University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tag: Missy Nergard

“To instill the spirit of conservation”: A decade with the Office of Sustainability

On the Office of Sustainability’s 11th birthday, looking back to the first decade—and forward to the next. By Marek Makowski Fifteen years ago, the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus was covered in statistics about recycled tons of bottles, cans, and paper; images of the planet earth; and the logo, or plea, repeated on the facades of …

UW–Madison earns second Silver rating in campus sustainability assessment

The University of Wisconsin–Madison has completed its second comprehensive sustainability report through the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS), which is administered by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). UW–Madison earned a Silver rating for its efforts to steward resources and advance sustainability education and research. The updated STARS …

“The implications are enormous”: graduate student’s innovative climate research could change building design

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 …

UW–Madison recognized as Green College & Cool School

UW–Madison has been included in The Princeton Review Green Colleges and the Sierra Club’s Cool Schools, which are resources used by prospective students who are interested in finding schools with exemplary commitments to the environment and sustainability. This is the first time that UW–Madison has been featured in either resource, a testament to its sustainability …

UW-Madison and the Office of Sustainability Reach for the STARS

Since early 2019, the Office of Sustainability (OS) has worked to identify, compile, and review data for UW-Madison’s first Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) report. STARS, which is administered by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), is a transparent, self-reporting framework for measuring sustainability performance. From counting livestock …

Bringing Sustainability to Light: New Solar Array Installed on Gordon Dining & Event Center

As spring returns to campus, UW-Madison has another reason to look forward to sunny weather. Following a year of research, project development, partnership building, and coordination, the Gordon Dining & Event Center now features a solar array on its roof that is projected to produce 42,800 kWh of electricity a year, or the energy use …

Nergard appointed 1st full-time director of sustainability

Melissa Nergard has been selected as the director of sustainability in Facilities Planning & Management. Learn more about her background and vision for sustainability on campus by reading the full UW-Madison news article here.