Sustainability Fund Announces Grant Winners

Thirteen sustainability projects will be implemented on campus over the next year thanks to $176,703 in grants recently awarded by the student-led advisory board of NC State’s Sustainability Fund.

Generated by a $2.50 per semester student fee that students voted to create in 2012, grant funding is available to NC State students, faculty and staff who submit proposals for sustainability projects that improve campus, impact students or promote awareness.

“This Spring, the Board received a record-setting number of submissions from the campus community, the most competitive grant selection cycle in the Fund’s 10-year history,” said Julia Mattox, the chair of this year’s Sustainability Fund Board. 

The 13 winning projects are to be implemented by July 1, 2024 and include:

• The Upcycled Swag Initiative, coordinated by the Sustainability Stewards, will showcase how repurposed materials can be utilized in campus outreach efforts, ultimately raising awareness about the possibilities for upcycling materials.
• The Eco+Pack student organization will host several large sustainability-themed events for students during Welcome Week, Earth Month and the fall semester.
• NC State Athletics will add composting bins in the Towne Bank Center of Carter-Finley Stadium, which will enable a significant amount of organic waste to be composted during each home football game. 
• The Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources will create an app to enable self-guided tours of campus trees.
• The Environmental Justice Symposium, coordinated by the Sustainability Stewards, will host a series of campus events to raise awareness about equity and the environment.
• NC State Landscape Services will expand its new greenhouse to enable more integration of organic growing practices while also growing more campus landscaping plants on-site.
• NC State Energy Management will launch a Sustainable Labs Program to identify ways to reduce the energy, emissions, water and waste footprint of campus research labs.
• The Student Energy Club will receive funding for an NC State Energy Week series of events that engage the campus community in opportunities to advance a clean energy future.
• The Student Association for Fire Ecology and Management will equip students to participate in the planning of prescribed burns on NC State’s experimental forests and respond to wildfires in collaboration with state agencies and other partners.
• The KIETS Climate Leaders Program will host its second Climate Leaders symposium planned for September 2023.
• The Biotechnology Program will continue the Engineering Sustainable Composting and Outreach Program, which involves undergraduate students in microbiological research at the NC State Compost Facility and Research Cooperative.
• Health and Exercise Studies will continue construction of mountain biking trails at Lake Raleigh Woods.
• A student-led project in the College of Natural Resources will equip several campus bus shelters with a glass film designed to prevent future bird collisions. 

This fall, the Sustainability Fund will reintroduce FastTrack Grants for student-led project proposals of up to $1,000 that can be completed within 6 months. This opportunity is in addition to the traditional grant cycle that has a February deadline and one year to complete.

Updates on the grant cycles, as well as previous projects funded by the Sustainability Fund, are available at go.ncsu.edu/SustainabilityFund.