iCAP's Engagement Team met for the first time this year. The team has great ideas and is excited to move forward with these ideas for the upcoming school year. In this meeting, we elected our chair (Ann Whitmer) and vice chair (Kratika Tandon). Next, we discussed ideas and next steps for the Advertising Capstone project.

The Engagement Team will be meeting next month.

Work Order 10997310 was created for the Sign Shop to update the LTN lawn signs

New website for the microreactor project can be accessed through this link: https://npre.illinois.edu/about/illinois-microreactor-project

From: Prasad, Sarthak <sprasad9 at illinois.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2022 9:58 AM
To: White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>; DeLorenzo, Stacey <sdeloren at illinois.edu>; Klein, Bradley Dean <bradklei at illinois.edu>; Welch, Ryan <rbwelch at illinois.edu>; Lewis, Brent C <bcl at illinois.edu>
Cc: Patterson, Shawn L <spttrsn at illinois.edu>
Subject: Rubber blades for snow plows

Hi Morgan,

I had a phone call with Shawn earlier today and asked him if Transportation have rubber blades for snow plows. Shawn said that he has the rubber blades that they use for parking decks. Shawn said that he would like to be included in this conversation, so I am cc’ing him here as well. Thank you,

Sarthak  

Sarthak Prasad

Sustainable Transportation Assistant

Facilities & Services

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Phone: 217-300-9575

Email: sprasad9 at illinois.edu

See attached

Illinois ranked #44 in the Princeton Review's Top 50 Green Colleges list in 2022.

Top 50 Green Colleges | The Princeton Review

Green Rating Methodology | Green Colleges | The Princeton Review

Below is a snippet from Kathy's #Mailbag, from August 19th, 2022, published in the News-Gazette regarding the foliage on the University's main quad. Brent Lewis and Ryan Welch of UI Facilities and Services were featured and shared information on the history and approach to plantings on campus. 

The article can also be found at: https://www.news-gazette.com/toms-mailbag/kathys-mailbag-aug-19-2022/article_ae9f4d54-6f93-5a24-8551-e533204bf577.html

Younger trees on the UI Quad

"As I walked through the University of Illinois’ Main Quad recently, I noticed that most of the trees did not seem as old as I would expect. What is the history of the trees on the quad? Have there always been trees there? When were the current batch of trees planted?"

A short history, courtesy of grounds superintendent Ryan Welch and landscape architect Brent Lewis, both with UI Facilities & Services:

In 1929, the Board of Trustees took the advice of renowned landscape architect Ferruccio Vitale, who warned that planting a wide variety of trees on the Quad “would tend to minimize the impressiveness and the serenity of the planting design.”

Elm trees were a traditional choice that did well in local conditions. “No tree is more majestic nor better adapted in form and in scale to form the setting of the University's new buildings,” Vitale said. So the walkways on the Quad were lined with elms sometime around 1930. Over the years, they were lost to Dutch elm disease and phloem necrosis (elm yellows). The last elm trees were removed in 1956. 

The elms were replaced with thornless honey locusts. This tree was selected for its large mature size; light, dappled shade produced by the lacy foliage; tolerance to a wide range of soil conditions and drought; and yellow fall color. Only six honey locusts remain on the main quad from the 1956 planting.

A variety of native oak trees replaced trees that were removed. Most of the recent plantings include chinquapin, swamp white and bur oak.

The university’s current strategy is to diversify the tree plantings with native species and avoid overplanting any one type of tree. Welch and Lewis note that the current diversity of plantings on campus is “very high and is on par with most arboretums.”

Diversifying the campus’ tree inventory turned out to be a wise decision. Between 2015 and 2020, more than 500 of the UI’s ash trees – about 3% of the campus’ tree inventory – were removed due to the damage caused and risk posed by the emerald ash borer. The wide variety of trees on campus meant that the loss of even 500 ash trees did not leave large swaths of the campus looking barren.

Plant geeks may view the campus’ tree plan and get to the tree inventory database at http://go.fs.illinois.edu/tree.

There is a Bike Cage at the Business Instructional Facility.

Attached is the Charge Letter and Presentation from the 2022-2023 iWG kick off meeting.

WHEN: Wednesday, August 24th

TIME: 6:30 - 7:30 pm

WHERE: Channing Murray building (1209 W Oregon St)

And it’s deja vu all over again, folks~

SECS will have our inaugural meeting of the school year this Wednesday, and, honestly, quite frankly, it’s gonna be epic :)  We will learn about the storied history of SECS, discuss organizational goals, review our code of conduct, and kick off our campaigns for the semester. All this, of course, will be overshadowed by the pure joy derived from being with a diverse group of driven students passionate about making our community greener, happier, and healthier!

It ain't over till it's over. See ya Wednesday

Join the Discord!

Contact Us!

PRESIDENT Gabriel Kosmacher,  gkk2@illinois.edu
VICE PRESIDENT Zoe Huspen, zhuspe2@illinois.edu
TREASURER Dankia Ford, djford2@illinois.edu
SECRETARY Alex Chavez, achavez5@illinois.edu

EDUCATION OFFICER Claire Sullivan, csull7@illinois.edu

MEDIA OFFICER Lexi Delmonico, acd4@illinois.edu
ACTION COORDINATOR Rudy LaFave, lafave2@illinois.edu
OUTREACH COORDINATOR Owen Jennings, orj2@illinois.edu
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION Nancy Peña, nancyp3@illinois.edu

Visit our Website

SECS is pleased to share our new website with you all: https://secsatuiuc.web.illinois.edu/
Feel free to browse the site and learn more about the history of our beloved RSO, our current projects and endorsements, while also keeping an eye out for upcoming environmentalist blog posts 👀

Copyright © 2022 Students for Environmental Concerns, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:

Students for Environmental Concerns

1001 S Wright St

Champaign, IL 61820-6225

Add us to your address book

Champaign County Bike to Work Day 2022 Registration is Open

Register for Bike to Work Day 2022, happening Wednesday, September 14th from 7-10 am!  (A rain date is scheduled for Friday, September 16th from 7-10 am.)

The 12th annual Champaign County Bike to Work Day is organized by the Champaign County Bike Month Planning Team, and is presented by major sponsors MTD, Bike at Illinois, and Carle.

There are 16 welcome stations this year, in Champaign, Urbana, on the U of I campus, Savoy, Mahomet, St. Joseph, and Rantoul!  Use this map to find the location that works best for you.

Register for the event at the most convenient location to you and come meet us and other bicyclists in the community to celebrate Bike to Work Day!  Grab a snack, get a free T-shirt, and consider making a donation to support bicycling in Champaign County!

​The 15th annual Light the Night bicycle light giveaway event is the next evening (Thursday, September 15, 2022) from 4-7 pm.  Lights will be available at three campus locations, and you must bring your bike to receive the lights.

Announcements are also posted at www.cubikemonth.org/ and the C-U Bike Month Facebook event.

Attached is a draft charge letter for the green labs committee, as well as the meeting notes from 6-20-22.