INFORMATION FOR THE MEDIA 
Contacts
Beth Potier 603.862.1566 beth[dot]potier[at]unh[dot]edu |
Sara Cleaves UNH University Office of Sustainability 603.862.0172 sara[dot]cleaves[at]unh[dot]edu |
To schedule an interview with Tom Kelly, UNH's Chief Sustainability Officer: Alaina Pritchard, Administrative Assistant UNH University Office of Sustainability 603.862.8564 alaina[dot]pritchard[at]unh[dot]edu |
Talking Points
"Sustainability is now recognized as one of UNH’s core identities and strengths with faculty, staff, and students from many disciplines working together in new and innovative ways to advance a common goal. Our impact on campus ripples out into the state and even the nation as our graduates take their knowledge and experience with them—helping to guide and educate their new communities in the ways of sustainability."
-- UNH President Mark Huddleston
Sustainability at UNH
UNH launched its University Office of Sustainability in 1997, making it the nation's first endowed office of sustainability in higher education. Today, UNH is a leader in sustainability -- integrating sustainability throughout its curricula, operations, research, and engagement efforts through four initiatives in biodiversity, climate, food and culture. Committed to being a model sustainable learning community that prepares students to advance sustainability in their civic and professional lives, UNH has earned several awards for its sustainability initiatives, which range from innovative academic programs and research in fields like ecogastronomy and marine science to the largest transit system in the state of New Hampshire (run mainly on alternative fuels) to sustainable food in the dining halls. Discover the sustainable learning community at UNH at sustainableunh.unh.edu and discoversustainability.org.
Latest News
Two UNH Faculty Receive $1.4 million in CAREER Grants from NSF
wo assistant professors have received prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grants. Vaughn Cooper of the department of molecular, cellular and biomedical sciences received $1 million to better understand beneficial mutations in bacteria by engaging high school students in data collection. Christopher White of the mechanical engineering department received $400,000 to research flow dynamics of liquefied biomass. (11-18-09) Story >>>
Stimulus Funds Advance Offshore Wind Power at UNH
UNH’s Center for Ocean Renewable Energy (CORE), as part of a University of Maine-led consortium, will receive $700,000 in federal stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Energy. The consortium, DeepCwind, received a total of $8 million to develop three deepwater wind energy test sites in the Gulf of Maine. CORE will deploy and test the first prototype floating structure with a wind turbine as its contribution to the project. (11-11-09) Story >>>
Author Mollie Katzen Named Advisor to UNH EcoGastronomy Program
Mollie Katzen, the New York Times best-selling cookbook author who is credited with moving healthful vegetarian food from the fringe to the center of the American dinner plate, has been named to UNH’s EcoGastronomy advisory board. (11-11-09) Story >>>
Sustainability Initiatives
See the entire list HERE.
- Buildings
- Campus Aesthetics and Public Art
- Carbon Solutions New England™
- Cat Cycles: UNH Bike Program
- Cogeneration & Landfill Gas
- Composting
- Cultural Excurions
- Dialogue on Poverty & Opportunity
- EcoGastronomy, Dual Major
- Ecological Advocates
- Ecology, Climate, and Health Working Group
- Energy efficient purchasing guidance & standard
- ENERGY STAR® discounts for UNH students and parents
- Energy Task Force
- Green cleaning
- Greenhouse gas emissions inventory
- Landscaping
- Local Harvest Initiative (UNH Dining, UOS, COLSA)
- Masters of Public Health Program Focus on Public Health Ecology
- NH Carbon Challenge
- NH Center for a Food Secure Future
- NH Farm to School
- Organic Dairy Research Farm
- Organic Garden Club
- Presidents Climate Commitment
- Power management & powerdown
- Signing the Slow Food Principles
- Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge
- Transportation demand management
- Virtual energy efficient dorm room
- Waste management & recycling
- WildCAP - UNH's Climate Action Plan
Awards & Accolades
See the entire list HERE.
- American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment
- Business NH Magazine
- Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc., Environmental Merit Award for Leadership by a Non-Profit Organization
- Kaplan College Guide
- KIWI Magazine - in 2007 & 2008
- National Wildlife Federation
- Plenty Magazine
- Princeton Review
- Sierra Club "Cool Schools" List 2009
- Sustainable Endowments Institute - in 2008 & 2009 Report Cards
Images and captions
- Click HERE for a zip file of images of sustainability at UNH and suggested photo captions
- All credits go to UNH Photographic Services except "The Sustainable Learning Community," which goes to artist Dennis Balogh, the UNH Foundation, Inc., and the University Press of New England.
Cogeneration plant
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Caption: UNH was an early signer of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. A campus-wide Energy Task Force is developing a climate action plan to steer the university towards climate neutrality, and operational efforts like the on-campus combined heat and power plant will help the campus meet the goals of this plan as part if its Climate Education Initiative.
EcoLine
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The first university to meet its energy needs with landfill gas, UNH is selling the renewable energy certificates (RECs) associated with EcoLine to help finance the capital costs of the project and to invest in additional energy efficiency projects on campus.
Local Harvest Feast
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Caption: Students and community members line up in droves to attend UNH's annual Local Harvest Feast of gourmet menu items made from local and sustainble foods. The feast is part of UNH's Local Harvest Initiative, the goals of which are to increase procurement of locally, regionally, and sustainably grown and produced items (including organic and Fair Trade), conserve water and energy, reduce waste (including through composting), and educate students, staff, faculty and community members about our local agricultural landscape and its role in sustaining our physical and economical health and well-being, now and in the future.
Organic Dairy Research Farm
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Caption: UNH’s Organic Dairy Research Farm, the first at a land-grant university in the country and made possible by the generosity of donors like Stonyfield Farm, provides research to New England farmers and training to UNH students as part of UNH's Food & Society Initiative. "UNH is a recognized leader in sustainability, in large part because of the innovative work we do to advance sustainable agriculture, food, and nutrition in our state and region," says UNH President Mark Huddleston."Our impact on campus ripples out into the state, nation and world as our graduates take their knowledge and experience with them-helping to guide and educate their new communities in the ways of sustainability."
Organic Garden Club
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Caption: Founded in 2003, the student-run UNH Organic Garden Club (OGC) maintains a two-acre site on a 30-acre, USDA certified organic parcel of land on the UNH Durham campus -- the first certified organic land on campus. They supply their own on-campus farmer’s market, UNH dining halls, and dinners for local shelters and the larger community with the variety of produce they grow, including heirloom varieties.
Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge
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Caption: As part of its Climate Education Initiative, every fall UNH students compete in the Energy Waste Watch Challenge to see which residence hall or apartment can use the least amount of energy. In 2007, students saved $40,000 and reduced 189 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
The Sustainable Learning Community
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In 2009, over 60 authors from across and beyond campus authored “The Sustainable Learning Community: One University’s Journey to the Future” detailing UNH’s 10-plus years of sustainability innovation and leadership.
UNH student biking on campus
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Caption: University of New Hampshire students are embedded in a culture of sustainability. A “day in the life” of a UNH student could include waking up in Energy Star rated residence hall, biking or taking a biodiesel or compressed natural gas shuttle bus to get around campus, dining on local food and Fair Trade coffee, working at the on-side student organic garden club site, taking classes in everything from alternative energy to food and society, interning or conducting research in areas of sustainability, and attending a speaker, film, discussion, or performance on campus.
Wildcat Sculpture
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Caption: Sustainability is about thriving, not just surviving, so UNH includes social and cultural issues in sustainability. Its University Office of Sustainability has co-sponsored Human Rights Watch films and a Fair Trade Fair, offered cultural excursions to museums and the performing arts, collaborated in making a documentary about the late Ed and Mary Scheier, former UNH faculty who were celebrated potters, and worked with administrators, faculty, staff and students to develop campus aesthetic guidelines under which the first piece of public art arrived on campus – the Wildcat sculpture in front of the Whittemore Center.
Wildcat Transit
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Caption: In 2007, UNH Wildcat Transit – the largest public transportation provider in the state—provided more than 1 million passenger trips, a new record. UNH transit buses and shuttles run mostly on alternative fuels like biodiesel and compressed natural gas. Named an EPA and DOT “Best Workplace for Commuters” since 2004, UNH's transportation demand mangement efforts also include an on-campus Amtrak rail station, dedicated walking and bicycling paths and solar-powered lit shelters, ridesharing, carpooling, and an ever-growing suite of alternative fueled and clean technology transit and non-transit vehicles called “Eco-Cat.”
