My Green Grants project is the Multispecies Worldbuilding Lab, which is a small team of students, artists, ethnographers, and media designers who produce a podcast about climate change. We invite scientists, writers, and artists to talk about a particular organism, ecology or site that they study, and the interdisciplinary methods or tools that they’ve used or developed in the course of their research. We also discuss their teaching practices or how they engage others around difficult conversations about climate change. What makes our podcast different from other podcasts about climate change, I think, is that we are interested in giving voice to the human interviewee, as well as the thing or place that they study. So we aim to combine interviews with field recordings and experimental soundscapes to give listeners a more intimate and visceral sense of the liveliness of worlds outside. I’m interested in experimenting with ways of listening to nonhumans, or allowing animals, plants, microbes, water to speak alongside the human voice.
Urban Food Lab First Annual Research Expo and Fundraiser
by Sophie Gumbs
On Monday, 11/18 from 6-9pm in the Tandon MakerSpace, the Urban Food Lab held its very first Annual Research Expo and Fundraiser! The Urban Food Lab is a Vertically Integrated Project in the NYU VIP Program, in which students from 9 separate departments conduct their own research on vertical farming as well as conduct their own farming. The Urban Food Lab is an aquaponic vertical farming class in which students come up with solutions to challenges in modern farming. It is located in the basement of Tandon MakerSpace and is open to undergrads, who are provided with grad student mentors. The Lab is currently funded by the Office of Sustainability Green Grants Program and is fundraising until December 3rd, as its Green Grant will expire at the start of 2020. As part of the Lab, students learn to implement sustainable project designs, and intro and exit exams demonstrate that students learn, both actively and passively, about aquaponic and hydroponic farming throughout the course. Skills around sustainability are brought outside of the farm itself through students’ extra credit opportunities to apply sustainable practices in small ways in the broader community. The class provides a gateway to academic research and entrepreneurship for many students.
Have Yourself a Greener Thanksgiving
As the Thanksgiving season quickly approaches, I can sometimes find it too easy to get caught up in being the ‘perfect’ advocate for the environment. The holiday season is first and foremost about gratitude and being with the people you love. Although this list is geared towards the Thanksgiving table in New York, these ideas can be utilized by anyone, anywhere, no matter your tradition or how to choose to honor this time off. That being said, here are a few tips on how to have a more sustainable Thanksgiving.
Chief Sustainability Officer Cecil Scheib Testifies on Environmental Impact of Universities
“The intent of NYU’s sustainability program is to enhance our academic mission by providing comfortable and healthy spaces that enhance NYU’s excellence, while having the energy savings help pay for it – and we’ll achieve our carbon goals, too.”
– Cecil Scheib, Chief Sustainability Officer, NYU
Last week, Chief Sustainability Officer Cecil Scheib testified before members of the NYS Assembly Committees on Higher Education and Environmental Conservation to highlight NYU’s carbon emissions goals and efforts to engage our community in sustainability initiatives.
Faculty Housing Sustainability Efforts
Sustainable initiatives are happening in every facet of NYU Life – infrastructure, student life, transportation, housing and so much more. Our NYU Faculty are taking action to reduce their waste, save energy, and become leaders for green action on campus. Read on to learn more about how NYU faculty housing is going green.