4 hours per month, volunteer

Apply to join a select team of student leaders who provide an hour-long sustainability lesson to introductory classes during the Fall semester. Teach interactive lessons about sustainability and climate change and how each affects students, their studies, and future career prospects. Sustainability Advisors receive training and experience in developing skills in public speaking and peer-to-peer outreach as well as raising awareness and mobilizing action to protect our environment.

Student Recycling Support (University Recycling & Waste Management)

Summer 2022, up to 40 hours per week, $12.50 per hour

University Recycling and Waste Management is seeking a student to help evaluate and upgrade the recycling, landfill/trash, and compost bins across the University of Maryland campus. The expected outcome of the program is to improve the basic recycling and trash collection infrastructure in order to provide recycling opportunities and waste sorting information across the campus community. The schedule is flexible based on the student's schedule.

Learn more & apply

Green Dining Student Positions (Farmers Market, Terp Farm, & Campus Pantry)

Fall 2022, 10 hours per week, $13 per hour

Under the direction of the Manager, the Student Staff report to and assist with daily operations of Green Dining projects including the UMD Campus Pantry, Terp Farm, and the Farmers Market at Maryland. Duties will vary according to location, but will generally include customer service, organizing, and cleaning, increasing the capacity of the overall program, planting, harvesting, and crop management at Terp Farm, assisting CCMA AmeriCorps VISTAs, and other assignments.

Learn more & apply

UMD’s new Terp to Terp Restore is seeking donations! Donate kitchen supplies, small appliances, room decor, school supplies, clothing, small furniture, non-perishable food, textbooks, and more. The University of Maryland Terp to Terp Campus ReStore coordinated by the Department of Resident Life was created to respond to students’ essential needs while encouraging a culture of social responsibility and reducing waste generation.

Tuesday, June 14th, 10 -11:30 am, ESJ 2101 (The Loft)

Sustainability Fund: Networking, Ideation, and Action Planning Workshop

This workshop will provide faculty and staff an opportunity to discuss sustainability issues you hope to address; connect and collaborate with fellow faculty and staff; troubleshoot common issues with grant proposals; to devise an action plan for developing a strong Sustainability Fund grant application prior to the October 15 deadline. Faculty and staff at all phases of the grant writing process are welcome to attend, though we recommend considering topics of interest ahead of time. The workshop is hosted by the Office of Sustainability and the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Registration is required. Please register at this link by June 10th.

All webinars 4-5:30 pm & registration required.

The 2022 Climate Change & Sustainability Webinar Series is organized by Dr. Sara Via, Professor & Climate Extension Specialist, University of Maryland.

• 6/15 - Visualize a Better World

• 7/6 - The Economics of Climate Change: Cheaper to Fix than Ignore

• 7/27 - Indigenous Views of Nature and Rebuilding Biodiversity

• 8/17 - We Need an Epidemic of Climate Action

• 9/7 - How to Motivate Others To Be Part of the Solution

Mondays 3-4pm, Thursdays 3-4pm, & Saturdays 10-11am

Drop in to any weekly work hours at the Community learning Garden and assist with planting, pruning, weeding, planning, watering, or harvesting. As an added bonus, you can take home whatever vegetables, fruit, or herbs we harvest that day! For K-12 students this counts toward Service Learning hours.

UMD has once again earned a STARS Gold rating, a national recognition of our sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. UMD first achieved its STARS Gold rating in 2014 and has shown improvement by achieving a higher score with each submission. The Office of Sustainability works with partners across campus to benchmark UMD’s rating by collecting detailed data, descriptions and metrics to track campus progress towards sustainability. The categories AASHE assesses span key aspects of campus life including academics, engagement, operations, planning & administration, and innovation & leadership. Thank you to Emily Hightower, Sustainability Coordinator, for leading this cross-divisional effort to keep UMD’s STARS rating current and to all the partners across campus who provide data for this effort.

UMD actively works to continuously improve its sustainability efforts to address society’s grand challenges, including climate change, diversity, and inclusion. Last Earth Day (April 2021), our newly inaugurated president announced UMD’s accelerated goal for carbon neutrality by 2025; the electrification of our campus fleet by 2035; a new $40 million dollar initiative to recruit and retain tenured and tenure-track faculty from underrepresented backgrounds; and a plan to invest $200 million in strengthening research in target fields including K-12 education, public health, and climate science.

The results are in for the 2022 Campus Race to Zero Waste. UMD ranking us 29th nationally and first in the state! In the Food Organics category, UMD ranked in the top top 10 out of 91 schools in the country. 2022 marks the 12th year UMD competed in the annual competition. UMD achieved a waste diversion rate of 44.4%, meaning almost half of our waste was diverted from the landfill to be reused, composted, or recycled instead.

Learn about campus programs! This month we are featuring UMD’s Landscape programs & initiatives and how you can get involved by cultivating pollinator-friendly gardens, edible landscaping, native plants, rain gardens, and more!

• Arboretum: The UMD campus, an internationally acclaimed Arboretum and Botanical Garden, offers garden-related events, tours, and volunteer opportunities.

• UMD Adventure: RecWell’s Adventure Program offers adventure trips, rock climbing/bouldering, a challenge course, outdoor gear rental, and bike maintenance /parts.

• Community Learning Garden: Located next to the School of Public Health, this community garden grows produce to donate to the campus food pantry and is run by volunteer students, staff, and faculty – join weekly volunteer hours or schedule a group volunteering event.

• Campus Gardens: Explore the numerous gardens on our 1,340-acre campus, including pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and food gardens.

• NatureRX: As a chapter of Campus NatureRx, UMD conducts research and organizes campus nature programs that support campus mental and physical health through inclusive and equitable nature engagement.

Scott recently celebrated his 25th anniversary of working at the University of Maryland!

Scott Lupin, Director of the Office of Sustainability and Associate Director for the Department of Environmental Safety, Sustainability & Risk, is celebrating 25 years of working to advance sustainability and environmental safety at the University of Maryland. Since joining the university in 1997, his primary focus has been the development of the campus environmental management program, and in 2007, the formation of the Office of Sustainability. He helped launch the Office of Sustainability after UMD signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to achieve carbon neutrality. In his 25 years at UMD, Scott has worked to ensure campus adherence to state and federal environmental requirements; supported campus growth and development through environmental due diligence; and furthered a culture of campus sustainability. Scott initiated one of the first higher education conferences on environmental sustainability, has supported the University Sustainability Council, and has been integrally involved in campus sustainability programming. Prior to joining the university, Scott served as a senior environmental consultant with an international environmental and engineering consulting firm. He has also served as an EHS Manager for Honeywell, Inc. and an environmental inspector and Superfund investigator for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.