University of Wisconsin–Madison
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 …
Christopher Timmins’s research focuses on the relationship between economics and natural resources, with a specific interest in how economics interacts with environmental injustices, the idea that marginalized communities are more likely to be harmed by hazards in the environment. The relationship between environmental conditions such as air pollution, discrimination, and the places where people live can not only impact the health of the people that live there but also point out the current failures in the economy and real estate market. By understanding this relationship, it is possible to inform policies that govern the markets and affect the people that live in those neighborhoods.
In a world in which college students are always on the lookout for a good (and free) meal, Free Food Alert has become the ultimate campus hack. Imagine you’re walking across campus, trying to decide what to eat for lunch, when suddenly your phone buzzes with an alert: Free pizza at the student center! Discover …
This essay, by Maisha Islam, is one of three winners of the 2024 Sustainability Writing Awards hosted by the Office of Sustainability. You can read more about Maisha here. The summer of 2022 completely changed how I thought about environmental challenges. I found myself caught between two worlds: the bustling, chaotic cities and the quiet, serene villages …
This essay, by Veronica Goveas, is one of three winners of the 2024 Sustainability Writing Awards hosted by the Office of Sustainability. You can read more about Veronica here. I grew up in a village in Wisconsin, where summer heat was mild and fleeting. We measured storms by the inches they left on the sidewalk, not by …
The White Mesa Uranium Mill leaching radioactive waste near the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. The bustling streets of Bangladesh and the quaint, rural villages on the outskirts both deluged with pollution. A health clinic in Milwaukee inundated with patients whose conditions are exacerbated by the intense heat of climate change. These are the …
Grandma Josephine Mandamin, an elder of the Anishinabek Nation, was known as the Water Walker. According to the Great Lakes nonprofit, FLOW, Grandma Josephine dedicated her life to raising awareness about water issues through “water walks.” Since beginning the walks in 2003, she logged more than 25,000 kilometers, or over 15,534 miles, walking around Lake …
This article, by Sarah Matysiak, is part of a series highlighting members of the Office of Sustainability’s Experts Database. In a collaboration with instructor Hannah Monroe’s course, LSC 561: Writing Science for the Public, students interviewed campus sustainability experts and produced short feature stories. Growing up in Quito, Ecuador’s bustling capital city of 1.7 million …
At the end of UW–Madison’s “Teach-in on Climate and Justice,” Nathan Jandl, the Assistant Director of the Office of Sustainability, spoke of the present. “What I see here is the immense potential on campus,” he said. “We have incredible research; we have fantastic students; we have dedicated, interested staff; and we have this willingness to …
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 …