University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tag: Academics

Navigating the Corporate World: From Zero Waste Project Assistant to Sustainability Specialist

In our “Where Are They Now?” series, current student interns interview former students about their experience at the Office of Sustainability (OS), particularly how that experience has helped them since graduation. In the following entry, Tia Gaffney relates her conversation with Olivia Grose, a student who was involved in the Zero Waste Team within the …

So you wanna study sustainability..?

Looking for a way to incorporate sustainability into your academic journey at UW–Madison? Look no further. No matter your major or department, there are countless ways to connect your studies to sustainability, whether you want to gaze dreamily at lakes all day or learn about the ancient Greeks. Sustainability is embedded in coursework and research …

Sustainability at UW–Madison: 2024–25 Highlights

In February 2024, Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin announced a university-wide environmental sustainability initiative centered around five goals: launching the Sustainability Research Hub to accelerate interdisciplinary research and external collaboration; attaining STARS Gold as a framework to drive cross-campus involvement; creating widely accessible sustainability educational experiences for all interested students; becoming a zero waste campus through improved systems, engagement, and materials management; and …

15 Ways Students Can Get Involved with UW–Madison’s New Sustainability Goals

In February 2024, Chancellor Mnookin announced a groundbreaking commitment to sustainability. Mnookin laid out five goals across fields of sustainability that will guide UW–Madison over the next two decades: achieve net-zero emissions by 2048, create a zero-waste campus by 2040, achieve STARS Gold by 2025 through cross-campus involvement, foster sustainability education, and catalyze sustainability research.   …

Campus labs offered opportunity to participate in globally-recognized lab sustainability certification program

UW–Madison campus laboratories can apply to participate in the Lab Certification Program from My Green Lab, a globally recognized leader in laboratory sustainability. The program will be offered for free to the first 10 labs that apply. Labs can use this form to apply; the final deadline for applications is September 30th, 2022. Apply Here About …

Project Round-Up: The Students Behind Green Fund Lighting Initiatives

When we mention sustainability, we often reference the large-scale solutions that our climate catastrophe necessitates: global recycling systems, wind farms, solar power, electric cars, even ambitions to relocate our refuse to the moon. Not many of us speak of lighting retrofits. There is no poetry to staring at the ceilings of tired buildings and replacing …

Resilience Spotlight: Applying advanced climate models to future-proof building specification

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 …

Urban planning students develop green recommendations for UW-Madison fleet

Students in Urban and Regional Planning 551 didn’t have to travel far last spring to put their knowledge of sustainable transportation to work. With guidance from the Office of Sustainability and Transportation Services, eighteen undergraduate and graduate students in Professor Carey McAndrews’s “Climate Action Planning: Sustainable Transportation” course developed a report with recommendations to make …

UW–Madison designated as a Fair Trade University

On October 7, 2021, UW–Madison was designated as a Fair Trade University, making it just the second school in the Big Ten to attain this status, as well as the third within the UW System. The Fair Trade designation is administered by Fair Trade Campaigns (FTC), a grassroots organization that began in the U.K. by …

Where Are They Now? Julia Tuttle interviews Suzie Kazar

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, Julia Tuttle relates her conversation with Suzie Kazar. Suzanne (Suzie) Kazar interned with the Office of Sustainability from the spring …