Bucknell University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

The Institute for Leadership in Sustainable Technology (ILST) is a researched-based summer institute focusing on a variety of sustainable technologies, open to 12 students across the three colleges of the University.

Students receive hands-on, team based experiences, conducting sustainability consulting projects that focus on economic, social, and environmental issues in residential and commercial settings. The program is open to rising sophomores, juniors and seniors and is co-taught by a Management and an Engineering professor.

The Office of Civic Engagement works to link professors to community groups with specified needs so that they can incorporate these projects into their course material. There are 20-25 courses each semester that is designated as Community Based Learning courses, some of the most popular of which being; "Immigrant Youth in US Society", "Martin Luther King and the Beloved Community: New Perspectives and Possibilities", and "Learning: Behaviour Modification for Mutts".

Students have completed greenhouse gas inventories every two years since 2006. Since 2008 these inventories have served to fulfill the requirements of the ACUPCC, and have helped the University develop greenhouse gas reduction strategies. The greenhouse gas inventory required the two students to examine every facet of the University's energy consumption and to compile all of the data using a mathematical model which converts energy use of different kinds into tons of CO2. Additionally, the University is completing a 1.6MW Solar farm that will be used for renewable energy, waste reduction, and biodiversity/natural habitat studies including animal grazing under the solar panels. Students are also involved in sustainability certification of offices, housing, events, etc.

In 2010, as the result of a student internship by Rebecca Shopiro '12, the University installed its first green roof on the Dana Engineering Building. In subsequent years the roof has been used in research conducted by Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Kevin Gilmore with several other student interns. The research has been focused on documenting and quantifying the benefits of green roofs. As a result of the success of this first green roof, two others have been built on the campus, a second green roof on the Dana Engineering Building, and a third on Academic West, the University's first green academic building.

Renewable Energy Scholars perform solar-related research using campus solar arrays. Other students have also used the on-campus photovoltaic systems to conduct research on solar array optimization. Student researchers have used their research experience to secure external internships and research opportunities, including REUs.

Located on a hill above the South Campus Apartments, Bucknell's 5-acre farm offers an interdisciplinary space for academic connections, sustainable food production, student life and wellness, and community engagement.

Established in 2018, the farm builds on the success of the Lewisburg Community Garden, a collaboration between the University and Lewisburg Borough that addresses local food insecurity by growing organic produce for a nearby hot-meal program. Students are encouraged by the professors to collect food and dining data and interpret with analysis for class room and symposium papers.

The Bucknell grounds have been utilized for numerous immersive sustainability experiences. Faculty and students have performed a comprehensive study of soil carbon storage on the main campus and satellite campus. Ecosystem service modeling is performed by students. Biology professors perform regular plant and insect surveys on campus as part of one of their courses. An ongoing study with the faculty of the BCSE is looking at the carbon sequestration of trees on campus.

Elimination of single-use plastics has been a focus. Plastic utensils have been replaced with wooden ones. Students are encouraged by the professors to collect sustainable purchasing information (policies and data) data and interpret with analysis for class room and symposium papers.

Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Michelle Beiler has used the campus as a living laboratory for several student projects in her Sustainable Transportation class. Laboratory exercises typically involve students dividing up into teams and applying course material to transportation infrastructure on campus such as through a pavement assessment or a speed spot study. Retired(as of 2023) Environmental Studies and Geography professor Ben Marsh previously taught about the transportation shortcomings in the surrounding area, and had students write proposals for original solutions in his Community-Based Research Design course. These courses have led to campus infrastructure improvements on Moore Ave, an extension of the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail to campus, and pedestrian/cyclists analysis on and off campus.

Students in Introduction to Sustainable Design analyze waste they see on campus and create life cycle analysis charts for common products. The Sustainable Design Program is working to create a center for upcycling on campus. During Earth Week each year since 2017, the Environmental Club organizes a "weigh your waste" day at the Bostwick Cafeteria, where all food waste is collected and weighed over the two-hour dinner period, to show the large effect that our waste has when added together, and to encourage students to only serve what they can consume.

Stormwater runoff and thermal impacts on urban areas and campus streams, specifically Miller Run which has been instrumented to look at water budgets related to campus watershed and hyporheic exchange using tracer studies and evaluate flux rates. We also have instrumented the West Branch of the Susquehanna River which is part of the campus to enable analyses of metabolic function and boundary layer dynamics to look at factors affecting temperature changes supporting faculty and student research.

Managing for Sustainability majors take a course called "Management Consulting", where students are exposed to principles of organization development and change. Requires students to draw on and integrate knowledge, skills, and experiences gained from the core, major, and relevant College Core Curriculum courses. In teams, students develop, organize, and manage significant projects that further key sustainability goals and involve multiple stakeholder groups.

Inside the classroom and beyond, we strive to foster an environment in which our students engage with, understand, and appreciate perspectives, people, and cultures that may be very different from their own.

In 2022, the BCSE has collaborated with the Multicultural Student Services office to facilitate several program events on environmental justice and storytelling, allowing the audience (i.e., students, faculty, staff, and community practitioners) from different backgrounds to discuss their experience with environmental injustice issues, reflect on the commonalities, and celebrate the differences in engagement with environmental justice. These events have allowed audience members to better empathize with their peers in facing environmental problems and work together to conceptualize solutions.

The BCSE also collaborates with the Global Ambassador Program on campus to equip the global ambassadors with a foundational proficiency in the Sustainable Development Goals and couple it with their experiences abroad to build intercultural sustainability competency.

These experiences position students to enrich their knowledge of self and others, examine their values, and develop skills in critical thinking and collaboration — all of which prepare students to make valuable contributions in a diverse, globally integrated world.

In 2011 students from the Bucknell Environmental Club, in cooperation with the Campus Greening Council, established the Green Fund, a revolving fund in which students have continued to participate both through serving on its advisory committee, and creating proposals for funding consideration. Several of the recent successful proposals can be seen in the "Water" section above. Additionally, Bucknell has a Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF). This group manages a portion of the endowment currently valued at approximately $2M. This group has discussed divestment and has implemented ESGs.

The University is implementing a 4-mile Bucknell Greenway for connecting students to the environment under the Ecological Conservation and Restoration Working Group led by Professor Paul Siewers. The Greenway is a living-learning lab for students to develop ecological research projects and sustainability interpretation location on the Greenway. Additionally, students and employees are encouraged to develop wellness (through physical exercise) scholarship and research on the Greenway.

https://myweb.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/finance-administration/sustainability/Sustainability%20at%20Bucknell%20Newsletter-Fall%202021.pdf

https://myweb.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/finance-administration/sustainability/Spring%202022%20SUS%40BU%20Final%20Report.pdf