University of Wisconsin–Madison
For the second year in a row, UW–Madison was among the top 30 colleges and universities in the country to be recognized as a leader in clean energy use. The ranking reflects the percentage of green power out of a university’s total electricity use. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Green Power Partnership …
Today’s building specifications are designed for local weather conditions based on historical data. As future weather conditions vary significantly from historic trends due to human-induced climate change, building specifications must be recalibrated away from the weather of the past and towards the weather of the future. Graduate student Gesangyangji is using advanced computer models to …
The University of Wisconsin–Madison, in joint leadership with more than 15 partners across the region, will launch the Midwest Climate Collaborative (MCC) at a virtual gathering on January 28, 2022. The MCC is a cross-sector network of organizations committed to accelerating climate action in the Midwest by leveraging science and research, shaping public understanding and …
Progress Update: Study Abroad has released an update to their Handbook that includes a section devoted to Sustainability. The updated Handbook, which documents the various impacts of international travel and includes tips and opportunities for traveling more sustainably, showcases the tenets of Study Abroad’s Commitment to Sustainability. In addition, thanks to a collaboration between the …
Although it manages arrival times, bus stops, repairs, signage, parking lots, road closures, permits, citations, and special event parking—all the tedious necessary aspects of public transit— Transportation Services also creates experiences. It may seem unusual to consider standing at a bus stop an experience: waiting, pacing, thumbing one’s smartphone, looking for the next ride. But …
During the Spring 2021 semester, five UW–Madison students joined the Zero Waste Atlas Fellowship program. Students performed interviews and gathered information from a variety of campus stakeholders to complete its first zero waste assessment. Scoring UW–Madison’s zero waste efforts According to the Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN), the “Atlas Zero Waste Certification creates a high-level …
In our In Case You Missed It series (also known as ICYMI), students working at the Office of Sustainability offer reflective reports on sustainability-related events and lectures at UW–Madison. The following entry is by Nina Delgadillo. From October 4-11, 2021, UW–Madison students participated in the Swipe Out Hunger campaign by opting into donations each time they …
In our “Where Are They Now?” series, current student interns interview former interns about their experience at the Office of Sustainability, and in particular how that experience has helped them since graduation. In the following entry, Norma Behrend-Martinez relates her conversation with Hannah Kasun. I hurried to Memorial Union one fall evening, excited to meet …
When she was young, Gesangyangji would stare at the peaks on the mountains surrounding Lhasa, her birthplace in the Tibetan Plateau. They were covered in snow. But as she grew up she noticed the snow disappearing, the white lines chased up the mountain by gray and green rock. “I was wondering,” she said, “Why is …