Director’s Note
Welcome back to the start of another new semester!
As always – a lot happening in the Institute for a Sustainable Environment and our campus sustainability initiatives. This newsletter highlights some of our summer activities and looks forward to our Fall semester.
A highlight of this fall will be the second offering of our ADK Experience. Thanks to Dr. Abul Baki (CEE) students will be learning about, sampling and testing Raquette River water for microplastic. The ADK Experience is a series of 1-credit field-based courses for students of all majors to provide students with…
- an active and high-impact learning experience (team, project, hands-on, real-world problem /solution and place-based experience);
- quality time with the instructor; and,
- a sense of place in the region that Clarkson calls home.
This newsletter will continue each month, we hope that this helps to communicate our activities and impacts through Sustainability in all we do. Keep in touch if you have something to add!
Susan Powers is the director of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment at Clarkson University.
Upcoming Events
Sustainability in All We Do
Clarkson University is committed to “sustainability in all we do.” This includes education, research and outreach opportunities for our entire campus community – faculty, staff and students all contribute.
Sustainability News
Check out these news stories and announcements –
- Clarkson Professor Selma Mededovic to Lead $750,000 NSF Project Targeting “Forever Chemicals” The team is studying how plasma can be used to fully break down PFAS into safe, stable substances. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are toxic man-made chemicals used in nonstick cookware, firefighting foams and other products. They resist breaking down in the environment and can build up in soil, water, wildlife and people.
- Clarkson University Student Project Team Working to Improve St. Lawrence County Multi-Use Trail System, Seeks Public Input The C3G project is focused on understanding how the trail system supports local business and finding ways to improve both the user experience and maintenance operations.
- Clarkson University Selected to Pilot the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability Clarkson has been identified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as one of 21 institutions to support the testing of a new classification to recognize U.S. higher education institutions’ sustainability work.
- Reusable To-Go Container Survey! Students, help the Institute for a Sustainable Environment & Sodexo make plans for a reusable to-go container system at the Servery Dining Hall. Please take this quick survey: https://forms.gle/k9auWea8ijRgjqdo9
- Nature Rx Group: Did you know interacting with nature can help improve mood, overall happiness, energy, concentration, and stress levels. SHAC will be running a Nature Rx Wellness group this fall. Join us ready to creatively engage with nature, Wednesdays 4:30 – 5:30pm, starting in ERC 2207A, starting Sept 10. Check out the related website https://sites.clarkson.edu/nature-rx/
Food Waste Collection is Back!
Welcome back to campus! Our food waste toters & green bins, in collaboration with Whitten Family Farm, are back and ready to collect your food scraps. Please remember to scrape your plate into the green bins at the dishwashing windows in RoBro and The Servery. For more information on what can and can’t be composted on campus, click here.
Congrats from the ISE!
ISE Graduate Students Win at RAPS
In July’s Research and Project Showcase, graduate student Aslhy Torres received the Sustainability Prize for her poster exploring the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate how small design choices in seaweed processing can significantly impact the environmental footprint. Evelyn Laferriere received the Best Graduate Oral Presentation award in Bioscience, Environmental Science, and Sustainability, for her presentation on environmental nonprofit communication best practices.
Work Highlights
ISE Intern Jonas Smith Summer Work
This summer, ISE intern Jonas Smith helped keep sustainability projects rolling on campus. Working with Evelyn (Acting Sustainability Coordinator), he planted trees along the Munter Trail, re-seeded wildflowers into our Riverside Meadow Restoration Zone, collected food waste for the anaerobic digester on campus, and put educational stickers about recycling on our dumpsters. This fall, he is going to take the lead as our Student Life intern, working on student life and residence life collaborations. Jonas was on campus this summer as part of the Honors Program funded summer research opportunity.
Student Intern Jonas Smith pictured planting trees and processing food waste.
Upcoming Opportunities
- Want to make positive changes on your campus? Join the DefaultVeg Internship Program to champion better campus food while gaining valuable leadership skills and experience. Support action for Plant-based Diets
New York State Pollution Prevention Institute 2025-2026 R&D Student Competition
- Request for Applications (RFA)
NYSP2I’s R&D Student Competition enables students to propose, research, develop, and design solutions to real world environmental challenges. The competition seeks innovative projects focused on sustainability that respond to a defined topic or issue. The competition fosters creative thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and collaboration across disciplines and provides an opportunity for students to present their projects to environmental experts, gain insight from established professionals, and receive recognition by potential future employers. The program provides funding to offset project costs, as well as awards at the culminating competition exhibition.
Young Voices of Science
- The application for the Fall 2025 Young Voices of Science Program is now open through Friday, September 5th!
The Young Voices of Science program consists of a series of expert-led workshops, each designed to prepare and empower science scholars to share their knowledge, concerns, and hopes for the future with the wider world, and provide a launch pad for public engagement, early in their scientific careers. Workshop leaders are experts in public engagement with science, creative writing, storytelling, and science-to-policy outreach. Class size is limited to 20-25 participants; we ask that participants commit to all eight workshops and design and carry out at least one outreach project, with support from a staff mentor.
- What: FREE science communication training and real-world practice for science scholars!
- Who: Graduate, undergraduate students and early-career scientists in environmental (or similar) fields are eligible to apply
- When: Series of eight Zoom workshops held on Thursdays, September 25th through November 13th, 6:00 – 7:30 pm ET
- Where: Wherever you are, via Zoom!
- Application Form
- No need to be a student to apply!
We encourage you to apply by the deadline, and please share this opportunity with your networks! To learn more about the program, hear from YVoS alumni, and explore past outreach projects, visit Young Voices of Science. For questions, reach out to Dayna De La Cruz at ddelacruz@hubbardbrookfoundation.org.
