Cornell University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

The blueprint for this goal is our award-winning Climate Action Plan (CAP). The CAP’s strategies bring together students, faculty, and staff on matters of research, education, stewardship and outreach. The following initiatives are present on Cornell's campus: -Climate Focus Team of the President's Sustainable Campus Committee which facilitates the implementation of initiatives to reduce Cornell's carbon footprint. These include faculty, staff, student working groups developing recommendations for a potential internal carbon charge and offsetting business travel. - The Environmental Collaborative (ECO) works with Climate Justice Cornell and the 40+ other student organizations focused on sustainability and climate to promote a sustainable, just future and advance policy on climate change on the university, local and national levels - Teams of students, faculty, and staff are working on targeted priority action areas identified as part of the Climate Action Plan through Working Groups of the President's Sustainable Campus Committee. -ALS 2000: Leadership for Sustainability is an interdisciplinary course offered every semester with students from across the Institute using residence halls as laboratories for sustainability leadership and behavioral innovation. The course is supported by the American Indian & Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP), Campus Sustainability Office, Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions (CICSS), Cornell Outdoor Education, and Residential & New Student Programs.

Faculty in the College of Human Ecology have been surveying occupants in various green buildings to understand occupant experiences of green features. These post-occupancy surveys have helped inform infrastructure improvements over time. A class in the College of Human Ecology, DEA 6250 (Human Dimensions of Sustainable Buildings), conducted group projects focusing on Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) Policy & Stakeholder Engagement for Cornell’s Climate Action Plan. There were five groups that looked at different scopes and options for potential EBOM policies.

Our student-run Green Revolving Fund invests in energy conservation projects and captures energy cost savings for reinvestment. Its first sponsored project is the replacement of steam pipe insulation in Sage Hall.

Dining sustainability student staff in partnership with faculty and staff have been researching the food waste habits of students and designing interventions to reduce food waste. Applied Economics faculty and students as part of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab have been studying the food choices of students in the cafeterias to enhance our understanding of the psychology of food choices in cafeterias. More information is available here http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/content/smarter-lunchrooms Undergraduate members of the Food Focus Team are examining the sustainability of Cornell's food purchases by inputting data into the Real Food Calculator.

Cornell's Urban Horticulture Institute faculty and students study plant selection and site restoration/modification techniques to create resilient urban ecosystems. They have created more than 25 demonstration gardens on the Cornell campus over the last 15 years, including a roadside bioswale testing new breeds of plants hardy to road salt and snow cover. http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/index.html

Procurement Services engaged MBA students from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management who worked with four diverse businesses to help them boost sales with Cornell and review their business plans. https://www.dfa.cornell.edu/news/mba-students-offer-consulting-diverse-businesses-second-year

From piloting carshare and bikeshare initiatives that were developed by students, to landscape architecture students designing car-free campus concepts, Cornell has a long history of student learning and faculty research embedded in sustainable transportation operations. In 2015, Cornell's Forest Home Garage was the first-ever university parking garage to receive Green Garage certification. More information is available here http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/transportation

The Cornell Waste Management Institute partnered with Farm Services in the development of Cornell's composting facility, and ongoing research and teaching collaborations on agricultural waste management and composting continue. Students hosted a Waste Weekend event to discuss issues of plastic usage, biofuels, campus policy, compost, freshmen leadership, food recovery, a campus thrift store, and more over music, food, and art displays. More information is available at http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/waste

Studying the local watershed where Cornell is located has been a long time pursuit of faculty, students, and staff. The campus is host to wetland management demonstration projects and faculty and staff are currently partnering to model complex nutrient systems of nearby Cayuga Lake. More information is available here http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/water

Various students in the MBA program, CIPA (Cornell Institute for Public Affairs), and School for Industrial and Labor Relations have done academic projects in partnership with the Campus Sustainability Office and Planning Offices at Cornell relating to the use of metrics in performance management, carbon reduction planning, and campus master planning.

Prof. Kelly Musick in her Research Methods class (SOC 2130/PAM 2150) in Sociology regularly has students engage with institutional data on first generation or low income students and the Cornell experience. Each term she works with real world community or campus partners. Prof. Troy Richardson in his Intergroup Dialogue class (EDUC 2610) has small groups of students design and carry out interventions (intergroup collaboration projects) with campus or community partners based around the theme of their dialogue sections—race, sexuality, gender, religion, ability, or socio-economic class. This course is also taught by Prof. John Forester in the same way. Prof Anthony Burrow in his course on Racial and Ethnic Identity Development (HD 3510) and his collaborative research with Dr. Janis Whitlock studies and encourages his students both in the classroom and in the lab to examine personal development and sense of purpose in relation to engagement with diversity and making meaning from diverse encounters.

The Engaged Cornell initiative launched with the overarching goal to establish community engagement in teaching, learning, and research settings as a hallmark of the Cornell experience, thereby preparing our students to become citizens who will enrich not only our community but also the places throughout the world in which they choose to live and work. Engaged Cornell aims to support the work of faculty to directly integrate community engagement into the curriculum, as a strategy for learning and as a means of connecting academic exploration with those public arenas. Through its grants programs, Engaged Cornell supports the creation of new community-engaged courses, research, and internship opportunities, as well as the further development and curricular integration of current community-engaged teaching and research initiatives. http://engaged.cornell.edu/about/

Research on the benefits of flex place and time are being conducted on campus in partnership with the Office of Workplace Diversity and Inclusion and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. This research has been used to improve Cornell's flex program. https://www.hr.cornell.edu/life/support/flexible_arrangements.html

Cornell's Leadership for Campus Sustainability class is a 3 credit service-learning course to develop leadership and peer education skills while improving campus sustainability in the residence halls. During the semester each student will serve as a Cornell EcoRep, a program leader and role model for a specific residence hall. EcoReps learn how to plan, coordinate, and implement sustainability education activities in collaboration with residence hall staff. They work with other students in and outside the class to develop competencies in persuasion, education and community based social marketing.