Princeton University
Sustainability News
Office of Sustainability • January/February 2012
Apply Now for Sustainability Funding: High Meadows Foundation Proposals Due Feb. 20, 2012
The Princeton University High Meadows Foundation Sustainability Fund is requesting proposals for startup support of sustainability initiatives that use the campus as a living laboratory. All disciplinary approaches are welcome, especially those that combine the sciences, humanities and social sciences in creative ways. Applicants should limit requests to $10,000 or less, or discuss larger requests with the fund administrator prior to submittal. Note that submissions of $2000 or less are accepted at any time. The submission deadline is Feb. 20, 2012. Applications can be submitted to sustain@princeton.edu.
For additional detail, including application materials and a summary of prior award recipients and projects, please visit the High Meadows website.
Announcing the New Princeton Sustainability Committee Steering Council
We are delighted to announce the formation of a new Princeton Sustainability Committee (PSC) Steering Council. The role of the PSC Steering Council will be to serve as a strategic planning body for the larger PSC, its working groups, and its many representatives from across the University community who work collaboratively to implement and advance sustainability practices on campus. The new Steering Council includes the following members:
PSC leadership to serve on the Steering Council:
Mike McKay, VP Facilities, PSC executive sponsor
Elie Bou-Zeid, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, PSC Co-Chair
Shana Weber, Office of Sustainability, PSC Co-Chair
Undergraduate Representatives:
Deesha Sarma '13, Benjamin Barron '13
Graduate Student Representative:
Jenna Losh, Geosciences
Administrators, Academic:
Patrick Caddeau, Director of Studies, Forbes College. Lecturer in East Asian Studies
Kathy Hackett, Associate Director, Princeton Environmental Institute
Administrator, Operations:
Leila Shahbender, Senior Manager, Customer Service, Support Services, Office of Information Technology
Staff, Communications or Public Affairs:
Steven Schultz, Director of Engineering Communications, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Faculty Member:
Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School
Be a part of the 2012 RecycleMania Tournament!
Travelling Trophy
During an eight-week period in February and March, Princeton will be competing with more than 500 colleges and universities across the United States in Recyclemania, a friendly recycling tournament. From Feb. 5 through March 31, the EcoReps, who are leading the effort in collaboration with Building Services, will publicize Princeton's ranking in the Frist Campus Center compared with other schools. The campus will be assessed in various categories based on the overall recycling rate, the amount of recycling generated per person, as well as the amount of recyclable products that ended up in the trash. Winning schools receive an award made out of recyclable materials, and the right to host that category's special traveling trophy for the coming year. But the real award is when we all remember
to reduce waste by recycling! Find out what can be recycled at Princeton.
RESEARCH CORNER: Senior Thesis using Campus as Lab
Congratulations to Amanda Rees '12 who recently won an award from the Princeton University High Meadows Foundation Sustainability Fund to conduct senior thesis work using the campus as a laboratory. Her work is based on the demand for sustainable transportation fuels in developed and developing countries, investigating the production of bioethanol from cellulosic biomass (non-food), such as agricultural byproducts and fast growing bamboo. Amanda will assess the viability of the conversion and its potential for campus and broader use.
Sustainability Games Held at the Princeton University Art Museum
On Jan. 12, as part of the Princeton University Art Museum’s Late Thursdays program, the Art of Sustainability class held a participatory art event titled the Sustainability Games. Lecturer Jenny Price and her students designed five different stations that engaged the public in various sustainable activities, including a sustainability scavenger hunt, hand washing used T-shirts, turning recycled plastic bottles into plant holders, low-carbon cooking, and sustainable fashion design. The Student Environmental Communication Network (SECN) captured this great event, as well as the final preparatory class leading up to it, in a mini-documentary. Watch the video to get a glimpse into the fun and education the event brought to the Princeton community.
