Weber green Sustainability Practices and Research Center Spring 2021

January WSU Sustainability Newsletter

Join the February Clear the Air Challenge

Sign up for the February Clear the Air Challenge and choose a WSU team!

The Clear the Air Challenge is a month-long event that helps improve Utah's air quality through friendly competition. Everyone can help reduce emissions by becoming more aware of how driving affects local air quality! 

Utah Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Air Quality provides a quick guide to understand the science behind our air quality. In addition, UCAIR has a wonderful video explaining the causes of an inversion.

Weber State University has several teams that engage in friendly Clear the Air competitions to see which department or team can gather the most points. All WSU team efforts are also aggregated to form a larger Weber State team, where WSU can compete with other universities and organizations.

Join the challenge here, or contact Isabel Hernandez at ihernandezmartinez@mail.weber.edu for more information. 


The Intermountain Sustainability Summit

Weber State’s annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit will be held March 18 - 19, 2021 as a virtual event for sustainability professionals, emerging leaders, students and those seeking to promote a more sustainable future.  

The Summit brings sustainability professionals, emerging leaders, educators and college students from across Utah and surrounding states to learn, build collaborations and prepare for taking action. The Summit hosts two days of events. Day one, Thursday, March 18 brings together a full day of diverse programing. Day two, Friday, March 19, offers in-depth workshops. Day one sessions and day two workshops can be registered for independently.

Thursday, March 18 events include 2 keynotes, live and prerecorded sessions, the Eco Expo, the Student Poster Contest and more. 

Friday, March 19 will offer a choice of three workshops: 

8 am to noon: Local Landscapes, Gardening and Climate Adaptation  
9 am to noon: Building Community is Radical Activism
1 pm to 5 pm: Climate Action Planning: Creating Low-Carbon Resilient Communities

Registration
Registration for professionals, community members and emerging leaders can be found on the Summit website. Special registration is available for WSU students, faculty and staff. Additionally, scholarships are available for emerging sustainability leaders on the registration page.

Student Poster Contest

The Summit highlights student action and research at the Student Poster Contest.  

Students may submit a poster now through Monday, Feb 15, by completing the poster contest submission form and then uploading a copy of the poster here

Students whose posters are accepted will receive free Summit registration to the virtual events on Thursday, March 18 and will be encouraged to present their posters in a Zoom session within their category.

Poster categories may include but are not limited to: 

  • Sustainability Research (Undergraduate & Graduate)

  • Green Design (e.g., architectural, landscape, engineering, technology)

  • Sustainability in Action (e.g., program, policy, environmental justice, advocacy successes)

  • Sustainability in Creative Arts, Education, and the Humanities (creative writing, dance, music, or visual arts)

  • Green Economy (e.g., economics, finance, green jobs) 

For questions, please contact Katherine Meyr at katherinemeyr@weber.edu.


CCEL Engaged Learning Series - Connect* with Sustainability

Join WSU Sustainability in the CCEL Engaged Learning Series, Connect*, for a week of connecting to nature, community, and solutions. 

The Connect* to Sustainability events will take place Monday, February 1 - Friday, February 5 on our social media pages and include prizes for participants! Come take part in a week of connection: 

Monday, February 1- Connect with Sustainability 

Tuesday, February 2- Connect with our Communities

Wednesday, February 3- Connect to the Solutions

Thursday, February 4- Connect with Students

Friday, February 5- Reconnect to Nature

These events will take place via WSU Sustainability social media pages, with live videos presented on Instagram. Instagram: @wsu_sust Facebook: @weberstatesustainability Twitter: @wsusustainable.


Sustainability Research Awards

Are you engaged in sustainability research? WSU students and faculty can apply for the Sustainability Research Award, awarded by the Sustainability Practices and Research Center (SPARC). 

SPARC offers two $1,000 awards to recognize exceptional, completed faculty sustainability research projects. Awards will be given in one or both of the following categories: 1) traditional scholarship (i.e., conference or journal-targeted academic research/writing), and 2) applied scholarship (i.e., tangibly benefiting community, campus, or students/teaching, etc.).

Eligible submissions include any research/applied project involving some primary research in the area of sustainability completed during the 2020 calendar year or in the 2021 Spring semester.

Apply here by Monday, March 1st. Submissions will be judged on the following:

  • the link to sustainability, expansively defined.

  • the generation of new content or knowledge for sustainability

  • the research approach, including creativity/originality, and

  • the impact (practical or scholarly).

For consideration, the form below must be completed, and all submission documents/information must be emailed to Dr. Mary Foss, maryfoss@weber.edu, Environmental Initiatives Committee, by March 1 of each year.


Geoscience & Society Series

All are welcome to come and learn about the intersection between Geoscience and society in Dr. Carie Frantz’s Geoscience & Society Series. 

Come learn about the links between soil and climate change, the environmental and human costs of saving a life, energy trends and more. The series, a Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences course, will incorporate case studies, readings, presentations, and seminar-style discussions related to geologic hazards/disasters, natural resources, climate change, and applied geoscience careers. 

Sessions for January include the following topics:

Utah's Mineral Resources
Friday, January 22
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Environmental health studies on Navajo lands
Friday, January 29
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Public lectures: Fridays 1:00-2:00 pm

https://www.weber.edu/cariefrantz/geoscienceandsociety.html

This year's seminar will be taking place virtually via Zoom. To access the webinars and schedule use this link.


January 2021 Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Geoscience & Society
Utah's Mineral Resources
Friday, January 22
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Environmental health studies on Navajo lands
Friday, January 29
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Connect* with Sustainability
Monday, February 1- Friday, February 5

Deadline to Submit for the Student Poster Contest
Monday, February 15

How to be an Antiracist - From King to Kendi
Available until Monday, February 1

12th Annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit
Thursday, March 18-Friday, March 19

For questions or to add events to next month's newsletter, email Katherinemeyr@weber.edu