Cornell University
EN-3: Student Life

Cornell students (undergraduate, graduate, and professional students) from across all colleges are actively involved in a wide range of student clubs focused on sustainability. Currently over 40 student clubs are focused on sustainability issues. The newly formed group, ECO (Environmental Collaborative), will help coordinate projects among the various organizations. A full list of clubs can be found here: http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/categories/2

Dilmun Hill Farm is a student-run farm that has been practicing sustainable agriculture on Cornell University's campus for more than a decade. Their mission is to provide students, faculty, staff and community with opportunities for experiential learning, group collaboration and research. Throughout the year they host work parties where volunteers work in the fields and experience the latest in sustainable agricultural practices. The student managers and steering committee members collaborate with the Organic Coordinator and Faculty Advisors to provide leadership in farm operations and disseminate information through education and outreach. They also collaborate with various organizations on campus, such as McDaniels Nut Grove. Their popular campus farm stand offers Dilmun Hill produce for sale from June through October and they supply local produce to Cornell's Manndible Cafe in season.

The Dilmun Hill student-run, organic farm business operates a variety of retail and wholesale operations including a campus farmstand and direct marketing to several campus dining facilities including Manndible Cafe and the Hotel School. More information is available at http://www.cuaes.cornell.edu/cals/cuaes/ag-operations/dilmun-hill/

The Center for Global Sustainable Enterprise provides academic and professional leadership in the area of SRI and Sustainable Enterprise. A program of the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise (Center), BR MicroEnterprise, NBA 5090, spurs microenterprise development by assisting self-employed individuals reach their business goals. Launched in January of 2009, BRM seeks to meet a critical need by working with promising, but underserved entrepreneurs in the local community. Under the guidance of the Center, BRM supports low income entrepreneurs in Tompkins County. The goal of BRM is to provide students an experiential learning opportunity that contributes to the local community, supporting inclusive wealth creation and economic development. In addition, Cornell's Green Revolving Fund (GRF) provides small-scale financing for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainability projects that generate cost savings for the University. The idea is that the operational savings will be tracked and used to replenish the fund for the next round of investments. NBA 6790, the academic component of the Fund, is offered by the Johnson School to Cornell students to manage the Fund and engage in GRF-related activities under faculty guidance each fall and spring term. The class is the vehicle by which students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience identifying, developing, proposing, evaluating, implementing, and managing energy efficiency investment projects around campus using a corpus of dedicated funds available for those investments. Working in coordination with the University's Finance, Investment, and Infrastructure, Property & Planning offices, students conduct their work in various teams to address a range of operational elements related to the fund, including project identification, proposal evaluation, marketing, financial management, and fundraising. http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/initiatives/green-revolving-fund

(1) The Campus Sustainability Office and President's Sustainable Campus Committee (PSCC) organize the annual PSCC Summit (since 2014). Every year, the PSCC hosts a sustainability summit to bring representatives from operations staff, academic staff, students, and faculty. The PSCC has oversight across 10 areas of sustainable campus activities: energy, climate, water, food, waste, buildings, people, land, purchasing and transportation. The PSCC Summit enables all 10 focus teams to report on progress, collaborate in sessions, and network. (2) Cornell Environmental Collaborative (ECO)'s hosted its Annual Leadership Summit for students, staff, and faculty entitled "What Now? Adjusting to Change in an Uncertain Future" (3) ECO also hosts ECO Dialogue events on current issues and an Environmental Justice series throughout each semester. https://www.facebook.com/events/350217078647986/ (4) The Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, the Campus Sustainability Office, and many other centers cosponsored or promoted over 400 sustainability events on campus each year including lectures, seminars, conferences, festivals, markets, and workshops. (5) The annual Iscol Lecture, Cornell's premier environmental event, featured Peter Matthiessen (author) in 2012, Peter Kareiva (Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy) in 2013, Luc Gnacadja (Past Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification) in 2014, Ted Danson (actor and ocean's advocate) in 2015, and Sheryl WuDunn in 2016 (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and business executive). (6) NBA 6190 – Leaders in Sustainable Global Enterprise: speakers from the private, public and non-profit sectors discussing their organization’s approach to addressing sustainability concerns (7) NBA 6380 – Finance & Sustainability Colloquium: speakers from the private, public and non-profit sectors discussing their work at the nexus of finance and sustainability Additional past event lists can be found at http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/blogs/events

(1) Climate Action Art Project-The Tent of Casually Observed Phenologies. Friday, October 14, 2016: Portable ritual space. Climate change related Tarot readings inside. The artist has built a tent, in which he will sit and give divination readings with his self-made Tarot cards. The tent will be built in the morning, and the artist will sit in the tent during the day, offering visitors about 15 minutes of performance on a first-come-first-serve basis. The tent is decorated with motives of plant and animal species that are differently affected by climate change. Leonard explains, “A lot of thought has gone into The Tent of Casually Observed Phenologies. I wanted to create a space for contemplation, where participants can slow down, articulate questions and find clarity. Climate change is a universal concern. Art is the perfect place for expressing and evaluating concern.” James Leonard is an internationally exhibited artist. He recently finished a 2016 artist residency at MASS MoCA. In 2015, he was artist-in-residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. When not on the road, he lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. (2) Cornell's Mann Library (Mann Gallery) opened an exhibit entitled "Historic Ice: Alaska and Greenland’s glaciers through the lens of the Cornell expeditions 1896-1911" in November 2015, which displayed photographs taken by Cornell professor Ralph Stockman Tarr and his students during several expeditions to glaciated areas in Greenland and Alaska. Hundreds of photographs taken during the expeditions captured both the stunning beauty of these areas as well as historic data vital to the field of glaciology today. Building on the imagery and information gleaned from the Tarr expeditions, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, Matt Pritchard, delivered a lecture when the gallery opened, highlighting changes that have occurred in the glacial landscapes of Alaska and Greenland over the past hundred years--and what these changes do in fact tell us about global climate change.

Established in 1972, Cornell Outdoor Education (COE) is the largest and most comprehensive collegiate outdoor education program in the country. COE uses challenge, adventure, and outdoor experiences, with reflection and analysis, to help individuals and teams learn and grow. While COE serves a variety of populations, its central mission is to serve Cornell students. COE classes and programs, by complementing academic and classroom offerings, provide students with real world leadership and team opportunities. Classes include day hiking, backpacking in the Finger Lakes, indoor and outdoor rock climbing, tree climbing, mountain biking, canoeing, and sea kayaking. All courses emphasize the importance of the natural environment and Leave No Trace principles.

N/A Currently happening in some form, but needs improvement: The College and Unit Engagement Program uses monthly themes and college specific data to educate the Cornell community on sustainable actions. Each monthly theme focuses on a different area of resource conservation. Starting with the College of Engineering and expanding to the College of Human Ecology and the Division of Infrastructure Properties and Planning, the College and Unit Engagement Program is essential learning how to “Think Big and Live Green” at Cornell.

The nearly 100 residents of Ecology House have a variety of majors and backgrounds, but all share an interest in preserving and protecting our natural environment. Residents are dedicated to sustainable practices like recycling, composting, organic gardening, and energy conservation, and organize environmental-education outreach programs such as the widely popular annual "Mission: Wolf" event. Ecology House offers a wide range of activities, such as regular hiking and camping trips, frequent house dinners, and weekly ice cream and movie nights. Major house events include a weekend retreat in the Adirondacks each fall, with zip-lining, hiking, and canoeing, plus house leadership retreats, and house dances (both formal and casual) in the fall and spring. Another unique perk at Eco House: residents may keep certain types of small pets (in cages or aquariums) if registered and approved by the house's Residence Hall Director.

The Campus Sustainability Office (CSO), Office of Energy Management, the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise (SGE), and Cornell Dining offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities. CSO hires five student Sustainability Coordinator interns: (2) assist with events (New Student Orientation, Energy Smackdown, RecycleMania, Spring Fest), (1) assists with marketing and communications, (1) collaborates directly with ECO Environmental Collaborative student organization (events, host student sustainability leadership summit), (1) graduate student who collects STARS data. The Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise employs 1-2 student interns per semester. Cornell Dining hires 2-3 Student Sustainability Coordinators who act as sustainability consultants to the dining staff and purchasing department, and who educate students about local foods and waste management. Job openings are advertised on the Sustainable Campus website (http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/blogs/news) and via many of Cornell's listservs.

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Cornell offers a wide variety of co-curricular programs and initiatives that engage with the campus, local, national, and international community on sustainability issues. Examples: -- Our university-wide seminar, "Cornell University Climate Change Seminar," provides important views on the critical issue of climate change by engaging experts from both Cornell University and other universities. -- Environmental Finance and Impact Investment (EFII) Fellows Program: Cornell University's Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management and the Cornell Institute of Public Affairs (CIPA) launched parallel EFII Programs in the spring of 2011 which were designed to prepare students for careers related to finance and sustainability, including environmental finance or impact investment in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Through a series of courses, coupled with applied capstone projects, students are trained to invest in, manage, and regulate businesses or projects seeking financial, environmental and/or social goals. The EFII curriculum provides rigorous training in each of the following four subject areas: Economic and Political Analysis, Finance and Analytics, Science and Technology, and Markets and Regulation. http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/Center-for-Sustainable-Global-Enterprise/Students/EFII-Fellows-Program and http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/academics/efii/index.cfm