Education

U named finalist for Racial Equity and Sustainability Collaboration award

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt, Sustainability Office The University of Utah is one of five finalists for the Racial Equity and Sustainability Collaboration award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The U’s project, “Integrating racial equity, social justice, and sustainability through general education learning outcome assessment,” uses learning outcomes for all undergraduates to […]


This was an event by the international collective Minga Indigena that brings together communities throughout the Americas to discuss shared experiences of colonialsm, extractive industries, and climate injustices. The group centers Indigenous knowledges and experiences to raise awareness for frontline communities facing the legal and illegal destruction of their biodiversty rich ecosystems and communities.

We are grateful

By the Sustainability Office It is easy to be cynical. It’s hard to escape any day without the weight of the world creeping into our thoughts, our conversations, or even our dreams. It can be overwhelming. And yet … We are not alone. We are thankful for the world leaders who committed to important steps […]


Global Change & Sustainability Center Seminars: Fall Preview

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office The Global Change & Sustainability Center (GCSC) Seminar Series returns on Tuesday, Aug. 31. The series features a different speaker on alternate Tuesdays of the fall semester. All seminars are free and will take place on Zoom. Dr. Brenda Bowen, director of the GCSC and associate professor of Geology & […]


APPLY FOR THE CLIMATE JUSTICE UC3 FELLOWSHIP

The University of Utah Climate Commitment Task Force  is seeking a small team of graduate students with experience in environmental and climate justice to serve through the coming year as UC3 Fellows. UC3, the University Climate Change Coalition, is a core program of Second Nature that connects 23 of the world’s leading research universities committed to accelerating […]


Dr. Jennifer Watt, wearing a pink puffy jacket, conducts research outdoors. She is labeling samples with a sharpie.

Dr. Jennifer Watt to lead Sustainability Education at the U

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt, Sustainability Office Dr. Jennifer Watt, the new director of sustainability education, is ready to grow student opportunities and build on education efforts that highlight the relationships between social and environmental issues. Watt, the associate director of the U’s Environmental & Sustainability Studies program, was selected through an internal search open to all […]


SCIF Survey


University earns gold in sustainability assessment

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt, Sustainability Office Originally published in @theU The University of Utah has spent more than a decade building a robust campus sustainability program. Those efforts are paying off: This month, the University of Utah earned a STARS Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the […]


Professor Julie Sze of UC-Davis

GCSC Seminar: Reframing the Story of Environmentalism to Highlight Inequality, Justice

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office What is the role of the university in addressing the climate crisis? How can academics engage proactively in environmental and social justice work? How can we transform our institutions to meet this political moment with the urgency it demands? In her upcoming Global Change & Sustainability Center talk, “Interdisciplinarity, Intersectionality […]


Aerial view of University of Utah campus and mountains in the winter.

Sustainability team boosts access to air quality education

By Meghan Burrows and Ayrel Clark-Proffitt, Sustainability Office The Sustainability Office created a suite of initiatives this past year aimed at one of our valley’s most significant problems: air pollution. The Sustainability Education team developed several pathways to enhance interdisciplinary air quality education at the University of Utah. Those pathways include efforts to identify and […]


Sustainability Leaders Recommit to Centering Equity and Justice

Along with many of you, we spent this past week filled with grief. These feelings are tragically familiar, as is their cause. The legacy of racial oppression played out on city streets around the country and right here in Salt Lake City. We all must play a role in demanding justice in our communities and […]