5th annual Sustainability Summit
Participate in our sustainability strategic planning process!
Directions for in-person and virtual participation:
- Review the core strategy that most interests you. Click here to view the UCCS Sustainability Strategic Plan
- Draft - core strategy 1 | Leadership
- Draft - core strategy 2 | Teaching & Research
- Draft - core strategy 3 | Operations
- Draft - core strategy 4 | Engagement
- Choose one statement under the section "How will we accomplish this? We will...". Enter a specific suggestion in the form linked above to help us broaden our scope on how we will achieve these goals.
- Example: #3 under Teaching: "Foster relationships...consistent internship opportunities..."
- Suggestion: Connect with the non-profit Kids on Bikes to provide internships that would support early childhood education, public affairs, geography & environmental studies, etc. Kimberly Reeves (kreeves2@uccs.edu) has connection with Executive Director.
Kimberly Reeves, Interim Director of Sustainability
Kimberly will lead participants in a welcome, overview of presenters, land acknowledgement, and Veterans appreciation.
Kimberly Reeves, Interim Director of Sustainability
Kimberly will provide an overview of the framework STARS - Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System along with the most recent submission on behalf of UCCS. Then she'll provide an update of the 2030 Sustainability Strategic Plan and how to provide feedback to the draft.
Wendy Kisicki, Serials & Library Technician II and Julia Bullock, Acquisitions Assistant & Library Technician I
Wendy and Julia will provide an update to the Kraemer Family Library 2019-2021 Sustainability Strategic Plan that is championed by the KFL Team Green.
Dr. Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, Director of the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at UCCS & Professor of Marketing
Tracy will provide an overview of the UN SDG's - United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and how she integrates them into her courses. She will also lead participants in the Sulitest (Sustainability Literacy).
Dr. Dylan Harris, Assistant Professor of Geography & Environmental Studies
Dylan will lead us through the topic of climate change and how storytelling and the lenses they use can change how we perceive actions that need to be taken.
Dr. Maggie Gaddis, Lecturer of Geography & Environmental Studies & Executive Director of the Colorado Native Plant Society
Maggie will share the importance of biodiversity and how we can become citizen scientists and use tools like iNaturalist and the Bioblitz event to provide data that will support our local ecosystem.
Daisy McGowan, Director & Chief Curator, UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art
Daisy will highlight art installations that focus on themes of sustainability, climate change, renewable energy, and community.
10:35 | Break + Strategic Planning
10:35 | Break + Strategic Planning
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Capstone Undergraduate Students - Mark Karstensen, Kyle Kuniyoshi, Mike Olivier, and Matt Quist
Mark, Kyle, Mike, and Matt will provide an overview of their experiential learning project that will take food waste and produce energy (biogas).
Dr. Esther Lamidi, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Esther will share her research on food insecurity and the variables that impact communities in different ways.
Dr. Michèle Companion, Professor of Sociology
Michèle will share her research rooftop gardens as a means to combating food insecurity and climate change.
Jamie Dunston, Farm Manager
Jamie will share the successes of the UCCS Farm over the past year and highlight how they continued to foster community through a pandemic.
Natalie Rodriguez, Lecturer of Geography & Environmental Studies
Natalie Rodriguez, Lecturer of Geography & Environmental Studies
Chris Ertman, UCCS SOLE Center Manager & Natalie Church, Student Project Lead - UCCS SOLE Center
Chris and Natalie will share the many ways that the SOLE Center has integrated sustainable practices and provided accessibility to outdoor recreation through their programming.
11:45 | Break + Strategic Planning
11:45 | Break + Strategic Planning
Patricia Cameron, Executive Director & Founder of Colorado Blackpackers; Moderators: Kayla Williams, Graduate Student, and Irina Amouzou, Undergraduate Student
Patricia, Kayla, and Irina will share a conversation with attendees about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the outdoors. Some themes that may be explored are intersectionality, historical context, systems-thinking, organizational action, self action, and personal experiences.
How to get to Kettle Creek:
