Bright Green News from the Office of Sustainability

[Kira STOLL]

February 2021

 

    Highlights from the Office

Conversation on a Zero-Carbon Energy Campus In early December, Marc Fisher, Sally McGarrahan, and Kira Stoll led a conversation to discuss ideas surrounding the decarbonization of UC Berkeley’s energy system. After the presentation, which featured potential new energy replacement scenarios, participants were able to ask questions in an open discussion.  Link to watch the recording >> Learn more >>		New Campus Sustainability Plan UC Berkeley recently released the new campus sustainability plan, breaking the initiatives into five equally-important, yet intersecting categories: ‘Climate & Resiliency’, ‘Built & Natural Environment’, ‘Sustainable Services’, ‘Health & Sustainability’, and ‘Culture & Learning’. The Plan delves into UC-wide and Berkeley specific goals, key strategies, and collaborators. Read the Plan & access it here >>
New Sustainability Staff Training & Certification Program  This certification program is composed of ten comprehensive modules, designed to allow you to work and complete at your own pace. Upon successful completion of the modules, UC Berkeley Staff can earn a Staff Sustainability Training Certification of Completion showing your gained knowledge in sustainability. Staff: start the certification process here >> View the course website as a resource >>		UC’s Unwavering Commitment to Sustainability - 2020 Annual Sustainability Report The UC Newsroom outlines some of the sustainability and climate-related highlights from the latest annual sustainability report from across the UC system . Despite the barriers posed by the pandemic, Berkeley stayed vigilant in meeting and even surpassing sustainability goals – including addressing intersectional issues in sustainability planning, creating a Green Labs Action Plan, and striving towards waste reduction goals.  Read about the sustainability feats of UC Faculty, including Berkeley’s Amy Herr here >> See Berkeley’s reporting for 2020 here >>
Berkeley & the Virtual National Zero Waste Conference 2020 UC Berkeley helped host the National Zero Waste Conference, virtually of course, in December of 2020. Berkeley was able to share some of our recent zero-waste wins, such as the implementation of the most aggressive Single-Use Plastic Elimination Policy at a US higher education Institution - thanks to CALPIRG students. Read the Welcome address from CSO Kira Stoll here >>		Environmental Shifts in Behavior due to COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders A recent article from the OS, by student fellow Britney Wu, presents interesting findings of how our electricity consumption and transportation choices have changed this year due to stay-at-home orders. Studies from around the world and the U.S. show fossil fuel consumption from commutes has drastically reduced, while the energy used to power homes has increased. Many folks are avoiding public transportation, and since April 2020, used-car sales have shot up dramatically. This opened a broader continuing conversation in the Office about how these behavior shifts have impacted our campus consumption, and what the future of campus emissions-reduction might look like.  Read the findings in more detail here >>
UC Berkeley Climate Experts to Join the Biden-Harris Administration  Berkeley News featured Jennifer Granholm, a faculty member at Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, among other appointees in a recent article covering Berkeley-connected Biden administration appointees. In addition to Granholm, Berkeley affiliates appointed to climate-related positions include Avi Zevin, class of 2006, Ali Douraghy of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and Narayan Subramanian, a past fellow at Berkeley Law, for the Department of Energy, as well as Steven Cliff of Lawrence Berkeley to the Department of Transportation.  See the UC affiliated Climate-related appointees here >>		CACS 2020 Spring Open Meeting Schedule The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS) promotes environmental management and sustainable development on campus – meetings are open to everyone! The CACS Working Group on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion is working to identify and recommend policies, practices and strategies that elevate and integrate an intersectional approach towards diversity, equity, and inclusivity in campus sustainability initiatives. This semester’s meetings will be held on February 25th, April 1st, and May 6th. Meetings are open, if you would like to attend email us.  Learn more about CACS & the CACS Working Group on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion >> Want to get in touch with the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS)?  Fill out the CACS Student Communication form here >>>

 

    Events & Get Involved

Environmental Career Panel for Transfer Students  On February 16, SERC is hosting an Environmental Career Panel for Transfer Students. All of the speakers were transfer students themselves, who now work in the environmental space and are excited to share their work and experiences.  RSVP here >>		New Climate Fellowship at Berkeley Law  GrizzlyCorps is a new AmeriCorps fellowship at UC Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy & Environment. GrizzlyCorps sends 25 recent college graduates to rural farm & forest communities around the state to engage in direct climate action projects, capacity building for organizations, and helping build community resilience.    There will be an information session about the program on February 17, 2021 at 4:00pm.    Register here >>
Students of Color Environmental Collective If you self-identify as a Student of Color in the environmental community, check out the Students of Color Environmental Collective. This group is intended to be a healing space for students of color to seek refuge from white-dominated environmental and social justice spaces, to learn more about the intersections between environmental and social justice, and to raise conversation about environmental racism and justice on and off campus. SCEC’s info session for Spring 2021 has already passed, but follow them on Facebook to find out when their first meeting is! Find out more about SCEC here >> Follow their Facebook >>		Black Lives, Botany, and the Path to Decolonization Rashad Bell and Nuala P. Caomhánach will be leading an event on February 25th called Black Lives, Botany, and the Path to Decolonization. Bell and Caomhánach  curated Black Botany: The Nature of Black Experience at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library last year, and will be discussing the complexities in creating an exhibition that elevates Black Excellence to de-centre Euro-American colonial scientific narratives. They will also explore the pathways to decolonizing botanical libraries and archives in the emergence of institutional resistance to change in an age of climate change, socio-economic challenges, and the expendability of Black experience.  This event will be hosted on February 25th, from 10 to 11 AM at the UC Botanical Garden.  Find more information & register here >>
ASUC UC Green New Deal Art Contest  The UC Green New Deal coalition, from ASUC Eco-Senator Sarah Bancroft’s office, held a UC GND Art Contest this February where students could create art of any form that symbolizes their view of a Green New Deal at Berkeley. The winners are Britney Wu, Madison Luzar, and Helen Wang. An image of Britney Wu’s piece is pictured above.  A Conversation with Sustaio – Connecting the Circular Economy to the Citizen The Haas Sustainability Task Force is hosting a conversation with Olivia Pedersen, the Founder & CEO of the sustainable habits app and guide Sustaio. The app is an educational and goal-oriented startup seeking to incentivize personal accountability for sustainable action. The event will be held on Monday, March 1st from 6 to 7 PM PST. Learn more & register for the event here >>		TGIF Grant Application Cycle The Spring 2021 TGIF Grant Application Cycle is now open! The spring grant cycle focuses on larger, more complex sustainability-related projects seeking $5,000+ in funding. Contact tgif_...@berkeley.edu with any questions.  Learn more about TGIF-funded projects >> Deadlines: Stage 1 - Early Abstract due February 12th                 Final Abstract due March 12th  Stage 2 - Final Application  Learn more about applying here >> Native American Student Development Mentor Mentee Program Sign up to be paired with a Native grad student mentor! Check in, develop skills, improve your academic or research techniques, and/or prep for graduate school and beyond! Email any questions to na...@berkeley.edu.  Fill out the interest form here>>

 

    See New Research; Engage in Environmental Justice 

 

Academics & Research Highlights Check out some of the highlights from Berkeley academics & research focused on sustainability: Social Change on the Shelves Perennial, Berkeley’s Undergraduate Environmental Journal released their Fall 2020 issue this past January 50 years in, the Clean Air Act’s societal benefits still outweigh costs 10 to 1, research finds New study reveals how fences hinder migratory wildlife in the West Upcycling: Turning plastic bags into adhesives Camera traps document wildlife’s return to Gorongosa National Park In a desert seared by climate change, burrowers fare better than birds

New Decal hosted by SERC: Exploring Intersections within Climate Justice for Resilience We are only beginning to understand the interconnectedness of our world and the large-scale problems that we are facing that pressures our generation particularly. This course is designed for anyone interested in a meaningful introduction to their campus’ carbon neutrality, sustainability, food action, and environmental justice communities; and many more. Some specific topics we will explore in this course include the intersection of climate justice with dis/ability justice, LGBTQ+ identities, food justice, personal & community resilience, and Indigenous sovereignty.  Sign up by 2/19 >>  Environmental Justice Resources at Berkeley Learn more about resources, events, organizations, and trainings on environmental justice through the UC Berkeley EJ Work & Events living document.    Access the living document >>

 

 

    News & Announcements

Climate Day in the White House: In case you missed it on January 27th, President Biden signed a series of executive orders to address the climate crisis. The orders specifically call out the administration’s intentions to work with “States, localities, Tribes, territories, and other United States stakeholders” to restore international confidence in U.S. climate action and to set the country’s 2030 greenhouse gas target or Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Electric vehicle charging stations: Smart Electric Charging Stations are now available! Eight brand new SlrpEV chargers are now ready for use for parking permit holders in the UC Berkeley Recreation & Sports Facility (RSF) parking garage located at 2301 Bancroft Way, at Ellsworth Street. It takes 30 seconds to request access on their website. Part-time Wellness and Environmental Justice Coordinator: The Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) at the University of California, Berkeley is recruiting. The Wellness and Environmental Justice Coordinator will develop, support, and advise programs, projects and initiatives focused on wellness and environmental justice for the UC Berkeley community.  UC Merced Becomes the First Carbon-Neutral Public Research University: After a lengthy and rigorous review by independent auditors, UC Merced can proudly announce it is the first public research university in the country to achieve carbon neutrality, two years ahead of its goal.   Acknowledgement of Land and Place We acknowledge that UC Berkeley sits on the territory of xučyun (Huichin), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people, the successors of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. We recognize that every member of the Berkeley community has, and continues to benefit from, the use and occupation of this land, since the institution’s founding in 1868. Consistent with our values of community, inclusion, and diversity we have a responsibility to acknowledge and make visible the university’s relationship to Native peoples. As members of the Berkeley community, it is vitally important that we not only recognize the history of the land on which we stand but also, we recognize that the Muwekma Ohlone people are alive and flourishing members of the Berkeley and broader Bay Area communities today. This acknowledgment was co-created with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and Native American Student Development and is a living document. Learn more about the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe.             To share feedback, please email sustain...@berkeley.edu.

 

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Kira Stoll, AICP

Chief Sustainability & Carbon Solutions Officer

University of California, Berkeley
510-642-0074
st...@berkeley.edu

http://sustainability.berkeley.edu  

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