021 “iQ” – the quarterly update from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).
It has remained a busy time here on our campus, as we bolstered our outstanding Congress and Critical Conversation events with the addition of two experts — activist Catherine Coleman Flowers and nuclear expert Denia Djokić — who are serving as Levenick iSEE virtual resident scholars.
Thanks to the support of experts Eban Goodstein, Tami Craig Schilling, and Harriet Hentges, our new Environmental Leadership Program workshops for undergraduates were a rousing success.
And we were so pleased to have a mix of virtual and in-person Earth Month events to engage students, faculty, and staff from across our campus!
Please take a quick look at those updates and more in this six-page “iQ.” For more regular news, please sign up for our E-newsletter at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/5031776.
Best wishes for the summer,
Madhu