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.
Featured Resources
New Resources
A Field Report for the Nelson Insitute for Environmental Studies Carbon Footprint Project
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
- Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (WI)
This project examines the carbon footprint of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (NI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The goal of the NI Carbon Footprint Project is to provide ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Laboratory Design Case Study
- BNIM Architects (MO)
Laboratory buildings are usually thought of as being the inevitable energy hogs on campus. The Fayez S. Sarofim Research Building, home of the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine at ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Price of Reduction: A Comparative Analysis of the Cost-Benefit Perceptions of Reduction Initiatives
- Chatham University (PA)
This research contrasts the perceived benefits and costs of implementing two reduction initiatives (plastic bottle ban, pesticide ban) as perceived by key constituencies (students, faculty, administration). The two initiatives provide ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Creating a Research Agenda in Sustainability for Emerging Research Institutions
- Ball State University (IN)
Many colleges and universities find creating on-campus sustainable initiatives, such as recycling and reducing energy usage, to be a good starting contribution to change how these institutions effect the environment ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Inclusion from Conception - A Presidential Perspective
- Hadassah Academic College
Embracing sustainability in every facet of higher education is to crystallize and practice it in every decision and motion made. At Hadassah College Jerusalem we conducted thorough research based on ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Experiential Learning: UNC's Business Accelerator for Sustainable Entrepreneurship (BASE)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC)
The new Business Accelerator for Sustainable Entrepreneurship (BASE) at the University of North Carolina provides an innovative experiential learning opportunity for students to work directly with sustainably-oriented businesses. BASE is ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Green Research for Incorporating Data into the Classroom (GRIDc)
- North Carolina State University (NC)
North Carolina State University (NCSU), NCSU Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education, the North Carolina Solar Center, and Pitt Community College are working ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Portland State University: Let Knowledge Serve the City
- Portland State University (OR)
PSU's approach to sustainability seeks to integrate operations, research, education and community engagement. Our poster will draw on green building and watershed stewardship projects that demonstrate our strategy. The ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Science at a Land Grant Institution: Linking Community Visioning and Scientific Analysis
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
The need for academic researchers to have meaningful co-learning experiences with leaders in the broader community has been highlighted in much of the literature on sustainability. Scientists and community leaders ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Progress along the Path of Transdisciplinary Action Research. Experiences and Challenges in the Integration of Engineering and Community Development to Address Water Quality Issues in rural Honduras.
- University of Vermont (VT)
Sustainable development presents complex, multidimensional issues that require approaches extend well beyond conventional academic disciplines. Bridging disciplinary boundaries is challenging, and sustainable development requires more than interdisciplinarity. It requires integrating ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Students Doing Research on Sustainability Reaching Out Beyond the Campus
- Arizona State University (AZ)
The concept of education for sustainable development has been acknowledged by institutions of higher education and underscored by the UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. On the demand side ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Tribal College Sustainability Indicators
- College of Menominee Nation (WI)
The Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) within the College of Menominee Nation (Menominee Indian Reservation, WI) is spearheading the Tribal College Sustainability Indicators Research Project. Prompted by the success of the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Hocking College Energy Institute
- Design Group (OH)
Construction of the Hocking College Energy Institute will commence in the summer of 2008. Hocking College was recently awarded a $1.6 million grant from the Economic Development Administration for ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Agenda 21 at Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Federal University of Minas Gerais
Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) is the largest university in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, with more than 30.000 students, and 3000 professors. In the last two years it ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Economics and Sustainability: Using the Campus and Community as a Laboratory
- Furman University (SC)
Economics is not always at the center of sustainability discussions, but it is an essential consideration as universities and communities transition from discussion to policy formation. The answers to questions ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Using IPCC DDC Scenarios and MAGICC-SCENGEN Model for Teaching Global Climate Change
- Grand Valley State University (MI)
Global climate change is a very complex phenomenon: students need to understand the causes of climate change, its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences, and the adaptation and mitigation options to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Center for Research and Sustainable Living, Yucatan, Mexico
- Millsaps College (MS)
The Helen Moyers Biocultural Reserve, located in Yucatan, Mexico ranks in the top third of privately held reserves by size in Latin America. The 1600 hectare tropical deciduous forest tract ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Bringing Biophilia to Life - Connecting Living Systems to the Built Environment
- Mithun (WA)
Originally crafted by German social psychologist Erich Fromm around 1965, the term Biophilia means "love of life or living systems." The philosophy of Biophilia pairs well with the current flurry ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Promoting Sustainable Agriculture Careers for Undergraduates through a Collaborative Experiential Learning and Research Program at Cornell University: The Sustainable Agriculture Scholars Program
- North Carolina State University (NC)
The number of undergraduate students majoring in agricultural fields is steadily declining, resulting in fewer trained agricultural professionals able to address complex problems concerning agricultural sustainability. We developed and piloted ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing Integrated Research, Education, and Outreach Programs in Sustainable Agriculture at NC State University: A Model for Land Grant Universities
- North Carolina State University (NC)
Land grant universities (LGUs) play a vital role in educating students and training extension agents in organic and sustainable agriculture. Incorporating research, education and extension outreach into their missions, LGUs ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Like, Why do I Need to Know my Watershed?
- Northern Illinois University (IL)
Progressive educators have promoted the concept of place-based education for more than 100 years. For example, John Dewy advocated: "Experience [outside the school] has its geographical aspect, its artistic and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Revitalization Institute
- Seneca Polytechnic (ON)
Revitalization Institute (RI) is the academy and advocate for what Storm Cunningham (reWealth: 2008) calls the magic of restoration in which natural, built, and socio-economic assets are continuously enhanced rather ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Ecovillages and Campuses: The Potential of Collaboration for Sustainability Research and Education
- University of Georgia (GA)
Universities are increasingly looked to as centers of research on and education about sustainable solutions to socio-environmental challenges. However, theoretical and experimental approaches to sustainability do not easily translate from ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Assessment of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia
- University of British Columbia (BC)
The Chemical and Biological Engineering (CHBE) Sustainability Club of the University of British Columbia (UBC) has conducted a departmental sustainability assessment (DSA). The DSA was adapted at a departmental level ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Laboratories: Occupants Make a Difference
- University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)
At UCSB the Laboratory Research And Technical Staff (LabRATS) program evaluates laboratory practices to save energy, plastic, water, electronics and chemicals, while making the research itself more efficient. Our efforts ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Rethinking Diversity: Social Sustainability in U.S. Higher Education
- University of Denver (CO)
The overarching objective driving this session is the incorporation of social sustainability into U.S. higher education. As a movement gaining in momentum and popularity, sustainability has the ability to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Education and Vladimir Vernadsky's Theory of Biosphere and Noosphere
- University of New Hampshire (NH)
After years of silence, the West finally started to discover and scientifically recognize a prominent Russian researcher, philosopher, and thinker - Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945). Paradoxically, Vernadsky's name was not ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Reaching Sustainable Research Goals through Co-curricular Learning: An Example in Starch-based Plastics
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
Conventional plastics, derived from petroleum, contribute to the depletion of non-renewable resources and landfill space when recycling or reuse is not viable. Starch, a renewable and abundant polymer, offers an ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Ecocritical Praxis: Re-establishing the "Principle of Relevance"
- The University of Texas at Dallas (TX)
The term "ecocriticism" was coined by William Reuckert, who proposed, in 1976, that literary criticism shift its locus to "a principle of relevance": he suggested that critics "experiment with the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Learning Barge Initiative: Advancing Sustainability through Multi-disciplinary Research Service Learning
- University of Virginia (VA)
The Learning Barge Initiative is a unique example of university students and community partners collaborating on a project with wide-reaching social, educational and environmental benefits. The research, design and construction ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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No Child Left Inside
- Utah State University (UT)
No Child Left Inside is a movement, both grassroots and political, with implications for sustainability, higher education, Public Land Management Agencies, and the environmental justice movement. This presentation begins by ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Written in the STARS: Correlations Between Performance & Best Practices
- University of Toronto (ON)
The STARS assessment framework presents a very interesting and informative set of data that measures both environmental performance and adoption of best practices. Gathering both types of information allows for ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture
- Alfred State College (NY)
Alfred State has established the Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture (COSA) to serve students, faculty, and the community through education, research, and demonstration of organic and sustainable farming practices.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center For Sustainability
- California Polytechnic State University (CA)
Cal Poly's College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) manages nearly 10,000 acres of land on two campuses dedicated to instruction and research and serves as a ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Regional Food Systems
- Michigan State University (MI)
The mission of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems is to engage the people of Michigan, the United States and the world in applied research, education and outreach to ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Environmental Farming Systems
- North Carolina State University (NC)
CEFS develops and promotes just and equitable food and farming systems that conserve natural resources, strengthen communities, improve health outcomes, and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
- Tufts University (MA)
Working with new farmers to build strong businesses, expertise in the field, and a resilient food system. Programs include farmer training, food systems development, and a World Peas food hub.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Agricultural Sustainability Institute
- University of California, Davis (CA)
The Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis is a group of researchers, educators, and agricultural extension professionals working to answer big questions on how to make agriculture and food systems ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems
- University of California, Santa Cruz (CA)
The mission of the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS or the Center) is to research, develop, and advance sustainable food and agricultural systems that are environmentally sound ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)
ASAP’s current mission is to build and sustain an organization that empowers the on and off campus community working to advance sustainable and organic food and farming systems in ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Washington State University, Pullman (WA)
The Center has been working for two decades to bring sustainable solutions to the citizens and agricultural industry of Washington State. Its faculty and affiliates are working on exciting projects ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Green Design Institute
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
The Green Design Institute is a major interdisciplinary education and research effort to make an impact on environmental quality by partnering with companies, government agencies and foundations to develop pioneering ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Brooke Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
The Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems enhances Georgia Tech’s research, education, and service missions, and campus operations through leadership, communications, development, and decision making inspired and defined by ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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IITAC Research Center
- Illinois Institute of Technology (IL)
The keynote of the IITAC Research Center is "Rethinking Metropolis," the architecture of the multiple, competing entities defining urban life in the new millennium. Urban migrations and the proliferation of ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustainable Design
- Mississippi State University (MS)
The center focuses on developing, systematizing, and promulgating methods that will allow growing populations to live in a sustainable manner.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Institutes of Energy and the Environment
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
The mission of the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment is to foster and facilitate interdisciplinary scholarship and collaboration to positively impact important energy and environmental challenges.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Engineering and Design Institute
- Philadelphia University (PA)
Founded in 2000, the Engineering and Design Institute is an interdisciplinary research center focusing on green materials, sustainable design and education. The Institute works on a variety of projects to ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Golisano Institute for Sustainability
- Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
Golisano Institute for Sustainability is a multidisciplinary academic unit at RIT whose mission is to undertake world-class education and research programs in sustainability with major foci on sustainable production, sustainable ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Design Center for Global Needs
- San Francisco State University (CA)
The Design Center for Global Needs has been the research and development component in the Department of Design & Industry (DAI). The Center promotes and fosters community, national and international ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustainable Communities
- Temple University (PA)
The Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) develops and promotes new approaches to protect and preserve quality of life through sustainable development. The Center acts as a resource for government agencies ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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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.