UVA Office for Sustainability

Our office wants to give a big thanks to the Facilities Management Landscape team who helped repair and refresh our UVA Student Garden that had a tree collapse on it during Hurricane Helene rains. We're grateful to be back in action. Come see it for yourselves when you get a chance.

Last week 100+ I2SL National Capital Chapter members toured the newly renovated E-wing of the NIH Clinical Center (CC) Building, the largest clinical research laboratory in the world, to check out the LEED-certified renovation of 250,000 gsf of patient care space into state-of-the-art lab spaces. UVA's Sustainable Labs team members Christine Alencar and Fiona Hogan Bradford led the successful half-day of sustainable labs education, tour, and networking to encourage best practice sharing among the public, private, and academic sector.

Last month seventh grade students from area schools enjoyed a sustainability session at the Student Garden as a part of UVA's Star Hill Pathways, a program that introduces local youth to a variety of careers. Chad DeWitt, our student engagement manager, shared the power of digging around in the dirt. https://lnkd.in/e-b_3VNz

Are you a content creator with a passion toward social impact? The Office for Sustainability is hiring a student videographer this spring semester to support awareness of UVA's sustainability goals, progress and Earth Month programming. Apply on Handshake with your portfolio, cover letter, and resume by December 1. $15/hr 5-10 hrs/wk. #internships #greenjob #UVA https://ow.ly/RfW750U78OY

For our next #SustainabilitySpotlight, we are featuring Andrea Eichenberger. Andrea graduated from UVA in 2022 with an Accelerated Master of Public Policy and a Bachelor's degree in Foreign Affairs with a minor in Latin American Studies. She is a Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) Accelerator Coordinator at the Nature Conservancy. She has always felt passionate about the environment and used to work locally on recycling and litter prevention education. But she thought a career in sustainability was at odds with her education in international relations. It didn't occur to her that the two fields weren't mutually exclusive until she learned about international climate policy. Andrea had an "aha" moment while taking Professor Deborah Lawrence's introductory environmental science class, where upon learning so many clear and decisive facts, she felt she must do what she could to address climate change through her career. She had the good fortune of landing an internship with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) International Climate Policy team through the UVA Environmental Institute internship program. Then, later, she collaborated with a former TNC coworker on that team to develop her thesis for her Batten MPP, which was about compliance carbon markets. Following graduation, she made sure to focus her efforts on applying to a few key organizations she was especially interested in working for. Her previous work experience with TNC definitely helped her forge connections and gain important knowledge that led to her being hired for this position. Although it's easier said than done, Andrea believes it greatly helps to narrow in on some specific interests relating to sustainability. The field is so expansive it helps if you can determine specific interest in something, like carbon markets, energy policy, land conservation, etc. At UVA specifically, she strongly recommends staying up to date on career opportunities through the career center and signing up for any newsletter you can. In particular, the Environmental Institute's annual intern and externship opportunities are a really great way to get an idea of what a sustainability career could look like. Andrea recommends tailoring your school papers and projects to your sustainability interests. She had some level of freedom in choosing the topics of her papers in grad school, which allowed her to write memos about topics in her field of interest like natural climate solutions and carbon markets. This is super helpful if you need to provide writing samples for positions, and you can reference relevant research projects you have completed in cover letters for positions. Another opportunity she’d recommend if you have any interest in public sector work is the Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) program through the federal government. It was super helpful for her to learn about the wide variety of opportunities available in the NGO space and in the public sector.

In this week’s “Faces of Sustainability,” you’ll meet Paul Freedman, Aliza Diop, and Yuh-Hwa Wang, three inspiring members of our UVA community. We want to recognize their efforts towards our ten bold sustainability goals and be inspired by the change they're creating right here on Grounds, both big and small! Paul is the Director of the Environmental Thought and Practice major, Associate Professor of Politics, and he co-leads the UVA Sustainable Food Collaborative. Aliza is an undergraduate Sustainability Student Employee on the Green Living Team. Yuh-Hwa is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics at the School of Medicine. Thanks for helping us advance sustainability at UVA! https://lnkd.in/ennJ_PU8 #Teamwork #UVACommunity #SustainabilityGoals #FacesOfSustainability #UVA University of Virginia

Join Darden Sustainability Conference on Friday, November 15, 11-5PM to learn the latest sustainability trends in business, hear from expert panels, and network. Open to MBA students, the UVA community, and Charlottesville sustainability professionals. Members of the Darden Energy, Net Impact, Public Policy, and Venture Capital Clubs, as well as Access Darden participants, will receive a full refund upon attending the event. Other students and professors will be 50% refunded upon attendance. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. #NetImpact #SustainableBusiness University of Virginia Darden School of Business

Sign-ups for 2024 Shut the Sash Competition end October 31st! Besides being a safer, more efficient lab space, you may earn bragging rights and a donut or pizza party for your fellow researchers. Any lab with a chemical fume hood is eligible to enter, so sign your lab up with the link below! https://ow.ly/YOws50TToIu #UVAGreenLabs #LabsTuesday #UVASustainabileLabs #LabSustainability #HoosLoveGreenLabs

Thanks Community Climate Collaborative for hosting another great Party for the Planet! The night was filled with good vibes on community progress on climate action, and we highlighted what the University is doing to meet our ambitious sustainability goals. We love working with community partners like C3! View the image gallery here: https://lnkd.in/ehR8wJPk The Community Climate Collaborative

In this week’s “Faces of Sustainability,” you’ll meet Lisa, Dakota, and Cheryl, three inspiring members of our UVA community. We want to recognize their efforts towards our ten bold sustainability goals and be inspired by the change they're creating right here on Grounds, both big and small! Lisa is a Professor of Environmental Engineering and the founder of the UVA Life Cycle Assessment Lab. Dakota is an undergraduate student that works as a Sustainability Student Employee. Cheryl is the lab manager for the Janes lab and the research center administrator for Systems Analysis of Stress-adapted Cancer Organelles (SASCO) at UVA. Learn more about their stories at the link in our bio. Thanks for helping us advance sustainability at UVA! #Teamwork #UVACommunity #SustainabilityGoals #FacesOfSustainability #UVA University of Virginia