The Office of Sustainability seeks students and recent grads to support campus sustainability programs, projects and initiatives

Please share with any students or recent grads looking to gain professional experience contributing to the sustainability field!

10 hours/week, paid & eligible for 3 class credits

Provide support, training, coaching, presentations, and event facilitation to Greek chapters pursuing Green Chapter certifications. Support the Department of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Office of Sustainability in program coordination, support sustainability chairs for participating chapter, collaborate with outreach interns, and support the Resident Director (RD) Graduate Assistant assigned to the Green Chapter Program.

10 hours/week, paid & eligible for 3 class credits

Intern to help offices earn their annual certification by consulting and coaching, tracking, reporting, and updating each offices’ checklist.

3 hours/week, volunteer position & eligible for 1 class credit

Apply to join a select team of student leaders who conduct tabling to encourage action and awareness through hands-on activities, commitments, and events.

4 hours/month, volunteer position

Apply to join a select team of student leaders who provide an hour-long sustainability lesson to introductory classes during the Fall semester.

Aug 19th - 21st 2021

The 7th annual UMD Symposium on Environmental Justice & Health Disparities will convene numerous community members, nonprofit organizers, and researchers for an in-depth examination of ongoing environmental justice and health disparity issues affecting the DC-Maryland-Virginia region.

No cost, Hosted by UMD’s Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH).

Free Climate Corner webinars occur every other Wednesday from 4-5:30pm, hosted by Dr. Sara Via, Professor and Climate Extension Specialist at the University of Maryland College Park. Learn more!

Aug. 18: Taming residential food waste
Sept. 1: Moderation in all things: Moving toward a plant-based diet
Sept. 15: How well do different policies work to curb climate change?

Congratulations to our departing Office of Sustainability Manager, Mark Stewart, who accepted a new position leading climate efforts with the Maryland Department of the Environment. Mark helped launch the Office of Sustainability in 2007 and developed important initiatives in his time at the University of Maryland. He led efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, administered the University Sustainability Fund, and ran programs that prepare students to be change agents for sustainability. Mark has led progress at UMD and will be missed!

We are also to announce that our contracted Associate Emily Hightower has joined the Office of Sustainability as a Sustainability Coordinator. Emily played a major role in designing and creating the Progress Hub and metrics tracking reports.

New this year, now your office, Greek chapter, student org or other group can adopt a garden on campus. By adopting a garden you can check off an action towards Green Office and Chapter certification and help us cultivate our living campus. Our entire UMD campus is a world-class arboretum and you can help cultivate native plants, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, edible landscaping, and more!

Arboretum horticulturists and staff will work with you to select a garden area that is meaningful to you and needs some extra TLC then coordinate monthly volunteer events with your group. Volunteering should take place at least once per month with a total of at least five hours of volunteer time to meet the minimum requirement.

Single-use plastics and Styrofoam use has drastically reduced at UMD due to initiatives led by Facilities Management, Dining Services, Stamp, Athletics, and more! Learn more about the key accomplishments in this new report, written by Adrienne Small, who until recently served as UMD’s Recycling Coordinator.