Tag: Academics

What will we Sustain? Reflections After One Year in the Pandemic

by Eni Owoeye

Fence at the entrance to a park with the sign that reads "Parks closed until first notice"

This time last year, the NYU community felt a collective shock. For students, the shock may have been a buzz of excitement at the prospect of staying at home because “Zooming” into class actually sounded thrilling. But for most, the shock slowly creeped into a panic as more blue, green, and white masks started to pop up around the City. Whatever the feeling was, we are now grappling with it one year later. The following are a collection of student stories about what they learned about themselves, their connections to others, and their connections to the environment this past year.

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NYU Faculty Research: A Digital Library

You may already have a mounting summer reading list to further your education on a variety of topics. This summer, we’re offering a digital library of sustainability-related content from NYU faculty, including TED talks, videos, and podcasts. 

Waste Studies 

Robin Nagle in DSNY truck
Professor Robin Nagle (photo by Rayon Richards)

Robin Nagle: What I discovered about NYC trash 
TED Talk | (7:41 mins)
Anthropologist and clinical professor Robin Nagel takes the TED stage to speak about New York City’s trash, an entity we all interact with and yet don’t realize. We also get to hear about an important, but often unasked question: who picks up after us? 

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NYU Votes

Inside NYU’s Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law

Are you interested in environmental law or policy? In a special interview with Danielle Spiegel-Feld, the Executive Director and an Adjunct Law Professor of the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law, I got the inside scoop on environmental policies, how the NYU community can get involved at the Guarini Center, environmental policies under the current administration, what Danielle’s days look like, and much more. Why didn’t New York City ban plastic bags? You’ll have to keep reading to find out! 

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Arts & Science in Action: NYU’s Student Sustainability Project

by Erica Tom

photo courtesy of Robin Nagle

In 2015, New York City announced its goal to reach “Zero Waste” by 2030, meaning the city will send absolutely no waste to landfills. Can you imagine that? This seems like an impossible feat, but what if it isn’t? This summer I had the opportunity to pilot a new class, along with about 16 College of Arts and Science and Liberal Studies students, focused on the very topic of zero waste. This class-internship-hybrid, called “Arts & Science in Action,” delves into the world of zero waste and green infrastructure, specifically at NYU. How could I pass that up? Hailing from San Francisco, arguably the pioneering city in the zero waste movement, I have always been curious to learn how to reduce my carbon footprint. As a psychology major, I wasn’t expecting the class to have any crossover with what I have been studying. Yet, I found that environmental work is rooted in understanding human behavior. To enact change, we must first grasp why it is we do what we do.
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EPA’s Campus RainWorks Challenge

rainworks_logo_revParticipate in the EPA Campus RainWorks Challenge for a chance to develop innovative green infrastructure solutions, eliminating stormwater runoff and maintaining healthy water quality at NYU.


WHAT
What is it?

A challenge for teams of students to design infrastructure projects to manage stormwater runoff, providing benefits to their campus and the environment.

WHO
Can I enter?

Groups of students with a faculty sponsor can register. Check out the eligibility requirements in the 2016 Campus RainWorks Challenge Competition Brief. Read more