SSC Project History | Sustainability

Below is an overview of each project the SSC has funded over the past several years.

2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021

2020-2021 Year

Total Amount Funded Thus Far: $179,908

Engineers Without Borders Guatemala Water System

Approved: 2/18/2021

Funding Amount: $117,000

This project will connect nearly 600 Guatemala families with a clean and reliable water supply. Students in UK's Engineers Without Borders will be involved in this project by assisting with the design and implementation of this project.

Office of Sustainability/SSC Graduate Assistantship

Approved: 2/18/2021

Funding Amount: $15,478

The SSC’s mission is to cultivate and promote a culture of sustainability here at UK. Thus, the purpose of a graduate assistantship is to increase the overall efficacy and capacity of the SSC and Office of Sustainability in order to better cultivate the culture of sustainability. Additionally, as the SSC has grown in members and in funding capacity, there is a renewed need for a focused professional that is dedicated to supporting SSC operations.

Sustainability Internship Program

Approved: 2/4/2021

Funding Amount: $23,625

These internship positions provide unique and meaningful experiences for the students involved and valuable support for the units that are mentoring. The Office of Sustainability coordinates the program and the interns are paired with a mentor from either an operational unit (ex: UK Recycling) or one of the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment (TFISE) Working Groups. In these roles all student interns, past and present, have promoted the three pillars of sustainability in a range of areas on campus including: campus gardens, transportation, waste reduction, storm water management, energy conservation, education and outreach, urban forests, and the built environment.

Sustainability Challenge Grant Partnership

Approved: 2/4/2021

Funding Amount: $33,333

The purpose of the program is to engage multidisciplinary teams from the University community in the creation and implementation of ideas that will promote sustainability by simultaneously advancing economic vitality, ecological integrity and social equity. Each project addresses this charge in different ways. More information about the 33 projects selected for funding in the first five years of the partnership is available here: http://www.uky.edu/sustainability/sustainability-challenge-grants.

Summer Sustainability Research Fellowships

Approved: 12/3/2020

Funding Amount: $21,000

This funding provided summer internships in undergraduate research related to sustainability at the University of Kentucky. It also provided funding for students to complete sustainability-related research at other institutions within the US with UK alumni.

Urban Forest Initiative TreeCATs

Approved: 12/3/2020

Funding Amount: $13,942

The Urban Forest Initiative (UFI) works to raise awareness of the ecological, social, and economic benefits provided by the urban tree canopy on University of Kentucky campus and the greater Central Kentucky region since 2014. The TreeCATs (Collegiate Arborist Team) workshops have provided knowledge and training for University of Kentucky students on the benefits of urban forests and the challenges and strategies associated with their stewardship for the past three years. This year, our goal is to incorporate the traditional workshop introduction to urban forestry that provides a holistic understanding of the function and management of urban forests, while directing additional focus on invasive species, which negatively affect urban forest health and function.

Solar Car: Gato del Sol VII

Approved: 10/22/2020

Funding Amount: $20,000

This year our Solar Car team is focusing on building our newest Solar Car, Gato Del Sol VII. We are planning a 10% reduction in weight at 100 pounds and increased efficiency though we are limited to few solar panels than in previous years. In addition, Gato Del Sol VII will be in an offset design, a total change from any solar car we have built in the past. This will bring a hole new level of efficiency to UK Solar Car and we are very excited for the what the future of green energy transportation can be. We are planning on racing Gato VII in competition next year.

Water Bottle Refill Stations

Approved: 10/8/2020

Funding Amount: $15,000

This project builds on the foundation laid by the 2019 student survey conducted by SGA, SSC, and Office of Sustainability that pinpointed areas of student need for water bottle fillers. This proposal aims to provide funding for the installation for the remaining three filling stations: outside of room 115 in the Nursing Building, outside room 114 or 118 of the Wethington Building, and outside room 157 of the Lee Todd Pharmacy Building. The funding will be provided through a partnership between the SSC and SGA.

Enhancing Sustainable Approaches to Food Insecurity

Approved: 10/8/2020

Funding Amount: $13,000

This project proposal focuses on four areas of sustainability-focused improvements, specifically 1) installing a water-bottle refill station, 2) integrating an indoor garden into Campus Kitchens operations, 3) improving Farm-to-Fork dining experience and other campus programming, and 4) enhancing sustainability practices in CKUK weekly operations.

Green to Go Reusable Container Giveaway

Approved: 10/1/2020

Funding Amount: $2,030

This is a partnership between the UK Office of Sustainability, Recycling, Dining, and Student Government to give away more than 1500 reusable green to go containers to be used in the residential dining halls. The $5 cost associated with these containers is a financial burden to students, so they are less likely to purchase and use these reusable containers. We plan to purchase these containers and then give them away to students for free so that they are more widely used. These will be given away at tabling events at the point of sale in the dining halls. We will lean on our student sustainability interns and SGA sustainability coordinators to work these tabling events to successfully distribute the green to go containers.

AASHE Conference

Approved: 8/13/20

Funding Amount: $3,500

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE’s) annual conference is the largest stage in North America to exchange effective models, policies, research, collaborations and transformative actions that advance sustainability in higher education and surrounding communities. This year's conference will be totally virtual due to COVID-19, so this proposal wil allow UK to be a host institution. This will allow anyone with a UK email to register for the conference for free, something that has never been offered before.

2019-2020 Year

Total Amount Funded: $199,902

Annual Report

Fall Retreat Proposal

Approved: 4/27/20

Funding Amount: $1,849

The SSC fall retreat serves as an opportunity for new and existing councilmembers alike to develop their relationships with each other and to learn more about how to be an effective member of the SSC in a less formal setting than meetings that are held during the year. New members in particular will benefit from the information, discussions, and collaboration that are central to the retreat. This retreat is critical because it promotes cohesiveness and communication among Council members that will translate to synergy in meetings, committees, and in general Council operation.

Appalachian Studies Conference

Approved: 3/9/20

Funding Amount: $2,533

The Graduate Appalachian Research Community (GARC) is a registered student organization, made up of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Kentucky. Their mission is to promote interdisciplinary research about Appalachia and its peoples as well as to foster a supportive community in which students from across the university can collaborate, present research, discuss obstacles and successes, and more. The Graduate Appalachian Research Community (GARC) applied for SSC funding to help host the Forty-Third Annual Appalachian Studies Conference.

Sustainability Graduate Assistantship

Approved: 3/9/20

Funding Amount: $30,855

Sustainability Internship Program

Approved: 3/9/20

Funding Amount: $17,000

Quantifying Microplastics

Approved: 2/17/20

Funding Amount: $631

For his senior research project, a student will quantify and compare microplastic accumulation on the University of Kentucky campus. This research will inform individuals on campus of an environmental state that is otherwise imperceptible. Soils everywhere are subject to the accumulation of microplastics but perhaps none more than locations where plastic parent material is over-represented. Knowing how microplastic debris behaves in smaller surrogate studies such as this one will help direct future large scale efforts.

UFI Tree Week

Approved: 2/17/20

Funding Amount: $9,551

Tree Week was created in 2018 to celebrate Lexington’s trees and all the ways in which trees positively affect our lives. During the inaugural Tree Week there were over 60 registered activities, and although we didn’t track attendance, we do know that these activities engaged hundreds of attendees from the UK campus and greater Lexington communities. Since its inception, UFI has provided significant support for Tree Week in the form of infrastructure and personnel, including web site development and maintenance, solicitation and registration of event hosts, development of an interactive event map, recruitment of volunteers, soliciting attendees, and tracking events and engagement. This proposal requests funds to support Tree Week 2020.

Design Society: Help Us Build a Ramp

Approved: 2/17/20

Funding Amount: $6,784

For a community project, the Design Society is working with the Parachute Factory. The project is to build a handicap access ramp and entrance which includes a deck, stairs, and new door. With help from the Student Sustainability Council, the funding will directly benefit the Lexington community. It has been disheartening for the Parachute Factory to not be able to invite community members who are wheelchair-bound, to their events and art exhibitions. The Design Society is offering free design work and labor to make art accessible for ALL.

UK Sustainability Stories Magazine

Approved: 2/3/20

Funding Amount: $2,200

“UK Sustainable Stories” is a student publication of the SSC highlighting the stories behind some of UK’s recent sustainability initiatives. The magazine could be used as an outreach tool for the SSC, a visualization of the Sustainability Strategic Plan, a method of increasing student engagement in sustainability, and to better facilitate conversation across sustainability disciplines. Sustainability at UK is fragmented across multiple departments, organizations, and individuals, and our hope is that this document helps to bridge these gaps by highlighting specific stories across campus in a single document.

Campus Kitchens Garden Internship

Approved: 2/3/20

Funding Amount: $4,750

The Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky (CKUK) is an on-campus student service organization that provides a sustainable approach to addressing hunger, by simultaneously reducing food waste and providing healthy meals to those struggling with food insecurity, both on campus and in the greater Lexington community. With the funding from this grant, we will support two committed interns with agricultural experience, one that will work primarily with our on-campus garden at the Gaines University of Kentucky Center, and one that will focus on our garden at Arbor Youth Services. These interns will work on projects to strengthen CKUK’s garden program and optimize the number of food- insecure students and community members that we can serve.

SSC Webhost

Approved: 12/10/19

Funding Amount: $2,754

This project will help improve the function of the SSC application process. Currently, there are issues with the webform that need to be addressed in order to make the process smoother for those applying for funding. Additionally, the webform needs regular maintenance, especially has the online application process is refined overtime.

UFI TreeCATS

Approved: 12/10/19

Funding Amount: $14,110

Dimensions of Political Ecology Conference

Approved: 11/19/19

Funding Amount: $11,850

Now in its tenth year, this student-organized effort has grown into a highly-regarded conference drawing international participation from distinguished scholars, while also providing a much-needed space for engagement by community-based practitioners and young graduate and undergraduate scholars. The DOPE conference features internationally recognized speakers in the field of political ecology, dynamic conference sessions on individual’s sustainability research, engaging environmental field trips, and new for this year, in-depth and interactive methods workshops.

UK Solar Car

Approved: 11/5/19

Funding Amount: $13,000

Solar Car is a student organization that is seeking to expand their solar-reliant technology in three parts. First, they will build a new solar panel array for our next car, Gato del Sol VII. Gato del Sol VII is to be their most efficient solar vehicle to date. The second project is to build a solar array on top of our trailer, allowing us to race and operate much more environmentally friendly versus the gasoline generator they currently use. Finally they would like to build a mobile charger stand for outreach events, to highlight their ability to create green energy solutions as a student-led team, and to give an easy-to-understand demonstration of solar energy.

Universities Fighting World Hunger Conference

Approved: 10/22/19

Funding Amount: $10,000

The Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH) Summit will be a 2-day event on from March 19-20, 2020. This year, the theme for the Summit is “Seeing a World Without Hunger.” The Summit’s overarching goal is to bring awareness to hunger and the initiatives that individuals around the globe are involved in, in an effort to inspire others to duplicate these projects in their own communities. UK students will act as coordinators and volunteers in order to assist in the execution of the Summit. Additionally, these students will have the opportunity to network with other advocates at mealtimes. Students attendees will have the opportunities to attend sessions.

Farmbot.Wildcats

Approved: 10/22/19

Funding Amount: $637

Farmbot.Wildcats is a student organization at the University of Kentucky. The goal of the organization is to automate forms of home gardening systems so that consumers always have access to nutritional food and we do that with through Farmbot. Farmbot is an automatic gardener; it can grow certain crops from seed to harvest without any human intervention.

Stormwater Program Logo Competition

Approved: 10/8/19

Funding Amount: $1,000

This project will help promote environmental stewardship through branding and increased awareness of UK's MS4 stormwater program and pet waste campaign. Reaching a larger audience, however, requires we focus our message and develop our brand as it pertains to stormwater. One important step in this process redesigning UK’s stormwater logo. Our past successes involving students in logo design competitions have demonstrated that such competitions yield creative and insightful designs while educating entrants and non-entrants alike.

Local Food Summit

Approved: 10/8/19

Funding Amount: $1,125

The second annual Kentucky Local Food Systems Summit will bring food system professionals, extension agents, and students together to network and learn from each other to ultimately improve the sustainability of our local food system. The day of the summit will involve a series of concurrent sessions led by various professionals and researchers that attendees can choose from and designated time for networking. The overarching goals of the summit is to facilitate: (1) valuable connections with other food system leaders and practitioners, (2) innovative tools to approach local food system development (3) an update on the latest research, and (4) spur new collaborations and initiatives.

Urban and Environmental Design Travel Week

Approved: 9/24/19

Funding Amount: $2,400

During this 4 day trip to Los Angeles, students in the College of Design will study the River Masterplan, meet with key teams of designers working on the LA River, as well as to tour the river itself and meet with community leaders and groups. The nature of this visit is to explore potential opportunities for growth and development on many scales such as site planning, material analysis, adaptive reuse and ecological restoration of brownfield sites. This is an an ambitious interdisciplinary collaboration bringing together Masters students in Architecture, Interiors, Urban & Environmental Design as well as fourth-year Landscape Architecture students from the College of Agriculture.

North American Association for Environmental Education Conference

Approved: 9/10/19

Funding Amount: $8,944

The North American Association for Environmental Education’s vision is a sustainable future for all where environmental and social responsibility drive individual and institutional choices. Their mission is to bring the brightest minds together to accelerate environmental literacy and civic engagement through the power of education. Participation in the conference would help our students to understand what this means and be part of the process.

AASHE Conference

Approved: 8/22/19

Funding Amount: $8,944

Expected to draw approximately 2,000 participants, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE’s) annual conference is the largest stage in North America to exchange effective models, policies, research, collaborations and transformative actions that advance sustainability in higher education and surrounding communities. Attending AASHE will allow for the UK student representatives to find solutions and get ideas for how to best implement sustainability on campus. Workshops at the conference cover all three pillars, often combining them.

Positive Impact Points

Approved: 8/22/19

Funding Amount: $10,000

The premise of the program is simple: reward students for engaging in positive actions and behaviors with incentives that are meaningful and aligned with strategic goals (how many t-shirts, pop sockets, and water bottles do we really need?). Imagine If every time students rode the bus, biked, donated time or recycled, they were rewarded with a ‘currency of good,’ that they could redeem for great deals on healthy food, fitness classes and responsibly-made gear OR use to unlock matching scholarship grants when they commit what they earn to pay school expenses. Engagement in purpose, sustainability, health and financial wellness correlates with higher retention, productivity, lifetime value and success; delivering quantifiable ROI to subscribing institutions in higher education, as well as business.

2018-2019 Year

Total Amount Funded: $255,158

SSC Fall Retreat Proposal

Approved: 4/23/19

Funding Amount: $341

The fall retreat will serve as an opportunity for new and existing councilmembers alike to develop their relationships with each other and to learn more about how to be an effective member of the SSC in a less formal setting than meetings that are held during the year. This retreat is critical because it promotes cohesiveness and communication among Council members that will translate to synergy in meetings, committees, and in general Council operation. The requested funds will allow members transportation, meals, and cabin rentals for one night in Robinson Forest.

SSC/Office of Sustainability Graduate Assistantship

Approved: 3/19/19

Funding Amount: $12,392

A primary goal of continuing this graduate assistantship is to enhance the student impact of both the SSC and the Office of Sustainability. The SSC, present and future, benefits by having a professional dedicated to researching programmatic change while also providing an increased level of support. It will also benefit from strategic and targeted outreach as many students involved tend to struggle with being available to attend outreach events. This will also benefit the SSC in the future as it will be a concrete plans to be used by future outreach directors. Additionally, the students participating in the Student Sustainability Internship Program will greatly benefit by having the program become more meaningful and useful for them.

Green Office Certification

Approved: 2/26/19

Funding Amount: $603

This project is an outreach program, being developed as a part of an internship with UK Recycling, that will target faculty and staff in an effort to increase the sustainable actions being taken on campus. To engage these groups, a Green Office Certification will be offered, which asks departments to take certain actions toward reducing waste, conserving energy, making ethical purchases, etc. in exchange for being certified as a “Green Office.”

Student Internship Program Continuation

Approved: 2/26/19

Funding Amount: $9,000

The Office of Sustainability is requesting funding from the Student Sustainability Council to continue the sustainability internship program. If approved, the funding would support the fifth year for a more robust and meaningful internship experience for our undergraduate students interested in sustainability. In these roles all student interns, past and present, have promoted the three pillars of sustainability in a range of areas on campus including: campus gardens, transportation, waste reduction, storm water management, energy conservation, education and outreach, urban forests, and the built environment.

LEYO Field Trip

Approved: 2/26/19

Funding Amount: $254

The goal of Lexington Environmental Youth Outreach is to bring sustainable education to students at William Wells Brown Elementary. The project is a field trip for elementary students from LEYO’s afterschool program at William Wells Brown Elementary to FoodChain, a nonprofit in Lexington that focuses on aquaponics, providing fresh food to the community, and educational outreach. They plan to book a private tour for the students of FoodChain’s indoor aquaponics farm. Before the tour, they will have catered breakfast at William Wells Brown and participate in games and activities related to the Foodchain tour content. FoodChain is an excellent, Lexington-based example of all pillars of sustainability and addresses several concepts we have discussed in our lessons.

Sustainable Agriculture Capstone Trip

Approved: 2/26/19

Funding Amount: $2,000

This proposal is to provide partial funding to help cover the expenses for 10 students that will participate in this semester’s study tour, which will take place during spring break. The purpose of the tours is to immerse the students in a very intensive experience that informs their thoughts processes based on touring successful farms and other agricultural systems. After returning from the study tour students incorporate their newly expanded knowledge into their projects and it is through this process that the impact of the study tour is most recognizable. Therefore, the goal of this proposal is to provide an immersive learning opportunity capable of deeply impacting student understanding to guide the development of meaningful final projects.

SSC Webform Update

Approved: 2/12/19

Funding Amount: $373

This project will help improve the function of the SSC application process. Currently, there are issues with the webform that need to be addressed in order to make the process smoother for those applying for funding. We would like to add a history page for each submission so we can see when and how each application was changed. Improving the webform will help improve the overall function of the SSC which will allow for a more efficient impact on the three pillars of sustainability.

AIAS Midwest Quad

Approved: 2/12/19

Funding Amount: $3,837

UK AIAs has won the bid to host the AIAs Midwest Quad conference out of the 33 schools with architecture programs in the region. The conference will inform attendees on principles of sustainable design and sustainable practice through its lectures, breakout sessions, and discussions. The conference will additionally aim to inspire students to look on an interdisciplinary scope.

MIT Energy Conference

Approved: 2/12/19

Funding Amount: $4,707

The MIT Energy Conference is the largest student led conference in the United States and it will take place in Boston, MA. The conference will provide these students with an opportunity to learn about different ways to improve and promote sustainability on the University of Kentucky’s campus. The objectives of this project are to network with the most successful energy clubs in the country, gather ideas that directly impact campus sustainability, and ensure the continuity of the University of Kentucky’s Energy Club.

Farm to Fork

Approved: 1/29/19

Funding Amount: $7,400

“Farm-to-Fork: Free Locally Sourced Lunch for Wildcats” focuses on utilizing this multidimensional, interdisciplinary approach to address campus food security. During the fall of 2018, over 1,400 meals were served to 575 students. 65% of students participating in survey research of Farm-to-Fork program experience food insecurity while a majority of those students reported a decrease in level of stress related to food access as well as an increased sense of belonging, motivation to purchase local foods, and access to healthful foods. In addition to serving students meals, 70 student volunteers, dedicated nearly 400 hours of their time to help cook and serve meals to their peers in Fall 2018. Through the partnership with Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky (CKUK), Big Blue Pantry, and SSTOP Hunger, Farm-to-Fork is able to sustainably source meals, recruit volunteers, and reach students in need.

Sustainability Challenge Grant Partnership Year 6

Approved: 1/29/19

Funding Amount: $33,333

UK Recycling Resources Map

Approved: 1/29/19

Funding Amount: $397

For this project, a UK Recycling Intern is creating an interactive map that displays all second hand stores, repair centers, and donation drop off locations in Lexington. This map will be a very useful resource for any individual that has questions on how to reduce their consumptive habits by fixing what they have, donating their items rather than throwing them away, and shopping second hand. The intern is compiling the data and the UK IT department will create the map so that it is consistent with other UK online interactive maps.

Sustainability of Wildlife Rehabilitiation

Approved: 1/29/19

Funding Amount: $1,000

The two-week Amazon Veterinary Service Program is based at AmaZOOnico, a wildlife rescue center located in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest that rehabilitates, reintroduces, and cares for animals who are victims of wildlife trafficking. In addition to learning about the animals of the Amazon and their conservation and care, you’ll also help to put on a free medical clinic for dogs and cats of the local community and get a chance to explore some of the most popular sites of Quito and Tena on this Ecuador adventure.

UFI TreeCATS

Approved: 1/12/19

Funding Amount: $11,100

This element of UFI’s work, proposed herein, is very specifically targeted to providing UK students with desired exposure to and training in urban and community forestry. This is a rapidly growing field with many applications, all of which address sustainability issues from the ground up. The TreeCATs workshop component will provide 12 students with training that they can note on resumes and knowledge they can use to leverage future career opportunities. The internship element will benefit two students who will gain experience in urban tree ID, tree mapping, quantification of ecosystem benefits provided by urban trees, and professional work skills including report writing.

Dimensions of Political Ecology Conference

Approved: 1/12/19

Funding Amount: $4,000

The Dimensions of Political Ecology Conference (DOPE) has grown into a highly-regarded conference that draws international participation from distinguished scholars, while also providing a much-needed space for engagement by community-based practitioners and young graduate and undergraduate scholars. The field of political ecology investigates the interaction of economic, environmental, and social processes, with a special focus on the power dynamics influencing how benefits and negative impacts are distributed in any given space.

Appalachian Research Symposium

Approved: 12/4/2018

Funding Amount: $1,038

Established a decade ago, the UK Graduate Appalachian Research Community (GARC) has worked to foster a supportive community in which students, community members, and academics from various disciplines and backgrounds can learn from one another’s findings, discuss research obstacles and successes, and identify opportunities for collaboration. As an official University of Kentucky student organization, GARC has worked tirelessly to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue on Appalachian research in Kentucky and beyond. In recognition of the tenth anniversary of GARC, this year’s theme GARC at 10: Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Appalachian Research & Community seeks to reconcile the past and future of the Appalachian region and Appalachian scholarship. Particularly, GARC aims to explore the complex relationship among interdisciplinary learning, participation, and advocacy in the Appalachian region while exploring possibilities for an engaged, collaborative, future.

Pick It Up Campaign Incentives

Approved: 12/4/2018

Funding Amount: $1,420

Pick It Up is a campus-wide campaign housed within the UK Office of Sustainability with the goal of eliminating litter on campus. This campaign has been developed to support and recognize the outstanding work UK Grounds does on a daily basis, help keep UK campus beautiful and prevent litter from reaching local waterways. Pick It Up does this through an Adopt-A-Spot program in which teams composed of campus organization members, sororities/fraternities or groups of friends choose one of fourteen zones on campus and participate in at least three monthly cleanups of their adopted zone during the spring semester. The funding for this project was used for incentives for participating teams.

Horticulture Club Sustainable Native Plant Production

Approved: 12/4/2018

Funding Amount: $5,000

The funding for this project is for a production/overwintering structure for producing native herbaceous plants. Native plant production for the Horticulture club is an on-going project with students continually involved with the propagation, production and establishment of selected plants. Cold temperature is an integral part of the natural growing cycles of many native plants. The seeds of many species require cold temperatures to relieve seed dormancy and permit germination. Native perennial plants can also require a period of winter temperatures to initiate flowering. However, open nursery conditions are often harsh and have frequent temperature fluctuations that cause problems with a native plant’s ability to overwinter. The proposed overwintering/production structure will provide a protected environment to give plants their needed period of cold and in some cases expand the period plants are available for planting.

Students Participating in Outreach and Research for Environmental Sustainability

Approved: 12/4/2018

Funding Amount: $8,580

This funding allows for an undergraduate researcher to continuer her work with UK's Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER). This research involves the conversion of cooking oils into biofuels. It also helped fund some the materials needed to continue the experiments.

UK Solar Car: Gato del Sol VI

Approved: 11/6/2018

Funding Amount: $13,000

The UK Solar Car Team (UKSC) promotes the use and advancement of alternative energy throughout the Bluegrass community. The funding of this project allows for UKSC to take test the vehicle at the Kentucky Speedway and also allows for UKSC and the student members to travel to the annual Formula Sun Grand Prix in 2019.

Soil to Table and Back: Empowering Students through Food Literacy

Approved: 11/6/2018

Funding Amount: $5,000

The goal of “Soil to Table and Back: Empowering Students Through Food Literacy” is to equip individuals with the tools needed to experience and understand the full lifecycle of food, creating a culture of food literacy on UK’s campus and in the Lexington community.

Summer Sustainability Research Fellows

Approved: 11/6/2018

Funding Amount: $15,500

This funding provided three summer internships in undergraduate research related to sustainability at the University of Kentucky for $2,500 each. It also provided funding for three students to complete sustainability-related research at other institutions within the US as well with stipends of $3,000--providing an additional $500 for travel.

River Otter Research (Part II): Photo-Lab

Approved: 10/23/2018

Funding Amount: $5,000

The first goal for this project is to use stereoscopes to describe the diet of a newly reintroduced population of river otters. The project participants will be documenting and cataloging scales and bones of multiple fish species in the Rio Grande River; this could be used in future research (i.e. diet, population estimates, and presence/absence of rare species). This project will also potentially create a program using imaging software that could aid in identifying scales, this program will be available after publication. Ideally, this photo lab will be made available, by reservation, to students who would like to document their projects and gain new skills while doing so. These microscopes include cameras and software that has measurement software and will orient pictures in the same direction.

Student Sustainability Council Proposal Workshop

Approved: 10/23/2018

Funding Amount: $400

The Student Sustainability Council (SSC) held a workshop to educate the campus community about the SSC, how to apply for funding, and how their projects can be turned into a reality with the support of the SSC.

Farmbot.Wildcats Startup

Approved: 10/23/2018

Funding Amount: $853

The purpose of this project is for students to explore automation and robotic technology through Farmbot – a hardware and software platform that allows for garden growing automation. Members explore automation through Arduino and Raspberry Pi electronics, beginner-intermediate coding, agriculture/horticulture practices, and engineering. The organization t also hopes to grow and donate crops for the community’s non-profit charities dedicated to hunger, through Farmbot.

Bottle Filling Station Partnership

Approved: 9/11/2018

Funding Amount: $15,000

In 2010, student managers from the Cats Den in the Student Center led an effort to have bottle filling stations installed in the UK Student Center. In 2011-2012 the SSC provided funding that led to the installation of 17 additional stations on campus. 8 of these were installed in the Whitehall Classroom Building and 9 others were installed in various campus buildings when existing fountains needed to be replaced including 3 in the WTY Library. In 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 the SSC provided funding to continue expanding access to these units. Fast forward a few years, and the bottle filling stations have been integrated with our new construction standards and Student Government is funding the installation of 12 more fountains at WTY Library. This project establishes a pool of funds that can be used to support the installation of 10-15 fountains this year in targeted locations where students frequent with no bottle filling station nearby.

Lab Savings Energy Initiative

Approved: 9/11/2018

Funding Amount: $800

International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE) developed this laboratory energy saving initiative in order to significantly reduce energy consumption in University of Kentucky labs and with the potential to save thousands of dollars per year. Most pharmacy and chemical engineering labs at UK have fume hoods, which allow the researcher to perform potentially hazardous work in an enclosed space. The goal of this project is to encourage individuals to keep the fume hood sash closed when it is not in use. U.S. Federal Energy Management Program and UC Davis created an 18 inch vertical sticker with a red to green gradient design to encourage sash closure. ISPE's initiative involved purchasing these stickers as well and work with all of the labs in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering and College of Pharmacy to implement them Fall 2018.

Student Perceptions of Pollinator Conservation in the Context of Sustainability

Approved: 8/19/2018

Funding Amount: $500

The decline of honey bees is a well-known and serious topic and has broad effects on multiple industries and ecosystem health. While honey bees remain the focus of providing pollination services, other pollinating insects are also essential to plant reproduction. Their populations are declining, too. Student Perceptions of Campus Sustainability and Pollinator Initiatives seeks to answer questions pertaining to sustainability efforts and the attitudes of undergraduate and graduate students on the University of Kentucky’s campus. The questions in this survey will allow students to assess their own knowledge of various sustainability initiatives, both on campus and in their own lives. Asking about knowledge and opinions regarding honey bees and other pollinators can determine college students’ stance on pollinator decline, a unique topic that has yet to be thoroughly explored.

UK SSC Internal Proposal

Approved: 8/19/2018

Funding Amount: $10573

This proposal combines many of the regularly funded SSC proposals into one large proposal including outreach materials for the SSC, the AASHE conference, and the Spring Retreat. The outreach materials include the following giveaway items: 10 solar power banks, 10 SSC hammocks, and 200 portable cutlery sets. These quantities can be adjusted as the council sees fit. AASHE is a conference dedicated to facilitating collaboration and communication among students, faculty, and staff at institutions of higher learning who are working towards the promotion of sustainability on their respective campuses. Students who attend this conference will have the opportunity to network with and learn from professionals for whom sustainability is an important or even primary part of their career. The Spring Retreat will serve as an opportunity for new and existing council members alike to develop their relationships with each other and learn more about how to be an effective member of the SSC in a less formal setting than meetings held during the year.

Increasing Student Activism Engagement for Sustainability

Approved: 8/19/2018

Funding Amount: $3590

This project encompasses two elements: short-term and long-term student engagement with justice organizations focused on sustainability. Short-term engagement involves hosting two involvement fair events hosted by USAS, GT, and Divest UK which will focus on connecting new and returning UK students to activism and sustainability on campus. The first involvement fair event is during K week called the ‘2018 Activism Social’ and will be advertised as an opportunity to connect with the activist community at UK and surrounding Lexington. Many of the organizations participating are directly involved in sustainability work and those that are not are partner organizations supporting efforts for sustainability on campus. The second event will be hosted in early Fall and will be the third annual environmentally focused involvement fair hosted by Greenthumb.

Make UK POP

Approved: 8/19/2018

Funding Amount: $3056

The “Make UK POP” (pass on plastic) campaign is a collaborative effort between UK Sustainability, UK Dining, and UK Recycling to reduce students’ consumption of single use plastic items (SUPIs) by distributing large quantities of aluminum water bottles, canvas tote bags, and metal straws. Additionally, this campaign will serve as a platform for an undergraduate research project that seeks to understand how the distribution of these non-plastic items impact students’ behavior towards and use of SUPIs.

Stream Restoration and Student Engagement at the EREC Field Station Near Campus

Approved: 8/19/2018

Funding Amount: $36,796

This funding is to help restore a stream at UK’s in-town field station, the Ecological Research and Education Center (EREC; on Russell Cave Road near the city’s Northside Branch Library), to enhance student learning opportunities during and after the restoration. The SSC's funding for this project is to remove honeysuckle along the stream, to return the area to native plants in an effort to protect native vegetation in the region.

2017-2018 Year

Total Amount Funded: $244,407.43

Bleed Blue, Live Green

Approved: 8/29/2017

Funding Amount: $2,800.00

Bleed Blue, Live Green is a program designed to encourage students to reduce the use of plastic bags in their everyday lives. During the fall semester at the two largest Wildcat Pantry locations, located at The 90 and at Holmes Hall, the program was implemented. At the 90, students who chose not to use a bag received a token that could be used to make a donation to one of three non-profit charities. Holmes Hall served as a control location. Transactions were observed approximately 5 times a week for one hour per session to collect further data. During these sessions, an observer and surveyor collected data on students that were shopping to determine whether there are any common factors that may impact whether students choose to use a bag. The goal of this research was to determine the long-term viability of the Bleed Blue, Live Green.

Forgotten Coast Film Screening Partnership

Approved: 9/5/2017

Funding Amount: $1,950.00

This funding provided two members of The Forgotten Coast: Return to Wild Florida expedition team, including Joe Guthrie, a UK alumni, to travel to UK for both a campus seminar and a public screening of the film. The Florida Wildlife Corridor expedition team has made two expeditions across Florida to draw attention to the multifaceted importance of wildlife corridors, including their social and economic benefits, with the most recent expedition resulting in the creation of the film.

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Conference (Part II)

Approved: 9/19/2017

Funding Amount: $5,800.00

This money granted additional funding (enough funds were not initially requested) for five students to travel to the largest conference related to campus sustainability in the country, providing a forum for connecting to the ideas and resources of other campus communities around the nation. The students who attended the conference collected ideas and learned from the victories and failures of other student led sustainability initiatives, connect with other students, faculty and staff working on similar issues, and learned from experts on how to build a campus community focused on sustainability. The connections and ideas gathered at the conference have huge potential aid in the mission to create a culture of campus sustainability.

Urban Forest Initiative Seminar Speaker Series 2017-2018

Approved: 10/3/2017

Funding Amount: $7,000.00

The Urban Forest Initiative (UFI) hosted three urban forest specialists to address ecological, economic and social benefits of the urban tree canopy. The speaker series was designed to demonstrate the inter-connectedness of urban trees with the health and well-being of our communities. The speakers were Susan Day, Daniel Potter, and Jill Jonnes, who discussed urban tree health and urban soils, pollinator conservation in urban habitats, and history through our urban tree canopy, respectively. The lectures were free and openly accessible to the public.

Dimensions of Political Ecology (DOPE) Conference 2018

Approved: 10/3/2017

Funding Amount: $6,000.00

The Dimensions of Political Ecology Conference (DOPE) has become a key international forum for graduate students and faculty at all stages in their careers, fostering critical interdisciplinary discussion of urgent topics including: rural social movements; food systems; complexity in ecological and social systems; decolonization, knowledge, and difference; science and technology studies; neoliberal natures and climate justice; and feminist political ecologies, among many more.

University of Kentucky Gato del Sol Solar Car Project

Approved: 10/3/2017

Funding Amount: $13,000.00

The University of Kentucky Solar Car Team designs, manufactures, and races competitive solar vehicles while providing their members much needed hands-on experience outside of their course loads. UK Solar Car also strives to contribute to STEM outreach in the Bluegrass region. The SSC helped fund a new inverter for the car to help the team compete in races throughout 2018.

800 Acorns

Approved: 10/3/2017

Funding Amount: $2,375.00

This funding went towards the design and construction of an entry piece "marquee" to a mountain top removal site at Robinson Forest that was replanted with native trees. The design included signage about the project and a meditation space with stories and poetry about the value of trees. They also placed markers along the path through the site with inspirational messages. The structure was preassembled by architecture professors and students before it was moved to Eastern Kentucky.

From Garden to Table: Sustainable Solutions through Microprocessing

Approved: 10/17/2017

Funding Amount: $3,125.00

The Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky (CKUK), an affiliate of the Campus Kitchen Project (CKP), is an on‐campus student service organization that provides a sustainable approach to reducing food waste on college campuses while also providing healthy meals to those struggling with hunger. This project addresses sustainable gardening practices, food waste reduction, and food insecurity in the community by introducing microprocessing into the daily operations of CKUK. Microprocessing is the storage of higher‐risk, shelf‐stable high acid or low acid food items. Microprocessed foods include pressure‐canned vegetables, pickled fruits and vegetables, tomato products, sauces, salsa, herbal vinegars, no‐sugar jelly, and pepper or herb jelly. The SSC funded the materials to begin micropressing, as well as $500 stipends for students to help tend to CKUK's garden for three semesters.

Students for Zero Waste Conference

Approved: 10/17/2017

Funding Amount: $1,082.00

The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) is a nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia that works to empower college students to work for Zero Waste initiatives on their campuses. This includes advising campuses on how to achieve Zero Waste through move-out programs, thrift stores, becoming a plastic- free campus, and more. They hold an annual conference called Students for Zero Waste, and the SSC funded two students' trips to the conference in November.

Maasai Mara Martial Eagle Project

Approved: 12/5/2017

Funding Amount: $8,525.00

The Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is the largest eagle species in Africa and is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. It is in rapid population decline throughout its range due to habitat loss, collisions with energy infrastructure and direct persecution. UK students have been conducting conservation research since 2016. The SSC provided funding to help support this research's continuation in 2018. With the additional funding, UK students were able to continue monitoring our 19 known pairs, place additional camera traps at active nests, begin studying the non-breeding diet of Martial Eagles, band adult Martial Eagles with aluminum color coded leg bands, and expand their study area to incorporate 3 additional community owned conservancies. This project has the potential to significantly affect the conservation of this species and other raptors throughout Africa.

Summer Sustainability Research Fellowships 2018

Approved: 12/5/2017

Funding Amount: $16,500.00

Water, Electricity, and Gas Conservation Through Behavioral Change

Approved: 12/5/17

Funding Amount: $1,500.00

This project funded student compensation for research that compared the impact of different types of information strategies on water, electricity, and gas use to strengthen the understanding of sustainability and conservation strategies that are based on providing information. Information strategies include savings tips, audits, different forms of use feedback, and pecuniary strategies. This research conducted a meta-analysis of existing field experiments to quantify the effect of information strategies on water, electricity, and gas conservation. In this project, in addition to the average effect of information on consumption, this effect was identified by sector, country, state, baseline consumption level. Furthermore, besides short run effects of information, the long-run effects of these strategies and conservation benefits to society were identified as well.

SSC Spring Retreat 2018

Approved: 12/5/2017

Funding Amount: $1,543.20

The spring retreat serves as an opportunity for new and existing council-members alike to develop their relationships with each other and to learn more about how to be an effective member of the SSC in a less formal setting than meetings that are held during the year. New members in particular (of which there are five for the upcoming semester) will benefit from the discussions and collaboration that are central to the retreat. This retreat is critical because it promotes cohesiveness and communication among council-members that will translate to synergy in meetings, committees, and in general council operation. The requested funds allowed members transportation, meals, and cabin rentals for one night in Robinson Forest.

Outreach Materials Scope Change (I)

Approved: 12/5/2017

Funding Amount: scope change from previous request

A previous proposal requested $1,736 to fund outreach materials. Of these funds, only $85 were spent, with the rest encumbered. This request approved the use the remaining $1,652 remaining funds for new water bottles, stickers, reusable grocery bags, a new table, and tabling items such as printed brochures and warm drinks.

Sustainability Interns 2018-2019

Approved: 1/17/2018

Funding Amount: $9,000.00

The sustainability internship program is funded by both the SSC and the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment. This funding provided pay for three of the 2018-2019 sustainability interns. More information about the sustainability internship program can be found here.

Humanitarian Architecture Design Studio / Chez Moi Orphanage Multi-Purpose Structure and Kitchen

Approved: 1/17/2018

Funding Amount: $11,250.00

The project will build on schematic design work performed in the Spring 2017 Semester in which students developed a proposal to house 60 Haitian girls and create an empowerment zone in the expansion of an existing small orphanage. There is a great need, due in no small part to the fact that Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010 and subsequently impacted by hurricanes. Many children are homeless. This project aimed to address the need in some small way through design and construction of an orphanage and vocational education center.

SSC Online Proposal Application

Approved: 1/17/2018

Funding Amount: $1,800.00

This webform will facilitate the ability of people to access, complete, and store SSC funding applications for future reference. This funding provided a new system that automates both the liaison and proposal process, significantly decreasing the amount of work that was previously left to SSC members.

UK Campus Troubadours

Approved: 1/17/2018

Funding Amount: $9,720.00

The Campus Troubadours project brings live music to campus in an effort to create a more positive and welcoming campus environment, thereby facilitating a higher amount of campus activity as well as a more culturally enriched learning and living atmosphere. This project aims to provide aesthetically pleasing, tranquil, and culturally enriching experiences in an aim to counteract stress inducing noise pollution.The Classical Guitar is particularly useful because of its diverse repertoire, and its suitability in the performance of not only classical music, but also music from many different folk traditions.

Sustainability Challenge Grants 2018

Approved: 2/7/2018

Funding Amount: $33,333.00

The Sustainability Challenge Grant program is a partnership between the SSC, the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Provost, and the Vice President for Research. This program is designed to engage multidisciplinary teams from the University community in the creation and implementation of ideas that will promote sustainability by simultaneously advancing economic vitality, ecological integrity, and social equity. More information about the sustainability challenge grants can be found here.

Outreach Materials Scope Change (II)

Approved: 2/7/2018

Funding Amount: $435.00

This funding was required to complete the purchase of outreach materials (previously requested here and here) due to unforseen charges on products. The funds from the scope change were used to purchase the water bottles and bags, and these new funds were be used to purchase SSC stickers and updated prints for the tabling display board. With these items, the goal is to increase awareness of both the SSC and UK’s sustainability initiatives on campus.

Peru Sustainable Agriculture Program 2019

Approved: 2/7/2018

Funding Amount: $12,675.00

The main goal of this project is provide UK graduate students, with interests in sustainable agriculture and ecology, exposure to diverse and developing agricultural production systems in various climates across Peru. With the help of this funding, students have the opportunity to tour three different agricultural universities/institutions and two different types of agricultural systems (industrial and self-subsistence) across different geographies in Peru (coastal lowlands, Andes plateau, and Amazonian rainforest). While different in methodology, both subsistence and industrial agriculture practices pose unique challenges to farmers dealing with pest management and changing environmental conditions. Students can gain practical understanding of these specific challenges facing Peruvian agriculture and the methods growers use to tackle these challenges.

Bur Oak Tree Crutch at McConnell Springs

Approved: 2/7/2018

Funding Amount: $12,760.00

On the McConnell Springs site, there exists an historically significant tree - one of only a few old Bur Oaks that remain since the early days of Lexington settlement. One side of its canopy is growing out and over a pedestrian path, but the tree’s ability to support the weight of these large branches will diminish with time and as the branches continue to grow. Professionals from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) have climbed the tree to determine if installation of a cable system could mitigate the issue, however, they instead noticed that the core of the tree is hollow, compounding the problem. To create the necessary support of two (possibly three) limbs and keep the tree from falling apart, the tree requires a more structural, man-made intervention, a tree crutch. With help from students in the College of Design, a tree crutch has been designed. This money helps fund the creation of the structure.

Optimizing Student Learning in a Senior-Level Capstone Class Through an Immersive Spring Break Study Tour 2018

Approved: 2/21/2018

Funding Amount: $3,000.00

The Sustainable Agriculture undergraduate program's capstone class challenges students to develop a semester-long project that is a culmination of their learning experiences in the program. A unique aspect of this class is that students are required to take a week-long study tour that allows them to gain a deeper understanding of the projects they are working on by visiting exemplary agriculture systems in a specific region of our country. Through the study tours, students gain a transformative level of knowledge not obtainable in traditional classroom experiences, which have facilitated exemplary final projects and refined their career path choices. This project provided partial funding to help cover the expenses for 9 students that participated in the 2018 study tour.

Fair Trade at UKY

Approved: 2/21/2018

Funding Amount: $2,100.00

The Fair Trade Campaign at the University of Kentucky was started in the fall of 2017 as a part of a national effort to certify universities across the United States as Fair Trade Universities, meaning that these campuses support the practices and principles of sustainable, ethical trading and sourcing. Through Fair Trade, consumer purchases help farmers and families in 70 countries across the globe earn fair wages, work in safe environments, protect the environment, and increase accessibility to education. Fair Trade Certified products support the hard working people who produce many of the products that we love, including coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, bananas, apparel, and more. The Fair Trade Campaigns organization provides tools and support events to launch and grow local Fair Trade Campaigns. This funding allowed four students to attend the Fair Trade Campaigns Conference to gain knowledge that aided them in launching a campaign to make UK a Fair Trade Certified University.

On-Campus Outdoor Recycling

Approved: 3/7/2018

Funding Amount: $9,997.05

This funding allowed UK Physical Plant Division (PPD) to purchase 7 Scarborough recycling receptacles to be installed around the College of Agriculture buildings. In addition, these funds were leveraged with PPD purchase an additional 7 containers to be placed around the Seaton Center. Furthermore, for every recycling container purchased, UK Grounds purchased a landfill container to complete the pairs.

2018 Sustainability Pitch Competition

Approved: 3/21/2018

Funding Amount: $2,000.00

The 2018 Sustainability Pitch Competition will be a one-day event that invites students from all majors at the University of Kentucky to submit pitches for their ideas for a business related to sustainability. This event will be open to all students at UK and is intended to encourage students to consider sustainability as a viable component of entrepreneurship and to engage the business and sustainability communities so that they may have an opportunity for increased interaction. This project contributes to UK student knowledge by offering a space for students who may not ordinarily interact with sustainability initiatives at UK to do so, in hopes that these students will realize that their interest in problem-solving and entrepreneurship can be applied to making the world a better place through conservation and environmental protection. Students will be judged on their “pitches”; solutions to environmental problems that take the form of a sustainable business idea. They will be judged on several criteria related to innovation, feasibility, commitment to sustainability, and more, by a panel of judges composed of faculty and community members. The SSC helped fund catering and promotional materials for this event.

SSC Intern 2018

Approved: 3/21/2018

Funding Amount: $2,748.00

The purpose of this project was to continue the development and improvement of the SSC during the summer while the organization is inactive. The intern helped organize SSC documents, completed summer orientation tabling, and generally prepared for the new fall council. Primarily, the intern created a welcome report for the fall council, documenting the work of the SSC during the 2017-18 school year and comparing that analysis with previous SSC years. This is to help collect information for the benefit of the Council and transparency to the student body.

Catalyzing Undergraduate Research: Improving the Efficiency of Algae-Based Carbon Dioxide Utilization

Approved: 4/4/2018

Funding Amount: $6,835.50

The purpose of this project is to continue working on and developing a low cost control system for an algae photobioreactor, invented and operated at the UK CAER. One major aim of the control system improvements is to use system inputs more efficiently, thereby improving the environmental impact of algae cultivation for the production of bioproducts from carbon dioxide waste streams. This funding went to pay undergraduate researchers working on this project.

SSC/Office of Sustainability Graduate Assistantship

Approved: 4/4/2018

Funding Amount: $23,978.68

The SSC’s main directive is to cultivate and promote a culture of sustainability here at UK. Thus, the purpose of a graduate assistantship is to increase the overall efficacy and capacity of the SSC and Office of Sustainability in order to better cultivate the culture of sustainability. Additionally, as the SSC has grown in members and in funding capacity, there is a renewed need for a focused professional that is dedicated to supporting SSC operations. The graduate assistantship will be a ten month appointment, wherein 50% of the time will be dedicated to the SSC and 50% of the time will be dedicated to the Office of Sustainability.

Stream Restoration and Student Engagement at the EREC Field Station Near the Campus

Approved: 4/18/2018

Funding Amount: $8,800.00

Diet of a Recently Reintroduced River Otter (Lontra canadensis) Population in the Upper Rio Grande River, New Mexico

Approved: 4/18/2018

Funding Amount: $5,000

From early colonization until the mid-20th century, many animals were overexploited. River otters were eliminated from much of their native range, and extirpated from 13 states. As the environmental movement emerged in the late-20th century several states began otter restoration projects, including New Mexico 2008. This project was discontinued in 2012 because of concerns of fish depredation. There is very little information regarding river otters in the southwestern United States, and none for river otters in New Mexico. Understanding otter diet is key to informing local fisheries managers, local anglers, and other recreationists about the ecological role of this aquatic carnivore. River otters are also native to Kentucky, where they were reintroduced in the 1980s. Because river otters are not dietary specialists, we can compare food habits of those in New Mexico with Kentucky. This funding provided pay for two undergraduate intern positions and travel to New Mexico.

Student Engagement in the Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing

Approved: 4/18/2018

Funding Amount: $4,000.00

The 16th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing (GCSM) will be held in Lexington KY, on October 2–4, 2018, and is organized by the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing (ISM) at the University of Kentucky together with the Technical University of Berlin (TUB) Germany. The GCSM is one of the largest international conferences on sustainability/sustainable manufacturing and has not been held in the US since 2007. Over 200 international researchers and practitioners from academia, agencies and industry are expected to present their work on various aspects of sustainability/sustainable manufacturing. This year’s theme will be “Sustainable Manufacturing for Global Circular Economy”. Multiple sessions will be conducted under the main topics: Sustainable Products; Sustainable Processes; Sustainable Systems; and Cross-cutting topics in Sustainable Manufacturing. These sessions will discuss the economic, environmental, and societal (Triple Bottom Line) concerns in those respective areas. This funding will cover the registration fees for 10 UK students.

Connecting Food to the First-Year Experience

Approved: 4/18/2018

Funding Amount: $3,000.00

This funding was granted to support hands-on culinary instruction in local, sustainably sourced food for first year students in the College of Agriculture Food and the Environment (CAFÉ). As future leaders in Agro-food systems, it is important that UK's CAFÉ students to have the opportunity to not only know where their food comes from, but have firsthand farm-to-table experience. This program will provide funding for all GEN 100 courses (a required course for all CAFÉ first-year students) to participate in a cooking demonstration or class focused on local and sustainably sourced foods.

Catalyst Summer Training Program 2018

Approved: 4/18/2018

Funding Amount: $1,750.00

Catalyst is a week-long activism training program created and developed by the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition (KSEC). KSEC is a network of student environmental organizations across Kentucky; UK’s chapter of the organization is Greenthumb. Catalyst seeks to give students and young people the knowledge and skills necessary to bring about environmentally-positive change on their campuses and in their communities. These skills include developing activist campaign strategies, recruiting new members to an organization, communicating effectively with media, encouraging the growth of new leaders, and much more. Catalyst also seeks to connect students from across the state, creating lasting bonds and fostering cooperation on issues affecting all of Kentucky. This funding provided five students the opportunity to attend Catalyst.

Berlin: Case Study of a Green City, 8-Week Immersive Study Abroad Program

Approved: 4/18/2018

Funding Amount: $9,025.00

The University of Kentucky College of Design Architecture Studio in Berlin is an eight-week study abroad program led by faculty member Jason Scroggin. The design investigation will focus on an exploration and analysis of Berlin as a contemporary green city and the forces that currently define and shape this phenomena. Each participant will take part in two courses: a six-credit design studio and three-credit seminar. These funds will help with travel and funding many of the activities planned for the trip.

2016-2017 Year

Total Amount Funded: $217,871.52

Design Week: Retrofitting the Retro

Approved: 8/22/2016

Funding Amount: $3,866.00

The SSC funded a charter bus to take Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, and School of Interiors students to Nashville, TN to meet with city planners, developers, and commercial architect and design firms engaged in various renovation projects around the Nashville area. This experience provided the framework for developing their own assessments and critiques for their own project in Lexington--creating "What IF?" designs for the Southland retail corridor.

Urban Forest Initiative Seminar Speaker Series 2016-2017

Approved: 9/7/2016

Funding Amount: $5,000.00

The Urban Forest Initiative (UFI) hosted two urban forest specialists and a film to address ecological, economic and social benefits of the urban tree canopy. The speaker series was designed to demonstrate the inter-connectedness of urban trees with the health and well-being of our communities. The speakers were Charles Nilon and Nina Bassuk, and the film was "City of Trees". These series described the societal benefits of healthy urban canopies, the composition of urban vegetation, and the ecosystem services this vegetation provides to humans. Each event was free and open to the public.

Dimensions of Political Ecology (DOPE) Conference 2017

Approved: 10/5/2016

Funding Amount: $10,871.00

University of Kentucky Solar Car

Approved: 10/5/2016

Funding Amount: $10,000.00

The University of Kentucky Solar Car Team designs, manufactures, and races competitive solar vehicles while providing their members much needed hands-on experience outside of their course loads. UK Solar Car also strives to contribute to STEM outreach in the Bluegrass region. The SSC helped fund a new engine for the car to help the team compete in races throughout 2017.

Formula One Kentucky

Approved: 10/5/2016

Funding Amount: $5,924.00

Formula Kentucky is a student organization which operates under the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). They design, engineer, and build an open-wheeled racecar every year, then compete against approximately 120 other student teams from around the world. The SSC helped Formula Kentucky transition to a vehicle that uses E85, a renewable biofuel.

1,000 Lightbulbs -- One Big Change

Approved: 10/5/2016

Funding Amount: $2,004.50

The goal of 1,000 Bulbs – One Big Change was to jump start UK’s transition to LED lighting. 1,000 LED bulbs were given to professors in Patterson Office Tower and the benefits of LED lighting were explained as they were distributed. Over the lifetime of the bulbs, they will save the university $90,600 in energy costs and professors $32,500 in avoided bulb replacements. The lifetime energy savings of 1,510,000kWh will save 3,261,600 lbs of CO₂ emissions. Additionally, it was hoped that the professors would continue using LED lighting and pass on this information to their students, creating a much greater impact than the direct scope of the project.

SSC Outstanding Faculty Award

Approved: 10/19/2016

Funding Amount: $1,535.00

Given the relatively short-lived campus-life of many students, faculty/staff involvement in student-oriented sustainability projects plays a crucial role. This award was created to honor those who have demonstrated exemplary service to mentor and inspire students on sustainability education in and outside the classroom, as well as demonstrate efforts to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among students. The award provided a plaque and a $750.00 stipend to spend on student sustainability efforts to two different faculty members: Dr. Betsy Beymer-Farris and Dr. Nikiforos Stamatiadis.

Innovative Campus Survey on Student Gift Giving to Support Sustainability

Approved: 11/4/2016

Funding Amount: $3,500.00

This project conducted a campus-wide student survey to uncover students' familiarity with UK sustainability programs and organizations, perceptions on sustainability, and actions towards supporting sustainability efforts on campus. Survey respondents were offered a participation reward of $5 and were then allowed the opportunity to donate in the survey. Respondents had the opportunity to donate to the following UK focus areas: alternative transportation (Wildcat Wheels), renewable energy (solar panels), recycling, and reducing food waste/composting, or keep it themselves. 800+ students participated in the survey.

Campus Kitchens: From Seed to Stem

Approved: 11/4/2016

Funding Amount: $3,000.00

The Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky (CKUK), an affiliate of the national The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP), is an on-campus student service organization that provides a sustainable approach to reducing food waste and providing healthy meals to those struggling with hunger. The grant was used to purchase indoor planters and other gardening tools to grow produce inside our kitchen to supplement produce during the winter months, as well as pay for an intern to tend to the garden.

SSTOP Hunger: Feeding Kentucky

Approved: 11/4/2016

Funding Amount: $2,250.00

Sustainable Solutions to Overcome Poverty (SSTOP) Hunger supports on-campus initiatives and organizations with a focus on solving hunger and malnutrition. This grant allowed them to put on Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry, a documentary that chronicles the perspectives and relationships with the land of farmer, novelist and environmental activist Wendell Berry and residents of his hometown in Henry County, Kentucky. The film screening provided education to UK students on the importance of sustainable agriculture in eradicating hunger in Kentucky.

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships 2017

Approved: 11/16/2016

Funding Amount: $12,500.00

This funding provided five summer internships in undergraduate research related to sustainability at the University of Kentucky for $2,500 each. Students applied for funding through the Office of Undergraduate Research and completed their projects with faculty advisors.

SSC Undergraduate Scholarships

Approved: 11/16/2016

Funding Amount: $6,000

This funding provided six undergraduate students the opportunity to attain $1,000 each for their service and efforts towards sustainability as a means to incentivize students to continue promoting sustainability within their community. These scholarships were meant to provide financial relief for those who spend significant amounts of their time volunteering towards sustainability initiatives.

EcoCareer Conference

Approved: 11/16/2016

Funding Amount: $350.00

The National Wildlife Federation has a student development/certification program; as part of this program, they are hosted a virtual EcoCareers conference aimed at undergraduate students. This funding paid for the registration for 10 UK students to participate in this event. This conference aimed to equip students with tools necessary to get jobs in the environmental sector.

Sustainability and Garden Science

Approved: 12/7/2016

Funding Amount: $4,220.00

The Sustainability and Garden Science (SGS) program was implemented in Russell Cave Elementary and Wellington Elementary. Each school had a teaching team composed of a teacher, 2-3 undergraduate students, and one graduate working with the science teacher’s class to present ideas in an interactive way and conduct activities both in the classroom and outside. Each school received two 4’x8’x12’ raised plant beds with hoop frames to accelerate plant growth enough to allow harvesting before their summer vacation. Students learned about what plants need to survive and grow, the life cycle of plants, and the structures responsible for plant survival and growth – all ideas emphasized in the Next Generation Science Standards now being implemented in Kentucky public schools.

Outreach Materials

Approved: 12/7/2016

Funding Amount: $1,652.00

This funding provided outreach materials to increase awareness of the SSC’s presence on campus, make for a more cohesive image and put us on a level closer to other similar campus bodies, like the Student Government Organization or the Student Activities Board. Funding went towards promotional water bottles, solar chargers, a table cloth, a banner stand, and a retractable poster.

Sustainability Challenge Grants 2017

Approved: 1/14/2017

Funding Amount: $33,333.00

Sustainability Interns 2017-2018

Approved: 1/14/2017

Funding Amount: $9,000.00

The sustainability internship program is funded by both the SSC and the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment. This funding provided pay for three of the 2017-2018 sustainability interns. More information about the sustainability internship program can be found here.

Sustainable Design-Build Studio

Approved: 1/14/2017

Funding Amount: $7,250.00

The objective of the Sustainable Design-Build Studio was to fully integrate sustainable principles into the design and construction of several very small living units to support the work of researchers at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Claremont, Kentucky. The research pods were built by design students and placed in remote areas of the forest to enable research on site and information gathering. Additionally, the pods were designed to aggregate into larger facilities for collaboration and sharing of information and research by larger groups of researchers.

Precision Drone

Approved: 1/14/2017

Funding Amount: $6,000.00

This project helped fund master thesis research on evaluating the use of drones for precision agriculture. The project used a field experiment to test how drones can be adapted to farmers in developing countries and developed countries needs for herbicide, insecticide, and fungicide applications in order to compare the performance of drone application versus the control of manual applications. The SSC funding helped purchase a manual applicator, a drone with spraying capabilities, and student labor needed to conduct the experiment.

Beaux Arts Installations 2017

Approved: 2/22/2017

Funding Amount: $3,000.00

The Beaux Arts Foundation hosts an annual student competition that is open to all UK students. Installations are publicly voted and are then selected for fabrication at full scale. These installations are costly and prove to be out of monetary reach for the average college student, so this funding provided the opportunity for approximately 15 students to design and build an original design out of at least 50% recycled materials for the community to experience. It also permitted funding for the design and creation of a full-scale exhibition by a UK professor and students that would be presented not only at Beaux Arts Ball but also at ReSurfaced, an event that transforms a three-quarter acre lot in Louisville’s Phoenix Hill Neighborhood into a community activation space that fosters civic engagement and entrepreneurialism.

Beaux Arts Fashion Show 2017

Approved: 2/22/2017

Funding Amount: $1,000.00

This funding supported the fashion portion of the 2017 Beaux Arts Ball, providing materials and production costs for twelve UK students. The event focused around bringing together different groups of community to create an event that celebrates creativity and
diversity. By bringing together students and local professionals to create thought provoking pieces that were later exhibited in a gallery setting in Lexington, this portion of the event had a continued impact on the community.

Bee School

Approved: 2/22/2017

Funding Amount: $390.37

This funding provided twelve students the opportunity to attend a conference on bees. Students who attended gained knowledge about beekeeping and apiculture, including the environmental issues that face bee populations and what beekeepers can do to protect their own bee populations and promote pollinator health in their communities. This conference featured several leaders in the beekeeping community, along with experts in apiculture and environmental issues. Students had the chance to network with these individuals and others and to learn how to start their own beekeeping operation.

Sustainability Seminar Student-Choice Speakers

Approved: 3/8/2017

Funding Amount: $7,500.00

This project provided $750 to 10 graduate student organizations to host a seminar speaker that would present on a sustainability-related topic.

Bench Proposal

Approved: 3/8/2017

Funding Amount: $2,700.00

This project's goal was to incentivize students across the Lexington-Fayette Urban County to develop proper recycling habits. The goal was to encourage local high schools and middle schools to collect enough plastic caps or lids to receive a bench made entirely from recycled plastic manufactured by Green Tree Plastics, LLC. of Evansville, IN. In order to receive one 6 ft. bench with a back, each school had to collect 400 lbs. of bottle caps (approximately 10, 55 gal. trash bags). Schools were paired with the largest residence halls at UK, and with the help of the Department of Residence Life and Lexington Environmental Youth Outreach, partners worked together to collect the caps.

Plant Purification Workshop

Approved: 3/8/2017

Funding Amount: $1,695.00

This project's goal was to provide two workshops for undergraduate and graduate students, providing the students with plants and the skills to properly maintain them. The goals of the workshop were to help purify students' living spaces, create green, pleasant environments for them, and to spark a passion in students for gardening.

Optimizing Student Learning in a Senior-Level Capstone Class Through an Immersive Spring Break Study Tour 2017

Approved: 3/8/2017

Funding Amount: $960.00

Solar Outreach Kiosk

Approved: 3/22/2017

Funding: $2,750.00

This project was to create a solar powered kiosk that can be used by various on-campus student organizations for tabling events. The kiosk draws attention to anyone tabling, and with its on board power, can be used for a wide variety of tasks. It was designed to have lights, speakers, and phone chargers, and have standard plugs for any AC device to plug into it, provided it can successfully draw the power. It will also highlight sustainability by using entirely solar power for all of this. The solar panels for the project were from the UK Solar Car Team, from Gato Del Sol 4, and would not be used on a new car. Thus, the panels are being reused for another purpose, a key aspect of sustainability.

The Science and Economics of Anaerobic Digesters on Dairy Farms, Experiences from an Industry Leader

Approved: 3/22/2017

Funding Amount: $317.00

This project was a one-time interdisciplinary seminar, designed to begin effective conversations and bring awareness about anaerobic digesters. Bringing an industry leader to UK provides connections necessary to maximize the feasibility of implementing an infrastructure project of this kind. This seminar discussed the management of these systems and hurdles to adopting them.

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Conference 2017 (Part I)

Approved: 4/12/2017

Funding Amount: $6,675.00

This money granted funding for five students to travel to the largest conference related to campus sustainability in the country, providing a forum for connecting to the ideas and resources of other campus communities around the nation. The students who attended the conference collected ideas and learned from the victories and failures of other student led sustainability initiatives, connect with other students, faculty and staff working on similar issues, and learned from experts on how to build a campus community focused on sustainability. The connections and ideas gathered at the conference have huge potential aid in the mission to create a culture of campus sustainability.

Utilizing Pedal Power Instead of Fuel Power for Increased Sustainability of On-Farm Operations

Approved: 4/12/2017

Funding Amount: $2,793.45

South Farm's Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program used these funds to purchase an all purpose, rough terrain bicycle (Giant ATX Lite) and a cargo bicycle (Xtracycle Edgerunner 27D) as permanent additions to their farm’s fleet. Both bikes were outfitted with hitches which would be capable of pulling a trailer for additional cargo carrying capacity. These bikes allowed South Farm's operations to cut back on fossil fuel use.

SSC Intern 2017

Approved: 4/12/2017

Funding Amount: $1,832.00

The purpose of this project was to continue the development and improvement of the SSC during the summer while the organization is inactive. The intern helped organize SSC documents, completed summer orientation tabling, and generally prepared for the new fall council. Primarily, the intern created a welcome report for the fall council, documenting the work of the SSC during the 2016-17 school year and comparing that analysis with previous SSC years. This is to help collect information for the benefit of the Council and transparency to the student body.

Catalyst Summer Training Program 2017

Approved: 4/12/2017

Funding Amount: $1,750.00

SSC Retreat 2017

Approved: 4/12/2017

Funding Amount: $1,543.20

This funding provides money for the Fall 2017 SSC retreat. New council members had an opportunity to sit in on the spring semester meetings and become familiar with the other council members, but these meetings are typically strictly business. This retreat provided an opportunity for council members to get to know each other in a relaxed setting, leading to a more effective and cohesive council. The requested funds allowed members transportation, meals, and cabin rentals for one night in Robinson Forest.

Campus as a Living Lab Partnership -- Stream Restoration, Student Engagement, and Campus Grounds

Approved: 4/26/2017

Funding Amount: $50,000.00

This project is a partnership between UK Facilities, Environmental Management, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, and the SSC to restore ecological functionality to an unnamed tributary of the West Hickman Creek Watershed along Alumni Drive. The goals were to restore the stream and valley with natural channel meander geometry, constructing it with water quality improvements such as a hyporheic aquifer for nitrate removal and floodplain wetlands and in-stream habitat. Additionally, a riparian buffer will be planted. The project pursued strong integration of the project’s design, construction and monitoring/maintenance with related courses to maximize student engagement and the use of the campus as a living laboratory.

Bat Conservation in McConnell Springs

Approved: 4/26/2017

Funding Amount: $3,960.00

Following recent acoustic monitoring data suggesting the presence of the Indiana Bat in McConnell Springs, this project sought to install an array of bat habitat structures in a known flyway at the park with students from UK's Greenhouse Environmental Sustainability Club. With support of the McConnell Springs park staff and management, participating students learned about this contribution to habitat corridor restoration and how it enhances the environmental sustainability of Lexington.

Beginner Beekeeping Workshop

Approved: 4/26/2017

Funding Amount: $750.00

This project was a four-session on-campus introductory beekeeping workshop, managed in part by a graduate student, and targeted at ten undergraduates or local residents. Its goals were to introduce students to the basics of beekeeping, including bee natural history, basic tools and equipment, and disease management practices and to provide an instructional opportunity for a graduate student interested in pursuing an extension career.