sustainability

The Wesleyan community has demonstrated a commitment to the University’s sustainability goals. Undergraduate participation in sustainability in coursework, workshops, and research incorporating environmental justice is on the rise, as is the University’s engagement with Middletown on sustainability efforts. In 2023-24, 1,717 students, or 55 percent of undergraduates, engaged in one or more internships, courses, research projects, leadership experiences, workshops, or volunteer activities related to sustainability. This is an increase of 160 students from 2022-23, according to an annual progress report on the University’s Sustainability Strategic Plan. “It’s been exciting to see a continued increase in student engagement with sustainability both…

Wesleyan University’s campus sustainability efforts have been awarded Gold status by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability In Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (AASHE STARS), a self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Wesleyan had been at a silver status since first tracking its sustainability performance in 2013. However, there had been incremental improvement at the end of each three-year tracking cycle. Jen Kleindienst, Wesleyan’s sustainability director, attributed the leap to Gold status to the University’s Sustainability and Environmental Justice Pedagogical Initiative, a concerted effort to seed these topics in all aspects…

After working on a controlled environment aquaponics farming project at The Pomfret School, Brinton Thomas ’23 was a full-on believer in the concept. He thought it was the next phase in sustainable farming and he had planned to write his senior thesis on its benefits. Then something changed. After a few days of research on the rapidly-growing farming practice while preparing an investment memo for an asset management company he interned at last summer, Thomas realized that these systems are not developed enough to be impactful on a large scale. He thought it was the future of farming, and it…

Krishna Winston, Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, Emerita, and Professor, College of the Environment, Emerita, was recognized with the Tom ODell Distinguished Service Award by the Rockfall Foundation at a ceremony held Thursday, October 6. The award, which recognizes long-term accomplishments in environmental conservation and preservation, was given for Winston's many years of advocacy for the environment in Middletown. Winston's formal service to the City began in 1989 when she was appointed to the task force that designed Middletown's recycling program. When mandatory recycling began in Connecticut two years later, she became the chair of Middletown's…

Tuesday morning September 27 was sunny and clear, a perfect day for preschoolers to inspect their new school. Children who attend the Neighborhood Preschool (NPS) were welcomed to the new facility located at 60 Long Lane. Tuesday’s family walk-through and time capsule ceremony prepared the little ones, and their parents, for Opening Day on Monday, October 3. Tuesday’s event began with preschoolers handing artwork over to be included in a time capsule, which was buried after the families toured the new building to see the classrooms for the first time. NPS Director Suzanne Donnelly said the building represents a new chapter.…

Every year, as Wesleyan students empty their rooms at the end of the Spring semester, they fill dumpsters with usable items – everything from clothing and room décor to small appliances. “There was still more waste generated than we like,” said Hayley Berliner, temporary sustainability director. “We want to divert as much as we can.” Debbra Goh ’24 and Annie Volker ’24, both eco-facilitators for Wesleyan Sustainability, have come up with an idea on how to lessen the waste. The duo will launch WesThrift at 284 High next fall, a free store for clothing and dorm essentials located in the…

In a new study linked to her 2021 high honors thesis, Sanya Bery '21 discovered that cities that house universities have a significant likelihood of adopting ambitious climate action plans. "It is clear that as plans become more ambitious, there is a higher concentration of university cities, and as plans become less ambitious there is a lower concentration of university cities," she said. "[These cities] efforts will be critical to the world’s effort to combat climate change." Bery, who majored in government and environmental studies, is currently collaborating with Mary Alice Haddad, John E. Andrus Professor of Government, on a…

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, Wesleyan's Sustainability Office led a virtual WesFest session to introduce Class of 2024 admitted students and their families to the office. Several Eco Facilitators and Sustainability Interns from the Wesleyan Sustainability Office, and members of the Wesleyan Green Fund and other environmental sustainability groups on campus shared information on the sustainability scene at Wesleyan. There are currently a total of 16 Eco Facilitators, two Eco Facilitator coordinators, five compost interns, three sustainability coordinators and one Sustainable Middletown intern. Sustainability Director Jen Kleindienst explained the office's three main purposes:…

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) recently recognized Wesleyan University for completing the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) reporting process and earning a STARS Silver rating. STARS measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. "We primarily complete the STARS evaluation to have an objective, third-party view of ways that Wesleyan could be more sustainable," Kleindienst said. "It is helpful to see how we compare to other institutions as well, and useful to be able to learn best practices from other colleges and universities." According to Wesleyan's STARS report card, the…

At its most recent meeting on Feb. 29, the Wesleyan Board of Trustees discussed how to better align endowment investment practices with the University’s broad sustainability efforts. In a recent campus-wide email, President Michael Roth ’78 and Board of Trustees Chair Donna Morea ’76, P’06 shared the following message: Given the climate emergency, the investment and ecological risks associated with fossil fuels and the Investment Committee’s own environmental, social and governance guidelines, there was broad agreement among trustees not to make new fossil fuel investments and to wind down current investments in this sector as quickly as possible while minimizing…

Students in a Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems class recently stepped out of the classroom ... and into beekeeping suits. The buzzworthy hands-on experience was part of a field trip to an apiary in Norwich, Conn. "The course explores strategies to create a sustainable agriculture and food system," said Rosemary Ostfeld '10, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies, who teaches the class. Her students have already been gaining an understanding of some of the key environmental impacts associated with our agricultural system, and read Rachel Carson's seminal Silent Spring. The purpose of the field trip on Sept. 18 "was to…

Every summer, when campus is relatively quiet, the Facilities Team is hard at work maintaining, renovating, and upgrading all of Wesleyan’s buildings and grounds. Part of this work involves the large-scale replacement of furniture in residential facilities—a process that has recently been made more environmentally friendly thanks to a partnership with IRN, an organization dubbed “The Reuse Network.” According to Jeff Sweet, Wesleyan’s associate director of facilities management, the University has partnered with IRN for the past three years to recycle old residential furniture that is being replaced. IRN “matches the needs of charities and nonprofits throughout the world with…

Campus Sustainability Work on the Rise

Wesleyan University Awarded Gold Status for Sustainability

Senior Thesis: Thomas ’23 Believes in Regenerative Agriculture

Krishna Winston Named 2022 Environmental Champion by Rockfall Foundation

The Neighborhood Preschool Prepares for Opening Day

New Campus Free Store Planned for Fall Semester

Bery ’21, Haddad Share Climate Action Plan Study with United Nations

Students Discuss Wesleyan’s Sustainability Efforts during Earth Month

Wesleyan Receives STARS Silver Rating for Sustainability Achievements

Wesleyan Vows to Divest from Fossil Fuel Investments by the End of the Decade

What’s the Buzz About Pollinators? Class Visits Local Apiary to Find Out

Wesleyan Partners with Organization to Recycle Surplus Furniture