A Forkful of Sustainability

Imagine a meal from your favorite restaurant. Now imagine one-third of it sitting in a truck, heading to a waste facility. This is the reality for most eating establishments. A large quantity of a restaurant’s …

Third-annual Sustainability Symposium highlights the AI in sustainability  

When Paul Robbins, dean of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, arrived at UW–Madison 12 years ago, “the idea that we would’ve had a sustainability symposium, net-zero goals, a zero-waste commitment, graduates working at major …

Where are they now? Winston Thompson interviews Cathy Middlecamp

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 …

A Rising Star in Resource Management

Travis Blomberg, the campus resource coordinator for the Office of Sustainability (O.S.), won the Nelson Institute’s Rising Star Alumni Award for 2023. We sat down with Travis to speak about his experience at the Nelson Institute, his journey through multiple educational disciplines and jobs, his most significant initiatives at the O.S., and how students passionate about sustainability might find inspiration in his career.

Celebrating solar panels, collaboration, and community at the UW Arboretum

After years of collaboration with the Green Fund, several student organizations, and other local partners, the UW Arboretum celebrated the installation of a new solar array this spring. The event, “EmPOWERing Youth for a Brighter Future,” brought together more than fifty high school and college students to discuss climate change and create community.

“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 …