Author: Alan Turnquist

Know someone who is passionate about sustainability and is improving campus or the community through their teaching, research, or service?  Please consider nominating them for the second annual campus sustainability leadership awards!

Self-nominations are welcome; nominations from others are encouraged. Please submit nominations via our submission form by Feb. 15. Award recipients will be informed by March 4 and recognized at an Earth Week lunch event April 19.

The awards will recognize a faculty member, a staff member, and a student on campus who has made significant contributions to advancing sustainability.  A public ceremony will be held to celebrate their accomplishments in early April.

Last year’s winners are listed below, and a 3 minute video on their contributions is on the sustainability website.

Undergraduate: Kendra Lachcik

Graduate: Rose Daily

Staff: Larry Hermanson

Faculty: Sarah Green

Awards are made possible through the Tech Forward Initiative on Sustainability and Resilience

We are thrilled to announce the competition for the second annual Frank Chernosky Campus Climate Ambassador Award that will support the development of Michigan Tech undergraduate students into the climate change leaders of tomorrow.  This alumni-funded award is named after Frank Chernosky, a former professor and advisor at Michigan Tech.  Mr. Chernosky was an early advocate for sustainability principles who impacted many students before dying tragically from a rare form of Heart Cancer in 1971. 

This award in his name consists of three forms of student support: a partial tuition scholarship, funds for professional development and/or applied work, and a formal mentorship by campus and/or external professionals.  One recipient will be chosen annually.

The award for 2023-24 will be $9,600 – a scholarship amount of $8,000 spread over fall and spring semesters, and a professional development and applied work fund of up to $1,600 to be used by August 2024. Awardees will also receive active mentorship from campus and/or external professionals to help them develop networks and skills for their future work.  The overall timetable for the award is flexible to accommodate opportunities such as a co-op or internship.  Applicants and award recipients will solidify the details on the timing of the award, as well as the nature of mentorship and professional development, through the application process and dialogue with the committee.

To be considered, an applicant must be a full-time undergraduate student at Michigan Tech with the equivalent of at least three semesters of full-time enrollment at Michigan Tech by the fall of 2023. They must also have a minimum of two semesters of coursework remaining, though there is potential for flexibility to accommodate an internship or coop into the award timeframe.

Applications are due March 15th, with interviews to follow. The committee will make a decision by April 14. Interested students are encouraged to draft their application early discuss their ideas with Alan Turnquist before applying at alturnqu@alturnqu

Full details of the award and a link to the application are available in the PDF document below.

There are a host of events happening in October for the sustainability passionate or curious. See the poster below for the details.

Interested in participating in Sustainability activities on campus and throughout your community? Sustainability month offers a variety of fun opportunities! From craft nights, award winning documentary viewings, community tree identification, and more! See the attached flier and follow us on instagram @sustainablemtu for individual event details.

Michigan Tech held the second annual Husky Exchange this spring to gather unwanted items from students during move out from the residence halls. In sum, students donated nearly 9,000 items, keeping over two tons of materials out of the landfill and headed toward others in need.

The most common donations were nonperishable food (~3,500 items), clothing (~1,000 articles!), and pool noodles (~700). All of those items, with the exception of some expired food, will go back as donations to students next academic year. We partner with the HuskyFAN food pantry in Fisher Hall for our food donations and the new clothing closet in Douglass Houghton Hall for our clothing articles to provide students access to these items throughout the year. Its a great example of how we all have to work together to make better use of our resources and work towards a more sustainable campus.

Many of the remaining items will be made available to our newest Huskies moving into the residence halls before fall orientation. Over 95% of the items will be available free of charge, or for a charitable donation, while a handful of higher value items like refrigerators, microwaves, and box fans will be sold at a steep discount to cover the costs of running the program.

Finally, we partner with non-profit organizations in the area for the remainder of the donations, including linens, lightly expired food, and other items of need. We included a handful of photos and a full list of donations below to get a better picture of the program. Thank you to the staff and students who put many hours in to collect and sort the donations!

Congratulations to the winners of the inaugural Sustainability Awards at Michigan Tech!

Kendra Lachcik (Undergraduate Student), Rose Daily (Graduate Student), Sarah Green (Faculty, Chemistry), and Larry Hermanson (Staff, Facilities) have all contributed mightily to sustainability efforts at Michigan Tech. Watch the following short video below to learn more about their work in sustainability at Michigan Tech.

Play 2022 Sustainability Award Winners video

2022 Sustainability Award Winners

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The Husky Exchange is Michigan Tech’s green move-out program. With your help, we will gather reusable but unwanted items from residents as they move out of the residence halls in the spring, then store and sort the items and donate to local organizations or resell/giveaway the items back to students in the fall.  Together we can support students and the local community, divert waste from the landfill, and help build an awareness of sustainability at Michigan Tech. Last year, we collected over 3,000 items and kept more than a ton of materials out of the landfill!

When? Students can drop donations off anytime between Friday, April 22 and Sunday, May 1.

Where? There are eight drop off locations in the residence halls:

• WADS (5): outside the Cafe on the ground floor, and in each of the centrally located kitchenettes (floors 2-5)
• McNair (2): glass lounge outside the front desk (lobby) and the lobby area on ground floor east of the dining hall.
• DHH (1): Connector space
• Hillside (1): first floor kitchen near fireplace

What? The general rule is: if it’s clean and might be useful to someone, drop it off.

Partial list of items: pool noodles broomball sticks, non-perishable food, fans, lamps, storage and shelving, mirrors, office supplies, area rugs, electronics, laundered clothing, and small, clean, appliances.

Questions? email us at sustainability@mtu.edu

See below for a fascinating one minute depiction of global climate change from the NASA Scientific Visualization Studio. It does a great job of showing the upward (outward) trend thought the anomalies. Learn more here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4975

This week’s Husky Bites on Monday, March 21 is called “Glasgow—Michigan Tech Agents of Change,” with Chemistry Professor and Interim Dept. of Chemistry Chair Sarah Green, plus Jessica Daignault, who earned her PhD in Environmental Engineering at Michigan Tech in 2021, and current mechanical engineering PhD student Ayush Chutani. Dr. Green led a group of 9 Michigan Tech students and alumni to the UN International Climate Change Conference, COP26, last November.
We’ll learn what kinds of things go on at COP26, what it’s for, who goes, why we have observer status as a university (not many have it). We’ll hear about the outcomes from Glasgow, including the Glasgow climate pact and what it means. Dr. Green also has plans to possibly engage next year, at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. We will also celebrate leading up to World Water Day, which takes place the very next day, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.
Dr. Green has served as a Jefferson Science Fellow in the U.S. State Department, and as co-chair for the Scientific Advisory Panel on the Sixth Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6), United Nations Environment Programme. Her research includes all aspects of environmental chemistry, from molecular analytical methods to global climate change, as well as communicating about climate change. At Michigan Tech, she teaches Green Chemistry and Climate Science and Policy.
Links to stories and live feed
twitter
https://twitter.com/mtu_engineering/status/1504831802631880705

facebook
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=495597902072218&id=109353424030003

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbQN11EL3rS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

blog
https://blogs.mtu.edu/engineering/2022/03/17/sarah-green-glasgow-michigan-tech-agents-of-change/

calendar listing
https://events.mtu.edu/event/glasgowmichigan_tech_agents_of_change?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=Michigan+Tech+Events+Calendar

On Wednesday, March 2 from 10-11 a.m. EST, join in for a discussion with five distinguished  alumni on how Michigan Tech can work with industry and alumni for a more sustainable future.  The meeting will be 100% virtual, and the Zoom link is open to all:  https://michigantech.zoom.us/j/86273210371

Stream Details

Dial-In Information

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Mar 2, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: MTU Alumni Sustainability Panel

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://michigantech.zoom.us/j/86273210371

Or One tap mobile : 
    US: +16468769923,,86273210371#  or +13017158592,,86273210371# 
Or Telephone:
    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
        US: +1 646 876 9923  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 312 626 6799  or +1 669 900 6833  or +1 253 215 8782  or +1 346 248 7799 
Webinar ID: 862 7321 0371
    International numbers available: https://michigantech.zoom.us/u/kRmcAxBxL

Please join us for the Sustainability Open House on Thursday, February 10th from 4-7 pm over Winter Carnival weekend! Come learn about our sustainable systems including composting, hydroponics, aquaponics, a solar array, a beehive, energy-efficient appliances, a zero-waste household, and many more. In addition, guests will receive free sustainable swag. 

The Sustainability Demonstration House is located at 21680 Woodland Rd, just down the road from East McNair. Parking is available at East McNair, Hillside, and Lot 10E. Masks will be required indoors. 
Please see the attached flyer for more information. Feel free to email 

sdh@mtu.edu with any questions. We hope to see you there!