Clarkson University
EN-3: Student Life

Engineers for International Sustainability: working to advance developing communities, promotes the training and development of globally aware and internationally responsible engineers, students, and professionals. They work with a community in Uganda and one in Ecuador. Sustainable Synergy (Synergy): Is a student-run, project-based organization focused on making the campus more sustainable through implementing new technologies. They work with the ISE to develop projects and outreach activities. They hold "Sustainable Fridays" where the group gets together to carry out some sort of environmental activity that is usually visible. Recent examples of some of their activities include tagging ash trees on campus to bring awareness to the invasive emerald ash borer (while one of them sported an emerald ash borer costume!), setting up a tour for the renewable energy that Clarkson uses, and attending / speaking at a youth climate rally in Potsdam, and they often table to educate other students on sustainability issues. New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) is a professional society for Environmental Engineering students. They broaden their professional skills with community (e.g., highway clean up) and professional activities. Bridges to Prosperity designs bridges for developing communities. In addition to these we have an environmental engineering honors society, a garden club, a beekeepers club, Engrg. for a International sustainability, and a microfinance club.

A cold-climate greenhouse designed, funded and constructed by student is used for research and education to improve the process and energy efficiency of the system to evaluate the sustainability of year-round local produce. It's also used by the campus garden club and some classes. A campus-wide vote identified that the redesign and rebuild of this GH will be the focus of the 2019 Sustainability Fund ($25k). A vegetable garden that is operated by students started in 2016. They received a Sustainability Fund grant for this. They finish the season with a Harvest Dinner attended by students, faculty and staff. In addition, we promote "Field Goods." It is a nontraditional CSA. It sources food regionally from multiple small farms to create a greater diversity of products available in the weekly package. The ISE office is the drop off point for the CSA.

Student run Entrepreneur Coffee sells fair trade coffee in re-useable buckets; sustainability is integrated throughout their operations. In our B.H. Snell Building we have a student run cafe called MoJoe's. This program was initiated by students in our business programs. It is prominently placed near the main entrance of the building. Students manage the entire business. They buy good coffee (multiple 3rd party certifications) form a local roaster. They also work with our Food cooperative to sell local baked goods. In 2017, we had a student run enterprise called ""Dumpster Dorm."" The business students partnered with the Sustainability Office's move out program. They collected materials that were donated during move out, stored and inventoried those items, and sold them through a website to incoming freshmen that fall. "

Microfinance at Clarkson (M@C): A microfinance club at Clarkson University that will bring awareness to the community about the benefits of microloans while developing a microfinance fund that will be used to people around the world create sustainable businesses. This club is run through the School of business and is student governed. They primarily work with community groups near Mbarara, Uganda.

We partner with neighboring universities to host an annual "Sustainability Day" conference. There is also a weekly seminar series run by Clarkson environmental graduate students. This gives them a chance to practice presenting their research. We generally have a major event in the fall (connected to the national Campus Sustainability Day/Month) and in the spring semester during Earth week. Annual book club and First Year students read selections supported by the library - for example - all 1st year students (~750) read and discussed "Eating Animals" (2017). The 2019 Novel book club discussing climate change novel New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson

We have displayed Native American art throughout the campus that has strong environmental imagery. As an example here are sections of bios or artist statements from a couple of the artists whose work we show - 1.Amado Pena: His art celebrates the strength of a people who meet the harsh realities of life in an uncompromising land and his work is a tribute to the Native Americans who survive by living in harmony with an adversarial, untamed environment. His artwork is inspired by places such as Canyon de Chelly, Spider Rock, Monument Valley, Enchanted Mesa, Acoma, and Black Mesa. These sites are part of an enduring landscape that speaks of the ancient heritage of a region that is now known as Arizona and New Mexico. Amado's artwork is defined by its bold color and form and dynamic composition. Through his art, he communicates his vision of a land, its people and their art. 2. Emmi Whitehorse: To make art, the act of making art must stay true to a harmonious balance of beauty, nature, humanity and the whole universe. This is in accordance with Navajo philosophy. I have chosen to focus on nature, on landscape. My paintings tell the story of knowing land over time - of being completely, micro-cosmically within a place. I am defining a particular space, describing a particular place. 3. Dan Namingha: Dan is from the Tewa-Hopi tribe. He has been showing professionally as an artist for over forty years. His works command unwavering respect for the earth and spirit of his ancestry, the beautiful heritage that is the heart of his creativity. He is constantly drawn to his rootsso deeply embedded in ceremony yet allows us only a guarded glimpse of his sacred traditions; the spirit messengers, the kachinas representing blessings, ancestors and cloud people ... all of these forming the interim of visage between the physical and the spirit world. Dan paints and sculpts the imagery of his homeland and his peoples, always with the integrity instilled in him by that depth of belief and loveof spirit. Drawing and paintings was a natural part of Hopi childhood. It gave him a way to express his strong feelings about the culture andenvironment leading to a path of creative freedom. Dan feels that change and evolution are a continuum; socially, politically, and spiritually and that the future of our planet and membership of the human race must be monitored to insure survival in the spirit of cultural and technologydiversity. He says that only then can we merge the positive and negative polarization and balance so necessary to the communal spirit of the universe. In addition, ""Sustainability Day"" includes cultural events and installations as well. Examples include the Mohawk openings for all Sustainability Day events, a presentation by Ilarion Merculieff, and a river installation called Convergence. Sustainability Day incorporates a "words before all else" opening by our Akwasasne neighbors.

Clarkson University Outing Club is our largest student club. They follow Leave No Trace principles and get training in wilderness first respons. They have chairs for climbing, camping, white water, paddling, mountain biking, etc. They lead orientation outings for interested incoming freshmen and they lead weekly trips into the Adirondacks. Club members coordinate and lead pre-orientation trips for many of the incoming freshmen.

Ross 3 is our sustainability themed dormitory hall for freshmen students. The ISE's Sustainability Coordinator is the advisor for this floor and works with the RA to provide suitable programming. The first semester common read often has sustainability components that leads to a campus wide convocation speaker event. For example, recent speakers and books have addressed wind energy in 2016 (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer) and in 2017 - diet and veganism (Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer)

Students in the Smart Housing Project attend workshops for energy education and motivation for conservation. Weekly email messages and tablet screens in their apartments provide feedback and motivational messages to encourage conservation. The Sustainable SYNERGY club addresses these issues in many of their activities.

The ISE annually hires 2-4 undergraduate students as sustainability interns and funds one graduate sustainability TA. These students work with the sustainability coordinator to run several of our programs (work in dorms, sustainable office certification, data for STARS, sustainability week, etc.)

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Sustainability Week or campus sustainability month: this is an opportunity to join with institutions from across the country in these types of events while focusing on the opportunities we have on our own campus. We coordinate multiple events across different audiences (movies, fashion shows, discussions, clothing swaps, etc). The goal is to raise awareness of the issues and to find the solutions needed to make a difference to better our environment, society and the economy. In addition we always have 2 or 3 higher profiled environmental presentations throughout each semester (either research or applied).

For total count of participants: 750 All first year students (72 in pre-orientation trips; 47 Sustainability floor - included in above) 350 (active members of CUOC) (estimated 50% of 700 in CUOC) 24 beekeepers, 24 NYWEA, 45 Synergy 20 Garden Club 30 Engineers for International sustainability 25 Graduate student seminar series (250 Misc. attendance at lectures, seminars and special events - assume overlap with all of above) 1268 SUM 4669 Total headcount 27% Note: This does not include all clubs, but that undercount is assumed to balanced the double counting that is inevitably the results of some students participating in more than one of these activities.