Research
Introduction
Conducting research is a major function of many colleges and universities. By researching sustainability issues and refining theories and concepts, higher education institutions can continue to help the world understand sustainability challenges and develop new technologies, strategies, and approaches to address those challenges.
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Integrating Research, Learning, and Community: A Curriculum Model for Sustainability Science in Higher Education
- University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK)
Are you interested in developing an interdisciplinary course with a research component around an important sustainability issue (i.e. water, energy, food security)? This session provides a working model that others …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Case Study Based Research in the Education of Sustainable Architecture
- University of Arkansas (AR)
Among the variety of employed methodologies, case study based research has been a commonly utilized approach in law, medicine, and business administration. As with these disciplines, case studies are also …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Mass Balance of Humanity: Attempting A Global Inventory
- University of Arkansas (AR)
The non-renewable resource base on which human technological society depends is finite. While this is quite well-understood, estimating the total mass of those non-renewable resources presents a daunting challenge. In …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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UC Berkeley Plastic Disclosure Project
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
The Plastic Disclosure Project (PDP) at UC Berkeley discloses the campus' plastic footprint, making it the first University to publicly reveal this information. The objectives of PDP is to measure, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The UC Global Food Initiative; Leveraging University Research and Best Practices to Achieve Ambitious Global Goals
- University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)
In July 2014, UC President Janet Napolitano challenged the University of California system to leverage the innovative research and best practices that we have developed through our operations and curriculum …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability doesn't mean everything to everybody.' A foundational vocabulary for courses in urban sustainability
- University of Louisville (KY)
There is growing consensus on learning outcomes in sustainability education, including systems thinking, interdisciplinarity, ethical growth, team problem-solving, and more. This paper explores the knowledge and learning outcomes students should …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Design, Installation and Evaluation of Sustainable Concrete Sidewalks on UMD Campus for Research and Learning
- University of Minnesota, Duluth (MN)
Concrete is the most commonly used man-made material on the planet; however, the production of cement, the binder that holds concrete together, is responsible for 5-8% of global anthropogenic CO2 …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable polymers in the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
The topic of plastics and their negative effect on the environment and human health is a relevant and important topic appropriate for the diverse population of students enrolled in a …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Collective Action and Sustainability
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
Sustainability problems including climate change, hyper-consumption, water stress, deforestation, etc. are all wicked problems. A few underlying elements are pervasive in these sustainability issues. Each problem is at a scale …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Examining Environmental Justice Locally: A Case for Student Engagement and Integrated Curricular Content
- University of St. Thomas (MN)
Environmental justice is often perceived as primarily an international issue. This case study uses social worker experiences to demonstrate the scope of environmental injustice in our own backyards. Social workers …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Environmental Literacy and it's Implications for Effective Public Policy Formation
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)
Environmental literacy is a measure of a person's knowledge about the interactions of humans and their environments, environmental issues, and the various connections in ecological systems. Recent studies have demonstrated …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Researching the Researchers: Developing a Sustainability Research Inventory
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC)
Developing a sustainability research inventory at a tier-one research university can prove challenging. Thousands of research faculty, inconsistencies in reporting, limited direct access to faculty and staff, and ambiguous data …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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What’s Hope Got to Do With It? A Research Collaborative
- Appalachian State University (NC)
- Colorado Mountain College (CO)
- Prescott College (AZ)
Sustainability educators often hear they must be careful not to share too much distressing information with their students and colleagues because they risk sending them into a passive, shut-down mode, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Campus Farm Movement: A Survey of Campus Agriculture in N. American
- Ursinus College (PA)
David Orr wrote in 1991, "It might have been different had agriculture evolved instead within the liberal arts colleges.” Orr was lamenting the specialization of agricultural education within land grant …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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University Research in Support of Local Sustainable Food Systems
- Portland State University (OR)
In this poster presentation, faculty researchers from Portland State University will share examples of meaningful partnerships with the local community and demonstrate the reciprocal relationship between research and practice. During …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Making Greener Labs Programs a Value Add
- Brown University (RI)
- University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
- University of California, Riverside (CA)
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)
- GreenerU (MA)
Research and teaching laboratories have a special set of circumstances that impact sustainability intervention efforts. Labs are high-impact both in terms of resource use and in terms of student learning, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Resolving real world sustainability problems through undergraduate research in chemistry
- Bellevue College (WA)
Involving two-year college students in sustainability research has several inherent challenges. Students have a short window of opportunity to engage in research, students do not have as much educational background …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Speed dating for scientists: Converting research to action
- Portland State University (OR)
University research is fostering innovation that can fuel the emerging sustainable economy and inform progress on thorny community problems, but the world of academia is too often disconnected from community …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Cost of a Healthy Meal
- Santa Clara University (CA)
In our society, a lot has been said about the connection between the cost of food and the nutrition that it provides. This has been a topic for discussion in …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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AASHE 2nd Annual Workshop on Research Methods in Sustainability
- University of Arkansas (AR)
Sustainability is emerging as a legitimate field of scholarship within Academia. Higher education researchers and practitioners are engaged in active efforts to expand research methodologies in sustainability theory and practice …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Koch Campus: Compromising Academic Freedom
- University of Kansas (KS)
Academic freedom in higher education ensures the ability to freely seek and disseminate the truth. Yet, as our universities become increasingly dependent on private funding, "academic freedom" is marginalized and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Implicit Nature of Holistic Sustainability Education: The Student Perspective at Green Mountain College
- Oklahoma State University (OK)
Much has been written about the theoretical underpinnings of a holistic approach to sustainability education, including deep learning and systems theories. Though some studies discuss the need to implement such …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Parcel by Parcel Towards a More Refined Carbon Emissions Estimation for Livermore, CA
- University of California, Merced (CA)
Carbon accounting has become imperative in instituting regulations, developing major policies, and in expanding urban metabolism research. For years, city agencies have reported carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions across large …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Coding and Theorizing Syllabi for Sustainability Skills and Competencies
- University of Florida (FL)
My doctoral research has involved collecting over 200 syllabi from sustainability programs all over the United States. I have been coding these syllabi for evidence of skills-based sustainability education. My …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Learning How to Apply Social Science Research by Solving Campus Sustainability Challenges
- University of Michigan (MI)
“Social Sciences and Environmental Problems,” a 75-student class at taught annually at the University of Michigan (U-M), introduces six social sciences and how each can help understand and address environmental …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Nature-Based Therapeutic Service: Mutual Healing for Individuals and the Environment
- Prescott College (AZ)
Educators, counselors, and sustainability advocates are all looking for ways to infuse purposeful and memorable experiences into their work All seek ways to create progress and lasting change in learning, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Library and You: Sharing Our Vision
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)
Are you a faculty member frustrated with the lack of reliable information in your students’ papers and projects? Are you a librarian seeking ideas for integrating your expertise into the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Implementing Behavior Change and Energy Efficiency Programs
- College of Lake County (IL)
- Heartland Community College (IL)
Learn how the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) offered three distinct initiatives designed to promote behavior change and measurable energy reduction within the business and higher education sectors in Illinois. …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Adapting Planning and Reporting for a Sustainable Future: A Case Study of the use of Ecological Footprinting to 40 Campuses.
- Macquarie University (NSW)
- The Footprint Company Pty Ltd (New South Wales)
A central mission of sustainability in the tertiary sector is equipping future generations with the understanding of the interdependencies between the environment, economy and society and to build the capability …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Sustainability Research Collaborative: A Multi-Institutional Model for Applied Investigation
- Princeton University (NJ)
- Yale University (CT)
The higher education sustainability field recognizes the need to apply rigorous research to applied campus-based challenges, both operational and cultural. The active networks of sustainability offices across the country make …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Motivating People Toward Sustainability: Applying Psychological Science to Green Behavior
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
Achieving sustainability on university campuses requires engaging and changing the behavior of students, faculty, administrators, staff, and other members of the university community. New programs can suffer unexpected roadblocks if …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Embedding Ecological Footprinting into Curriculum as a Tool to Engage Students
- Macquarie University (NSW)
The Department of Environment and Geography and the Sustainability Unit at Macquarie University, Sydney, collaborated to develop and investigate the effectiveness of environmental education pedagogy. A central sustainability goal in …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Research Methods
- University of Arkansas (AR)
Aligning with the themes of the conference, resiliency and adaptation, our team would like to facilitate a discussion around inquiry approaches relevant to making research in sustainability both resilient and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency: A Literature Review
- Western Michigan University (MI)
The first Earth Day in 1970 spurred a heightened interest in environment-focused behavior change research among social scientists. Psychologists, in particular, enthusiastically rose to the challenge. Multiple review papers have …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Design and Construction of an Anaerobic Digestion Laboratory: An Addition to the Biofuels Education and Research Facility at Appalachian State University
- Appalachian State University (NC)
The Biofuels Education and Research Facility (BERF) at Appalachian State University (ASU) originally funded by an EPA P3 grant in 2007 for the planning and construction of a closed cycle …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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What Predicts Students’ Perceptions of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility?
- Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (AB)
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) continues to become increasingly important in management practice as the global business community is embracing CSR as an important link to positive corporate identity and reputation. …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Shut Your Sash? Connecting Fume Hood Behavior Change Theories with the Real World
- Alliance to Save Energy (CA)
Two prestigious think tanks and a multi-campus educational program collaborated over the past year in an effort to quantitatively answer the question: “Do fume hood campaigns save energy?” Though intuitively, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Personal Narrative as Research Pedagogy: Using Poetic Language and Personal Testament in the Research Writing Process
- Appalachian State University (NC)
Research scientists are often dismissed when their reports include personal ethical statements or persuasions—these individuals risk their objectivity in doing so and the result can be invalidation in the scientific …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Modeling Urban Form: Expressions of the Operational State of Design-For-Sustainability
- Ball State University (IN)
As a rule students do not have the opportunity to interact readily with those of other disciplines. And so they cannot bring to bear their respective disciplinary experience and knowledge …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Competencies to Meet Market & Societal Demand
- College of Charleston (SC)
Sustainability and sustainable practices are growing to include every sector of global society. Therefore there is a growing demand for professionals to have basic sustainability competence. At the same time, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Dissertations on Sustainability in Higher Education: A Meta-Study Analysis
- Colorado State University (CO)
As a means of examining emerging scholarship on sustainability in higher education (SHE), a bounded qualitative meta-study of SHE dissertations was undertaken in 2012 concurrent with the twentieth anniversary of …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Green Campus 2.0 in Korea
- Korea National University of Education
Since the last 5 years after the establishment of the Green Campus movement in Korea, with a discussion related to the international environmental issues such as climate change, the recognition …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Scholars Roundtable: Stimulating Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- University of Louisville (KY)
Learn about how one university has stimulated transdisciplinary research collaboration in sustainability and resilience, despite four major obstacles. First, sustainability can mean different things in different disciplines, preventing common understandings …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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An Innovative Way to Adapt to a Changing Education Medium: Using Interactive Multimedia-based Information Graphics in the Sustainability Curriculum.
- University of Mount Union (OH)
265 first-year students at a small Northeast Ohio liberal arts university were asked 14 questions to measure their knowledge of issues relating to sustainability. The questions and answers provided the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Monasteries :"What Campus Sustainability Programs Can Learn From Their Antecedents"
- Western Illinois University (IL)
This presentation reports on historical influences of rural monasticism and culture on current sustainability practices in higher education. Although not conceived or defined as sustainability, western European monasteries functioned to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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An Historian's Critique of the Sustainability Triangle
- Xavier University (OH)
This paper examines the traditional sustainability triangle—economy, environment and society—from an historical perspective. I argue that the sustainability triangle and its attendant well-used concept of sustainable development arose during the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Collaborative Approach to Understanding Faculty Research and Course Offerings
- Appalachian State University (NC)
As part of Appalachian State University's commitment to sustainability, a faculty inventory was conducted to determine the nature and extent of research, scholarly activity, and creative production that are associated …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Hope and Sustainability Education: Initiating a Research Collaborative
- Appalachian State University (NC)
Generating and maintaining hope among students is recognized as a challenge for sustainability educators, but what do we really know about course content and experiences that generate hope rather than …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability: Perspectives of Students as Stakeholders in the Curriculum
- University of Hawaii Kapiolani Community College (HI)
Using a single case study approach, this doctoral dissertation explores sustainability curricula in a community college setting. Forty students were interviewed using a focus group methodology to discern group norms …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Pedagogy of Sustainability: Applying Transformative Learning Theory
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Most faculty members are not taught to be teachers. While much of sustainability education research focuses on appropriate teaching methods, faculty looking to integrate sustainability into their classrooms tend to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.
All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.
AC 9: Research & Scholarship
- Percent of research employees that conduct sustainability research
- Percent of research departments that conduct sustainability research
- Sustainability research inventory (upload)
- Sustainability research inventory (description)
- Website URL - Sustainability research
AC 9: Support for Sustainability Research
- Description of the student sustainability research program
- Description of the academic staff sustainability research program
- Website URL - Support for sustainability research
AC 10: Open Access to Research
- Website URL - Open access repository
- Open access policy (upload)
- Open access policy (description)
- Description of the open access article processing charge (APC) fund
- Description of the open access journal hosting services
- Website URL - Support for open access
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.